Wagontire, Oregon

The unit is predominantly flat to rolling high-desert terrain, with most of the land sitting between 4,300 and 4,800 feet elevation. Relief is generally gentle, broken by scattered knolls, low buttes, rimrock outcroppings, and shallow draws. Wagontire Mountain itself rises above the surrounding plateau. Glass Buttes, a notable obsidian outcrop in the northern portion of the unit, reaches approximately 6,385 feet. The southern reaches of the unit border Summer Lake and Lake Abert (large alkali lakes in the Oregon Great Basin). Much of the terrain is open and desolate with very long sight lines.

Public land constitutes approximately 85 percent of the unit, managed primarily by the BLM Burns District and BLM Lakeview District, with the Prineville and Vale BLM offices also cited by ODFW. The unit boundary begins on US Highway 20 about 2.5 miles east of Millican (near Burns), follows Highway 20 southeast to US Highway 395, then southwest to State Highway 31 at Valley Falls, then northwest on Highway 31 to Lake County Road 5-14F (9 miles east of Silver Lake), east through the Christmas Valley area along Lake County Roads 5-14, 5-14C, 5-14D, 5-12B, and 5-12D, passing Janes Well and Dickerson Well before returning to Highway 20. US Highway 20 and US Highway 395 are the primary paved access corridors; Highway 31 serves the southern part of the unit. BLM and county roads provide access into the interior; roads are generally open and accessible in dry conditions but may become impassable after severe weather. Large private land blocks limit through-travel in Peters Creek Sink, Sucker Flat, Imperial Valley, upper Chewaucan Valley, Christmas Lake Valley, and on the south Wagontire Mountain — hunters should not trespass. Travel management restrictions exist: Fox Butte area has road closures beginning three days before controlled buck deer seasons; Timbers and Spring Butte areas have year-round road restrictions. Parts of the Summer Lake State Wildlife Area within the unit require a daily hunting permit and check-out, and a parking permit. The Northern Great Basin Experimental Range (north Wagontire Mountain) is accessible public ground. No wilderness areas lie within the unit. Coleman Hills and Locust Butte include state-owned parcels open to hunting.

Dominant cover is Wyoming big sagebrush-steppe with associated bunchgrasses, rabbitbrush, and wild grasses. Bitterbrush and other browse shrubs occupy ridgelines, buttes, and draws preferred by mule deer. Scattered western juniper and pines occur on higher knolls and in draws. Marshy areas with bulrush and cattail exist near water sources. Irrigated alfalfa fields on private agricultural ground (especially in Peters Creek Sink, Sucker Flat, Imperial Valley, and Christmas Lake Valley) attract wildlife and create important forage zones. The Northern Great Basin Experimental Range occupies the north Wagontire Mountain area. The Summer Lake State Wildlife Area, in the southern part of the unit, contains wetland and upland habitat with restricted access requiring daily permits.

Mule deer are present year-round and use rimrock, buttes, draws, and sagebrush-bitterbrush habitats, with irrigated private farmland attracting animals especially later in the season. Rocky Mountain elk are present but widely scattered given the open desert character of the unit; the North Wagontire sub-area holds a distinct cow elk component that justifies a dedicated antlerless controlled hunt (273A), and the north/northeast portion of the unit (north and east of Placidea Butte Rd) also falls within the Silvies-N Juniper antlerless elk hunt area (271A1/271A2). The High Desert multi-unit bull elk hunts (278A1/278A2) cover the entire unit. Pronghorn antelope are the signature species of this high-desert unit, with resident herds spread across the open sagebrush flats and grasslands; Hunt 473A is one of the most oversubscribed pronghorn draws in Oregon. California bighorn sheep inhabit rocky rimrock terrain in the southern sub-unit (south of Lake County Road 5-14), covered by the S Central bighorn sheep hunts (575A1/575A2) which also span units 71 and 75. Black bear are present at low densities primarily associated with Wagontire Mountain and adjacent higher terrain; only the general statewide fall season applies — there is no controlled spring bear hunt covering unit 73. Cougar (mountain lion) occupy the unit at low density in Cougar Zone F (Southeast Oregon), quota 140 for the zone. Mule deer and pronghorn are the most commonly encountered big game; elk are present but population densities are low compared to Oregon's forested units.