From the top of the West Mountains near Lake Cascade to Council, this area has good numbers of mule deer and elk and low numbers of antelope and whitetail deer. Tags are unlimited for deer and elk general rifle and archery season. Hunters have to apply for tags to hunt deer in November.

This unit is a two hour drive from Boise and attracts hunters who can hunt deer and elk here by buying tags over-the-counter. It's a good area for average sized elk and mule deer.

The West Mountain Range and Blue Bunch Ridge comprise most of the western areas, which is a couple of miles west of Cascade Reservoir. Parts of the mountains are steep. The eastern side is lower and flatter and includes the ends of foothills and alluvial flatlands, most of which are planted in irrigated or dry crops. The fields are at elevations varying from a bit less than 2,900 feet to 3,200 feet, and the ridges of foothills are mostly no more than 4,500 feet above sea level.

The easternmost parts of the unit are mostly mountain ridges with exposed bedrock and grassy, brushy and timbered benches on their western slopes. Trees are mostly pines and firs. Forests grow between 6,000 and 7,000 feet and strips of trees grow mostly on north-facing slopes above and below those elevations. High south-facing slopes are mostly covered with various grasses with scattered trees and brush patches. Foothills are a mixture of grasslands and shrub fields, mainly sagebrush with high brush and conifers growing on benches, in ravines and on north slopes of ridges that run from east to west. Cottonwoods grow in places in valleys, which are a mixture of irrigated farms, dry grain farms and pastures full of wild grasses and low brush. Serviceberries, bitterbrush and maple brush with scattered junipers. Willows and riparian brush and other plants like sedge, river birch and cattails grow along some creeks and in marshy areas.

Several roads provide access in the Payette and Boise national forests. Though the Forest Service designates many trails for the use of motorcycles, hunters cannot use them unless hiking or riding horses. Few places are more than a mile from a road. The area around Council Mountain has no road access, and the motorcycle trails that intersect there are closed to hunters on motorized vehicles.

Hunters can camp almost anywhere on public land. The Forest Service provides 10 campgrounds as well as several more campgrounds west of Lake Cascade within a couple of miles of this unit. Hodgers RV Park has 19 campsites in Council. Pine Ridge RV Park can be found at the northern end and has 12 sites. Lodging is available in or right next to the unit in Mesa at Elkhorn Bed & Breakfast and in Council at Starlite Motel. On the other side of the West Mountains but close to the unit lodging is available in Tamarack at Tamarack Resort and in McCall at The Hunt Lodge.