Bring your shotgun for pheasants, sharptail grouse when hunting this unit
This is not a unit you should consider if you are looking for a public land hunt
Mount Rushmore, which is southwest out of Rapid City, is approximately 50 miles from the southeast corner of this unit
Sturgis is approximately 3 miles to the east down Interstate 90 from the southeast corner of this unit
GOHUNT Maps are recommended to help navigate public and private boundaries
Species
General Size
Trophy Potential
Mule Deer
120"-150"
170"+
Whitetail Deer
110"-140"
150"+
On The Ground
Terrain
Vegetation
Access
Camping and Lodging
Historical Temperatures
High
Low
Moon Phases
December 2024
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This unit is quite small, located on the Wyoming border in the northern foothills of the Black Hills. There is very limited public access across the entire unit, and prior arrangements will need to be made in order to plan much of a hunt. The terrain is quite broken, full of foothills, small creek bottoms and drainages coming off of the higher elevations in the southern portion of the unit.
Great hunting conditions are found here but the lack of public hunting opportunities can send most DIY hunters into adjacent units.
The terrain across this unit is very broken, between the many river bottoms and the foothills gaining elevation as you leave the Belle Fourche River and head south into the ridges of the Black Hills. Whether you are looking to hunt the river bottoms, or more open country suited for glassing and hiking, this unit has it all and many types of hunting tactics will work here.
There is a mix of short and tall prairie grass and countless species of wildflowers spread across most of the unit, unless it has been turned for agricultural purposes, which you will see primarily along the Belle Fourche River in the northeast corner of the unit and along the Spearfish Creek in the center. Very sparse timber which is primarily a mix of Cottonwood, American Elm, Green Ash, and Bur Oak can be found along the riparian zone of both these rivers as well as other small creek beds scattered across the unit.
Access is extremely limited in this unit with very little public access other than approximately 750 acres around Lookout Peak just outside of the town of Spearfish, and approximately 1,000 acres further to the west in the Coxes-Mirror Lake Game Production Area. Interstate 90 makes up the southern border as it stretches from just west of Sturgis to the Wyoming border. State Highway 212 heads southeast from the Wyoming border and eventually comes to the Belle Fourche River until you arrive at the Butte County line, which travels south until it comes back to Interstate 90. US Highway 85 travels north and south from Spearfish to Belle Fourche in the center of the unit, while Highway 34 travels east and west across the western half of the unit until it takes a southeast turn as it crosses Hwy 85 and heads down to Interstate 90. There are countless county roads coming off of each of these highways which allows access to any of the private properties scattered across the unit.
There is very limited public access outside of Lookout Peak, and the Cox-Mirror Lake areas. Given that a hunt in this unit is more than likely to take place on private land, camping arrangements are very limited. There are a number of small towns scattered across this unit, the biggest being Belle Fourche in the north-central and Spearfish in the south-central portion of the unit. Each of these towns have lodging, gas stations, grocery, and sporting goods stores.