Unit 98

Key navigation features include the Lost Soldier Divide and Separation Rim, which provide natural landmarks across the otherwise homogeneous terrain. Coal Butte and Cherokee Peak offer elevated vantage points for orientation and glassing. The Chain Lakes Rim, Coyote Springs Rim, and Windy Point create visual breaks on the landscape useful for route-finding.

Lost Soldier Creek and Stewart Creek trace major drainage systems that concentrate wildlife movement. These named features are sparse enough to make careful map work essential—the landscape reads similarly in many directions, making a GPS essential for confident navigation.

Terrain ranges from roughly 6,500 to 8,000 feet across rolling sagebrush basins and low ridges. This is primarily open rangeland with scattered pockets of juniper and sparse Douglas-fir on north-facing slopes and higher ground. The habitat is overwhelmingly sagebrush steppe with occasional greasewood flats in lower drainages.

Vegetation transitions are gradual rather than dramatic; the landscape maintains consistent aridity throughout. Winter snows typically melt quickly given the exposure and elevation, meaning water becomes a critical limiting factor by mid-season.

Sparse road density and limited highway connectivity keep hunter pressure relatively low compared to more accessible units. Access is primarily via county roads (Sweetwater County Roads 22 and 23) that branch into two-track systems and deteriorating ranch roads. Much of the interior requires high-clearance vehicles or foot travel.

The expanse of the unit combined with poor road networks means that concentrated hunting occurs near primary access points; hunters willing to walk deeper into the basins encounter significantly less pressure. Road conditions vary seasonally—spring mud and winter snow can make penetration difficult.

Unit 98 occupies a large block of high-desert terrain in southwestern Wyoming, bordered by Interstate 80 to the south and U.S. Highway 287 to the east, with the Wamsutter-Crooks Gap Road and Bairoil Road forming the western and northern boundaries. Rawlins serves as the primary access town to the southeast. The unit sits in the Great Divide Basin region, a sprawling upland area characterized by isolated water sources and expansive sagebrush.

Most land within the unit is public, accessible primarily through a sparse network of county roads and two-tracks that penetrate the interior.

Water is the limiting factor in Unit 98. Named springs—Chicken Spring, Bull Springs, Willow Spring, Cherokee Spring, and others—are scattered but often unreliable or difficult to access reliably. Mahoney Lake, Monument Lake, and Chain Lakes provide more consistent water, but their locations are fixed and likely to concentrate hunter activity. Lost Soldier Creek and Stewart Creek represent the main drainage systems, though flow varies seasonally.

Several reservoirs dot the unit (Sooner, Pinnacle Springs, White Water, Rocky Draw, and others), but many are small and may be inaccessible or unreliable depending on season. Planning around confirmed water sources is mandatory.

Unit 98 holds mule deer and white-tailed deer adapted to high-desert rangeland. Mule deer dominate the sagebrush basins and are most active in early morning and evening around water sources and draws where vegetation concentrates. White-tailed deer favor riparian areas along Stewart Creek and Lost Soldier Creek drainages.

Early season hunting focuses on open country glassing from vantage points like Coal Butte or the rim systems; mule deer are visible at distance in sparse cover. As season progresses and water dries, hunting intensifies around reliable springs and reservoirs. Late season finds deer moving into creek bottoms and any available browse.

Success depends on water knowledge and willingness to cover significant ground on foot.