Unit 106, Nevada

The unit is characterized by wide flat to rolling desert valleys at roughly 4,500–5,500 ft elevation, rising through broken foothills and steep canyon drainages into the Goshute Mountains (high point 7,057 ft / 2,151 m), the Dolly Varden Mountains (7,385 ft / 2,251 m), and the Antelope Range. Goshute Valley itself extends roughly 60 miles north-south and 12 miles wide, with interior Great Basin drainage (no outlet to the ocean). Short washes drain from surrounding ranges into the valley floor. Terrain off the high ridges involves steep drainages and ridges cutting down to the valley.

Unit 106 offers excellent public access with an extensive road network and very little private land. The unit is bounded on the north by Interstate 80 (Wendover access), on the west by US Highway 93 and the Nevada Northern Railroad corridor. The BLM Elko Field Office administers the majority of the land (approximately 97% public per GoHunt). Several Wilderness Study Areas exist within the Elko Field Office district, including the Goshute Peak WSA; motorized access within WSAs is restricted to designated boundary roads and pre-existing ways, with maps available from the BLM Elko Field Office. ATVs and four-wheel-drive vehicles are recommended for backcountry access. The towns of Elko, Wells, and Wendover provide the nearest fuel, lodging, and supplies. Dispersed camping is available on BLM lands throughout the unit. No USFS-operated developed campgrounds are noted within unit 106 itself.

Valley floors and lower benches support sagebrush, greasewood, fourwing saltbush, and other desert shrubs, with scattered large open grass areas. Middle elevations feature pinyon pine and juniper woodland, transitioning to mountain mahogany and mixed conifer forest on upper ridges. The unit contains limited riparian zones along intermittent drainages. Wildlife water developments augment scarce natural water sources throughout the unit. Overutilization by feral horses has degraded vegetative conditions in portions of the unit.

Mule deer occupy the unit primarily as transition and winter range; a small resident herd exists, but units 104–109 all serve primarily as transition and winter ranges for more productive units to the west (units 101–103, East Humboldt and Ruby Mountain ranges). Deer move to lower desert valley winter ranges as hunting season progresses and snow pushes animals off higher terrain. Elk are present at low densities in scattered pockets of quality habitat in the Goshute Mountains, Dolly Varden Mountains, and Antelope Range; the unit accounts for very little of the unit group's elk harvest. Pronghorn antelope occur in the unit as part of the 078/105–107/121 unit group; the arid open valley floors and lower slopes provide characteristic pronghorn habitat. Mountain lion are present as a predator following deer and other prey. Feral horse populations are above the Appropriate Management Level across much of the unit group, competing with wildlife for limited forage and water, and overutilization continues to plague the majority of this unit group. Sage grouse and chukar partridge are present given the sagebrush and rocky canyon habitat.

1. All tag quotas are unit-GROUP totals, not unit 106-specific totals; NDOW does not publish separate per-unit quotas. 2. Mule deer muzzleloader season for group 101–109 is Sept 10–Sept 30 (corrected from draft; confirmed via CR 25-07 and CR 25-13). 3. Hunter success of 32% reflects the 2025 resident ALW group-level average for 101–109; unit 106 actual success is likely lower given low deer densities. 4. Public land percentage of 97% sourced from GoHunt unit profile. 5. Goshute Canyon Wilderness (42,544 acres) lies in northern White Pine County in the Cherry Creek Range and may adjoin the southern portion of unit 106 — boundary alignment not confirmed with a map; treat as approximate.