Bordering Nebraska halfway across the state, this unit produces lots of mature whitetail bucks and has a good amount of public land along with some private tracts open to public hunting.

The woods are bigger than in units farther West, leading to lower success rates but higher survival of bucks

Land is typically flat to slightly rolling at elevations usually between 1,500 and 1,750 feet. Jewell, Mitchell and Lincoln counties are in this unit along with parts of these eight other counties: Republican, Cloud, Ottawa, Saline, Ellsworth, Russell, Osborne and Smith. Chief rivers are the Solomon River and its forks, the Saline River, the Republican River and its tributaries. Waconda and Wilson lakes are the largest bodies of water in this unit.

Most of the unit is farm fields planted in corn, alfalfa, wheat, soybeans, hay and other crops. Most of the cover consists of strips and bands of trees along rivers and creeks. Trees include willow, oak, redbed and cottonwood.

Glen Elder State Park in Mitchell County has eight camping areas and a couple of cabins for rent. Lovewell State Park located in Jewell County has cabins for rent, and primitive and improved campsites. Wilson State Park in Russell County. Sylvan Park, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has 27 campsites (24 with electricity and water) below Wilson Lake. Many motels are available in Salina, and some towns have one or more motels or beds and breakfasts, including Midland Railroad Hotel in Wilson, Fossil Creek Hotel in Russell and hunter-friendly Crest-Vue Motel in Mankato. There are hunter-friendly cabins at Lion Heart Inn in Downs near Lake Waconda as well.

This unit, like every unit in the state, is overwhelmingly private, but several public areas provide hunting. There also are many private properties enrolled in the state’s walk-in hunting areas. Wilson Wildlife Area, next to Wilson Lake, has 8,069 acres open to public hunting; of those 8,069 acres, 5,000 of them are rolling hills of native prairie. About 2,000 acres are planted in crops, and there are 1,000 acres of woods along Saline River and several creeks. Lovewell Wildlife Area has 2,215 acres of public hunting land around Lovewell Reservoir. Glen Elder Wildlife Area has 13,200 acres of land around Glen Canyon Reservoir, also known as Waconda Lake; hunters must apply for special permits to hunt this area. Through the state’s walk-in hunting program, public hunters may hunt at no fee on several private parcels listed in the Fall Hunting Atlas, which also includes details on state and federal hunting areas. Controlled shooting areas (private fee hunting areas) in this unit are listed here. Some private fee areas might allow deer hunting but are designed primarily for upland bird hunters.