This is a small, very rugged unit consisting of Umatilla National Forest and Wenaha-Tucannon Wilderness. This unit is popular for hunters with pack animals as there are zero roads in this rough country. Your best bet at finding elk will be early on when temperatures are warmer; hunt the north facing slopes and after snow flies, key in on south-facing slopes for elk. Deer areas 1008 and 1009 divide GMU 169 and help to manage deer by distributing harvest opportunity across the wilderness area. West Butte peaks at 6,263-ft, and neighboring West Butte, Oregon Butte, along the northern border, tops out at 6,329-ft. A bit further east, Mount Misery tops at 6,368-ft, with Twin Buttes further south in the unit cresting at 5,656-ft. Butte Creek is low ground at 2,600-ft as it winds its way along with multiple random creeks and canyons pointing in every direction, breaking this country into a steep and rugged landscape.

The 2015 Grizzly Bear Complex fire burned a huge chunk of land, from the Oregon border up to the boundary line with GMU 166.