Unit 2I

Key water features include Adkinson Lake, Moon Lake, Sterling Reservoir, and the expansive network of sloughs and small lakes that dot the prairie. Buffalo Creek and Goose Creek run through the unit as navigable drainages that serve as travel corridors and congregation points for wildlife. The Altamont and Streeter Moraines provide subtle ridge systems useful for glassing the surrounding country, while Moffit Butte, Buffalo Hill, and Cactus Point offer minor elevation relief in an otherwise uniform landscape.

Small populated places like Linton, Steele, and Napoleon serve as staging towns for access planning.

Elevations span just 834 feet from roughly 1,430 to 2,264 feet, all well within the prairie zone with no mountain influence. The entire unit sits in native grassland habitat—primarily mixed-grass prairie with scattered shrubland, offering wide-open sight lines and minimal forest cover. Vegetation is predominantly open country with small patches of deciduous cover along creeks and in draws.

The landscape is fundamentally treeless and rolling, creating excellent glassing opportunity across vast distances while offering limited natural shelter or hiding cover for hunters. Water features—lakes and wetlands—create the dominant topographic variety.

A dense road network of 1.68 miles per square mile provides connected access throughout the unit. County roads, township roads, and farm access roads crisscross the prairie, allowing hunters to reach most areas without excessive travel. Proximity to small towns like Linton and Steele enables straightforward logistics.

However, 96 percent private land ownership means virtually all hunting requires landowner permission—access is available but not guaranteed. The straightforward terrain and good road network likely concentrate pressure on accessible parcels, making landowner relationships critical for success.

Unit 2I spans roughly 3,084 square miles across central North Dakota, encompassing the region between Linton, Temvik, and Driscoll. The unit occupies gently rolling prairie dominated by the Altamont Moraine and Streeter Moraine systems—subtle elevation changes that shape water drainage and wildlife movement patterns. The terrain transitions gradually with no dramatic ridges or canyons, instead featuring the characteristic flat-to-rolling grasslands typical of the north-central prairie zone.

This is quintessential farm and ranch country where public land is minimal and hunters must work through private landowner access.

Water is the defining feature of Unit 2I. Dozens of named lakes, reservoirs, and sloughs provide reliable water throughout the prairie, creating wetland complexes that attract waterfowl and concentrate deer movement. Buffalo Creek, Goose Creek, and associated tributary drainages form shallow prairie draws that collect runoff and support riparian vegetation. Springwater Dam, Sterling Reservoir, Rohrich Dam, and Flickertail Lake offer larger water bodies.

Seasonal sloughs fill with spring runoff but many remain water-bearing through hunting season. This abundance of water removes logistics complexity—deer won't range far from reliable sources in open prairie.

Unit 2I supports white-tailed and mule deer populations across its prairie and wetland habitat. White-tailed deer thrive in the riparian draws and wetland margins, particularly near Buffalo Creek, Goose Creek, and around the numerous lakes. Mule deer prefer the more open prairie and moraine ridge systems where they can glass for danger.

Early season hunting focuses on water sources and shaded creek drainages during warm conditions. Fall rut hunting targets the transition corridors between bedding draws and open feeding areas. The flat terrain favors glassing and stalk approaches over traditional stand hunting, and the abundance of water makes predicting deer movement relatively predictable.