Unit 077, Nevada

Unit 077 is a basin-and-range unit sitting at roughly 4,900 to 8,540 feet elevation. The Snake Mountains (highest point Antelope Peak at approximately 8,540 ft / 2,603 m) form the primary upland spine. Surrounding terrain transitions from steep mountain slopes into rolling foothills and creek drainages, then flattens into wide desert valley floors including Pilot Valley and the Thousand Springs basin. Salt flats and a playa occupy portions of the lowest valley. The unit is approximately 895 square miles in size and lies wholly within Elko County.

Access is generally good. The majority of the unit is public land administered by the BLM Wells Field Office (Elko District). A checkerboard pattern of private land runs through portions of the unit; private parcels are typically well marked and most public-land access across checkerboard areas is available. Key highways: U.S. Highway 93 is the main corridor running north-south through or adjacent to the unit, connecting Wells (services, lodging) to the south and Jackpot to the north. State Route 233 (Montello Highway) provides east-west access into the Montello / Pilot Valley area. Interstate 80 lies to the south, with Wells as the nearest full-service hub. Road conditions within the unit range from maintained county and BLM roads to four-wheel-drive and ATV-only tracks; a high-clearance vehicle is recommended for back-country access. Cell service is limited to none throughout most of the unit. There are no designated wilderness areas within unit 077 itself. Dispersed camping is permitted on BLM land.

Vegetation is strongly elevation-stratified. High mountain slopes support sub-alpine habitat, conifer (mountain mahogany and juniper), and aspen cover. Mid-elevation terrain holds conifer-mahogany woodlands transitioning to pinyon-juniper. Lower foothills and valley margins are covered in sagebrush steppe. Valley floors grade into salt desert shrub (saltbrush, winterfat, greasewood), salt marshes, and occasional salt flats. Riparian corridors along Thousand Springs Creek and perennial springs provide isolated wet meadow and native grassland habitat. The Snake Mountains and associated drainages constitute the key summer and transition-season deer habitat; the pinyon-juniper and sagebrush foothills and valley edges are the primary winter range for migrating deer herds.

Mule deer are the primary big game resident. The unit functions as an important winter range destination: NDOW documents that major migrations occur in late September through October when deer from units 071, 072, and 073 move through and concentrate in units 077, 078, and 079 to winter. The unit group 071-079 / 091 population was estimated at approximately 10,600 animals (September 2024-2025 modeled estimate per NDOW quota recommendation form). Resident deer are present at lower densities with migratory animals swelling numbers during fall-winter. Rocky Mountain elk are present and huntable in unit group 076-077-079-081, which carries consistent antlered ALW hunter success of approximately 90% per 2024 NDOW harvest statistics. Pronghorn antelope occupy Pilot Valley and the surrounding basin areas. Antelope distribution is closely tied to water sources, especially early in the season. Greater sage grouse are documented across sagebrush habitat areas. Chukar partridge are present on rocky slopes. Moose are present within the broader NDOW moose unit group that includes unit 077, with a Sept 1 - Nov 30 season. Mountain lion are present as a predator.

1. Public land percentage (53%) is sourced from GoHunt unit profile, not from a government GIS calculation — treat as approximate. 2. Mule deer tag quota of 850 reflects the 2025-2026 recommended resident Early ALW quota for the entire unit group 071-079, 091; individual unit 077 quota is not broken out separately by NDOW. 3. Hunter success of 63% for mule deer reflects the 2024-2025 Early ALW season success rate for unit group 071-079, 091 per NDOW quota recommendation form. 4. Elk tag quota of 1,522 and harvest of 72 at 90% success is for the antlered any-legal-weapon Early season (Nov 6-20) for unit group 076-077-079-081 in 2024 per NDOW harvest statistics. 5. Pronghorn and Moose tag quotas are not specified per unit 077 individually. 6. No bighorn sheep seasons are set for unit 077 in CR 25-07. 7. Moose season confirmed as Sept 1 - Nov 30 per CR 25-07 page 21, hunt group 061,062,064,066-068,071-077,081,101-103.