Unit 700

Key navigation landmarks include the Musselshell and Missouri river breaks, which dominate orientation across the unit. Fort Peck Reservoir anchors the eastern boundary and provides a major geographic reference. Notable rock formations include Devils Backbone, Guys Bluffs, and Chimney Rock, useful for mapping position in the breaks.

Medicine Rocks and Hole-in-the-Rock offer distinctive visual references. The Long Pines and Ekalaka Hills frame portions of the country. Cedar Ridge, Blue Ridge, and Piney Ridge systems provide natural travel corridors and glassing vantage points across the benches.

Elevations range from river bottoms near 1,860 feet to benches around 4,800 feet, creating a compact vertical band suited to mixed-use country. The terrain is predominantly open prairie and grassland benches scattered with ponderosa pine stands, juniper, and cottonwoods. Lower elevations feature sagebrush-grass habitat along benches and flats; draws and coulees support denser timber cover, particularly in north-facing aspects.

The sparse forest designation reflects the open nature of most benches and tablelands, with timber concentrating along water drainages and the steeper breaks near rivers.

Fair road density means ranch roads and county routes provide entry, but much of the country requires walking or horse travel to reach remotely. State Route 200 forms the southern boundary and is the primary highway access corridor. County roads branch north and south from the highway, connecting to scattered ranches and trailheads.

Most land is private but traditionally huntable with permission—the key is connecting with landowners ahead of time. Pressure concentrates along accessible river breaks and reservoir shores; the interior benches and upper drainages see fewer hunters. Early season brings the most pressure; later in the year the country empties significantly.

Unit 700 occupies roughly 1,200 square miles across Garfield and McCone counties in northeastern Montana. The unit boundaries follow the Musselshell River from Mosby north to the Missouri River confluence, then track the Missouri northeast to Fort Peck Powerhouse, south along the reservoir to Big Dry Creek, and back west through Little Dry Creek to close the loop at State Route 200. This is canyon and breaks country—the Musselshell and Missouri carve deep through otherwise rolling prairie. The landscape sits at the transition between the eastern Montana plains and the edge of the Missouri Breaks wilderness character.

The Missouri and Musselshell rivers are the primary water sources, providing perennial flow but often running deep in breaks country. Fort Peck Reservoir along the eastern boundary supplies reliable water for staging. Secondary drainages include Big Dry Creek, Little Dry Creek, Thunder Creek, Skeleton Creek, and numerous named coulees.

Several reservoirs dot the benches—Horton, Shaw, Steel Mule, and Lower Blacktail among them. Springs are scattered throughout but not abundant; Dudley Spring, Rock Spring, and Finley Spring provide options. Water is moderate overall; hunters need to know where reliable sources sit before committing to a drainage.

Unit 700 is black bear country, with habitat well-suited to spring and fall hunting. Early season success relies on glassing draws and timber patches for bears in berry season, particularly along cottonwood bottoms and pine-timber interface. The river breaks provide escape routes and denning habitat; bears use drainages as travel corridors between benches.

Late season hunting focuses on bears working down to lower elevations and remaining timber patches. The combination of open benches for glassing and timbered drainages for stalking makes a balanced approach effective. Success demands knowledge of private land access and willingness to hunt edges between public and private, working the breaks thoroughly rather than covering vast open ground.