Unit 46

Black Butte and Bighorn Peak serve as major visual anchors for navigation across the rolling terrain. The scattered alpine lakes—particularly Summit Lake, Emerald Lake, and the Fortress Lakes complex—provide critical water reference points and hunting bases. Named parks including Sitting Bull Park, Island Park, and Elk Park are significant open meadows worth investigating.

The ridge systems, especially Middle Fork Ridge and Bald Ridge, offer glassing platforms for surveying the country. Porcupine Creek and West Tensleep Creek drainages provide natural travel corridors and water source guides through otherwise dry ridgeline country.

The unit spans high-elevation country, ranging from around 5,250 feet to over 13,000 feet. Most terrain sits in the upper elevation bands, creating an alpine and subalpine environment. Forest coverage is moderate, transitioning from ponderosa and Douglas-fir lower slopes to whitebark pine and limber pine at highest elevations, with extensive open parks and meadows interspersed throughout.

The rolling topography creates numerous ridge systems and broad valleys rather than steep canyon country. This mix of timber and open high country provides varied habitat for both mule deer and whitetails, with animals shifting between timber cover and park grazing areas seasonally.

Fair access via 257 miles of Forest Service roads provides multiple entry points, reducing concentration of pressure on any single corridor. Highway 14 and 16 allow vehicle access to trailheads and forest roads, though some sections may be rough or gated seasonally. The moderate public land base and rolling terrain offer opportunity to escape initial pressure by moving away from main road corridors.

High terrain complexity (8.9/10) and upper elevation location limit casual access—the big elevation gain and alpine environment naturally discourage less-committed hunters. Early season pressure may be moderate near accessible parks and road-end trailheads; mid and late season pressure typically diminishes in this high country.

Unit 46 encompasses the central Bighorn Mountains in north-central Wyoming, bounded by Highway 14 to the north and Highway 16 to the south. The unit sits entirely within or adjacent to Bighorn National Forest, with Granite Pass and Powder River Pass serving as key orientation points. The range runs roughly north-south, creating a natural spine dividing terrain between eastern and western slopes.

Most terrain is accessible via Forest Service roads, particularly the Shell Ranger Station road corridor and Alkali Road network. The unit's moderate size makes it a distinct hunting area within the larger Bighorn system.

Water is limited and scattered, making it a critical planning factor. Porcupine Creek, West Tensleep Creek, and Middle Tensleep Creek represent the primary reliable drainages, though seasonal flow is variable. Alpine lakes including Summit Lake, Round Lake, and the Fortress Lakes group provide concentrated water sources but require elevation gain to access.

Springs are sparse—Bellyache Spring and Lone Tree Spring are marked but widely dispersed. Hunters must plan water strategy carefully, especially in early seasons when high-elevation sources may be limited. Most reliable water follows the major creeks, pulling hunting strategy toward these main drainage systems.

Both mule deer and whitetails inhabit this unit, using elevation migration patterns to move between summer alpine meadows and winter lower-elevation refuges. Early season hunting targets deer in open parks—Elk Park, Island Park, and Sitting Bull Park—during peak grazing periods. Rut season shifts animals into timber corridors along ridges and creek bottoms as elevation cooling triggers migration.

Mid to late season offers opportunities on lower slopes as animals move downslope, particularly in the West and Middle Tensleep creek drainages. Glassing from ridge vantage points works early and late in day; midday success requires hiking into timber. Plan water access carefully; use drainages as travel corridors and base-camp water sources.

The terrain rewards hunters willing to gain elevation and move away from main roads.