Well-known for whitetail hunting in Fort Riley, this unit on the Nebraska border has a lot of deer. This unit runs north of Interstate 70 from Salina to just south of Manhattan in the west.

Mostly flat to rolling farmland, this unit is between 1,200 and 1,400 feet in elevation. Washington and Clay counties are in this unit along with parts of Marshall, Geary, Morris, Riley, Dickinson, Saline, Ottawa, Cloud and Republic counties. Chief waterways are the Republican, Little Blue, Solomon and Smoky Hill rivers. Milford Lake is the largest body of water in this area.

Most land is tall grass prairie with patches of brush and trees in folds and near water. Trees grow along rivers and creeks and are mainly willows, maples, box elders, red cedar, oaks and elms. Several hundred types of forbs, grasses, sedges and brush provide a variety of feed and cover for deer.

Milford State Park has campsites and 10 cabins on the edge of the state’s largest lake, 16,000-acre Milford Reservoir. Flagstop Resort & RV Park located in Milford.

Milford Wildlife Area, northwest of Manhattan, has about 19,000 acres of public land open to hunting. Steve Lloyd Refuge in the same area is composed of another 1,100 acres. Through the state’s walk-in hunting program, public hunters may hunt at no fee on many private parcels listed in the Fall Hunting Atlas, which also includes details on state and federal hunting areas. Controlled shooting areas (private fee hunting areas) in this unit are also listed on the KS Outdoors website. Some private fee areas might allow deer hunting but are designed primarily for upland bird hunters.

About 71,000 acres of the 101,000-acre Fort Riley Army Base are managed for multiple uses, including hunting. The base provides many public hunting opportunities. Rifle deer permits are unlimited, but only active-duty military personnel stationed at the base and their dependents may hunt during a rifle season in late November. Archery permits are unlimited for military personnel stationed at the base as well as their dependents. A couple hundred archery permits have been available first come first serve to bowhunters who do not qualify for unlimited archery permits. Any hunter with a valid Fort Riley deer hunting permit may take part in a muzzleloader season but must use traditional caplock or flintlock rifles (no in-line rifles). Youth and handicapped hunters may hunt during special fall seasons. Military needs take preference over hunters, even during scheduled hunting seasons.