Unit 122, Colorado

Flat to gently rolling shortgrass prairie plains. Elevation ranges from approximately 3,920 to 4,296 feet above sea level. The topography shows almost no relief outside of shallow creek drainages. The Smokey Hill River, Rush Creek, and Sand Creek are the most prominent drainage features crossing the unit. Climate is characterized by long, hot summers and mild winters, with annual precipitation of 12–17 inches, much of it falling as monsoonal rains in July and August.

GMU 122 is essentially entirely private land. GoHunt describes the unit as 'entirely private' with roughly 2.5% agency-owned land at best; the CPW Cheyenne Pronghorn Herd Management Plan (2020) documents that approximately 95% of the broader Cheyenne DAU (GMUs 116, 117, 122, 127) is private, with only 4% owned by the State Land Board and ~1% by other agencies (BLM, Bureau of Reclamation, CPW, counties), and public pronghorn hunting opportunity across the entire DAU amounts to only 0.4% of the land area. HuntScore describes access as fair to poor for deer and fair to good for pronghorn. Hunters must obtain written landowner permission before hunting on private land (required by Colorado law). The main travel corridors are U.S. 40 (east-west through Cheyenne Wells, northern boundary), Colorado 385 (north-south through Kit Carson and the center of the unit), Colorado 96 (southern boundary), U.S. 287 (western boundary at Eads), and county roads throughout. There are no National Forests, Wilderness areas, or significant BLM tracts within GMU 122. Hunters are advised to contact landowners well in advance of seasons.

Dominant cover is shortgrass prairie interspersed with dryland and irrigated farmland. Sand sagebrush-covered flats and sand hills are prominent between Rush Creek and Sand Creek. Riparian corridors along the Smokey Hill River, Rush Creek, and Sand Creek support narrow bands of cottonwood-willow woodland. Cropland (primarily wheat, dryland corn, and sunflowers) and grazed pastureland make up most of the non-prairie cover. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grassland parcels are present throughout the unit. There is no pinyon-juniper, aspen, or spruce-fir; this is exclusively shortgrass plains and agricultural habitat.

Pronghorn are the primary big game species and are found throughout the unit, with higher densities reported in the western portions and fair concentrations north of the town of Brandon. The Cheyenne DAU (PH-12, GMUs 116, 117, 122, 127 combined) supports a post-hunt population estimated at approximately 1,500 pronghorn (2018 CPW estimate), with a management objective of 1,500–2,000. Pronghorn are year-round residents with seasonal movement tied to crop cycles; they congregate on winter wheat fields in late fall and winter, which historically has been the primary agricultural conflict in the unit. Mule deer are present across the unit, with densities greatest in sand sage and pastureland adjacent to croplands and in creek-bottom drainages and old farmsteads. White-tailed deer also occur at lower densities, concentrating along the Smokey Hill River and other creek-bottom riparian corridors. Deer rut runs from late October through late December. Wild turkey and ring-necked pheasant are also present. Coyote, badger, prairie dog, and other shortgrass prairie fauna are common. No elk, moose, bighorn sheep, or mountain lion are documented as regular residents of this eastern plains unit.