Unit 4D

Several buttes serve as excellent navigation markers and glassing platforms: Bullion Butte, Square Butte, Sentinel Butte, and Chimney Butte are the most prominent. These rise enough to offer views across the surrounding prairie and identify major drainages. The plateaus—Cliffs, Kinley, and Hanley—provide elevated vantage points for scanning.

Key drainages include Badland Draw, Plumley Draw, and the creek systems flowing through the unit. Williams Lake and Bosserman Lake offer reliable water references, while smaller springs like Black Spring and Lime Spring punctuate the landscape.

This unit stays entirely below 3,500 feet, with most terrain clustered around 2,700 feet median elevation. The landscape reads as open plains habitat with minimal tree cover—just over 95% of the unit lacks forest. The sparse vegetation consists primarily of native prairie grasses and sage, interrupted by badland draws and coulees where moisture collects.

Isolated buttes like Bullion Butte, Square Butte, and Sentinel Butte rise as prominent landmarks above the surrounding plains. Creek bottoms and draws support scattered willows and cottonwoods, providing the only meaningful cover deer use for escape and thermal regulation.

A connected road network of nearly 1,600 miles delivers solid access throughout the unit, with major highways and ranch roads reaching most terrain. This accessibility invites typical pressure, with hunters gravitating toward obvious staging areas near towns and major drainages. However, the unit's size and open nature allow hunters to find less-pressured country by working the periphery and deeper badland systems away from primary roads.

The mix of public and private land requires advance planning—much of the accessible country requires landowner permission. Early-season hunting before peak pressure and midweek visits can yield quieter opportunities.

Unit 4D anchors western North Dakota's badland region, a sprawling landscape of prairie broken by eroded draws and ridge systems. The unit encompasses roughly 1,043 square miles of fairly consistent low-elevation terrain. Small communities like Beach, Golva, and Sully Springs dot the perimeter and serve as reference points.

The country transitions between short-grass prairie, badland breaks, and scattered butte formations. About one-third is public land, fragmented among state and federal holdings, while the remainder is private ranch land requiring permission or access agreements.

Water is reliable but concentrated in specific areas. The major creeks—Bull Creek (North and South Fork), Merrifield Creek, Cottonwood Creek, and Sheep Creek—flow through the unit seasonally and provide dependable water sources in their bottoms. Williams Reservoir and Johnstone Dam hold water year-round and are accessible reference points.

Several named springs including Black Spring and Lime Spring support the draws. Creek bottoms become critical habitat zones during dry periods, drawing deer for water and cover. Early season water availability is generally good, but late-season hunting success often depends on finding these concentrated water sources.

Unit 4D holds mule deer and white-tailed deer across distinct habitat types. Mule deer prefer the open breaks and butte country where they can glass and escape to rough terrain, while white-tails use creek bottoms and badland draws for cover. Early morning glassing from buttes or plateaus is effective for spotting deer on adjacent prairie before heat drives them into cover.

Late afternoon hunts should focus on creek bottoms and draws where deer water and feed in cooler hours. The sparse cover means stealth and timing matter more than bushwhacking—move slowly and glass methodically. Late season concentrates both species near reliable water sources in creek systems.

The open terrain rewards hunters who glass thoroughly rather than hike aimlessly.