A coastal unit with lots of dense timber, especially in its western third, Siuslaw holds blacktail deer and Roosevelt elk and receives heavy hunting pressure from nearby cities, such as Eugene, which is in its northeastern corner.

Hunters find it hard to fill elk and deer tags here because of thick cover, steep terrain, lots of other hunters, good access to much public and private timber land and gun seasons that are outside the rutting periods.

The terrain varies more in this unit than in most other western Oregon areas, starting with beaches and sand dunes along the coast to large, extremely dense forests to heavily logged areas with lots of openings, lots of big and small lakes and farm ground and grassy pastures in the east. Though mountains exceed 2,500 feet in elevation in places, including 2,856-foot Roman Nose Mountain, the vast majority of the unit is below 1,000 feet, composed mostly of steep, densely vegetated hills. This unit contains the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in the country with some wind-sculpted dunes reaching 500 feet above sea level.

There is good road access on a network of improved and unimproved roads in the Siuslaw National Forest, which takes up many thousands of acres here. It’s hard to get much more than a mile from a road and most places are within half a mile of a road. Few roads are designated for off-road vehicles; almost all are open to highway vehicles or any licensed motor vehicle.

Most land is forested with spruces, firs, hemlock, larch and other trees. Large, unbroken forests occupy much of the western third of the unit away from the coast, while the eastern two-thirds is mostly a patchwork of logging areas on public and private land. Berry bushes, ferns, saplings and many species of brush cover most of the ground below the forest canopy and outside mature forests. Alders, maples and other deciduous trees commonly grow outside old-growth conifer forests.

Many hunters camp on forest land, which is allowed almost anywhere here. Several campgrounds are situated in and near the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area on the western edge of the unit. Hunters in the northern part of the unit might consider the interior Archie Knowles Campground, which is maintained by the Forest Service. It is 18 miles east of Florence on Highway 126 and lies along the road.