Consisting of a narrow mountain range that juts out of the desert floor to heights of more than 12,000 feet, this unit has a good number of elk that summer in upper basins with aspen and conifer forests and winter in pinyon/juniper and sagebrush foothills.

In the past 30 years, elk numbers and quality have increased. When pressured, some elk travel to bordering Goshute tribal lands. This area has dense timber and good elk numbers. Pack horses are recommended.

Often called the Deep Creeks, this steep, rocky mountain range includes the eighth highest peak in Utah. Hunters should be in good physical condition and be prepared to pack out their kill.

Most of the elk are in the Deep Creek Wilderness Study Area. Motor vehicles are allowed on roughly a dozen public roads that extend into the mountains for distances of a quarter-mile to 2 ½ miles. This hunt is good for hunters who are in great shape and willing to backpack elk meat and venison to the road and for hunters who have horses. There is lots of private land in the unit as well as the Goshute Indian Reservation that hunters need to be aware of.

Low elevations mainly consist of grasses, rabbitbrush, sagebrush and scattered stands of pinyon/juniper. High stands of sagebrush along creeks and shady sides of ridges. Middle elevations are predominantly filled with pinyons, junipers and sagebrush with scattered stands of mahogany and white pine. High elevations have Douglas firs, aspen groves, mahoganies and small, grassy parks.

Several Forest Service and BLM campgrounds are south and west of Vernon. Most camping in the west is along dirt roads. Near the town of Callao at the base of the Deep Creek Range is one primitive campground. Towns with lodging are so far from most hunting sites that most hunters camp in the unit.