Arizona Bighorn Sheep

Unit 27S/28N (Lower Eagle Creek)

Arizona Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep

The 27S/28N bighorn hunt is the Lower Eagle Creek herd in the southwest corner of unit 27, managed together with the unit 28 bighorn hunts in the Gila Mountains and Gila Box country. Unit 27 carries four hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn populations and this is the one shared with its southern neighbour. These are Rocky Mountain bighorn rather than desert sheep, living in steep, rocky canyon country where rams have been exceptional — unit 27's Upper Blue River herd produced the current state record at 194 3/8 points. Access is limited, a good deal of it on foot or horseback, and AZGFD advises anyone without mountain-seasoned stock to hire an outfitter who has it.

View Draw Odds Arizona Hunting Guide

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91%

Public Land

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Bighorn Sheep guide

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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit 27S/28N

Where the rams are: Lower Eagle Creek, and the unit 28 country it is hunted with

Unit 27 has four hunted Rocky Mountain bighorn populations, and this tag is the third of them — Lower Eagle Creek, in the southwest corner of the unit, managed in conjunction with the unit 28 bighorn hunts. Read the unit 28 material alongside this page, because that's where the agency puts the detail for this herd.

Eagle Creek, which holds most of the sheep

On the unit 28 side, the majority of the Rocky Mountain bighorn live in the Eagle Creek drainage, with the broader population spread between Bonita Creek, Eagle Creek, the Gila Mountains and the Gila River. Best access to Eagle Creek is the Lower Eagle Creek Pump Station Road. The terrain is very rough, rugged and steep and the roads are few.

The private-holdings problem

Freeport McMoRan's Morenci operation holds a large block of private ground through this country, Eagle Creek included. Eagle Creek itself is open to the public. For their other holdings, contact security at the Morenci office before the season to discuss access — and understand that active mining sites are closed outright.

Canyons worth scouting

From the unit 28 description: Gold Gulch, Bat Canyon, Turtle Mountain, Midnight Canyon, Horseshoe Canyon, Copperplate Canyon and Hot Springs Canyon. The Gila Box can be reached by hiking from the Eagle Creek or Bonita Creek sides, or by floating the Gila River when water levels allow.

What unit 27's other herds tell you about this country

The Upper Blue River herd, further north in the same unit, produced the current state record ram at 194 3/8 points in 2007 and averages rams in the 170s. The Bear Canyon and Foote Creek portions have both produced rams in the 170s. That's the calibre of animal this unit's canyon country grows, and it's why these are once-in-a-lifetime tags.

Why stock is the recommendation

AZGFD advises hunters who draw a unit 27 bighorn tag and don't have access to mountain-seasoned horses or mules to book an outfitter-guide experienced in hunting this remote country with horses. Licensed guide lists come from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests — the Alpine Ranger District on 928-339-4384 or the Clifton Ranger District on 928-687-8600. Both districts also sell the Forest Service maps you'll want.

Unit 27S/28N terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: South Mountain (9,517 ft), Blue Peak (9,343 ft), Burke Point (9,126 ft), Tenny Mountain (9,056 ft)

Holding ground: Spit Sink (9,279 ft), Cache Cienega (9,211 ft), Lost Cienega (9,101 ft), Canteen Spring, Indian Spring

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

How to hunt it: finding the ram is easy, reaching him and carrying him out is not

The agency's own framing of bighorn hunting is the most useful sentence on the page: bighorn are usually highly visible and not as elusive as other big game, so the hard part is locating the rams and then negotiating the terrain they live in. Plan the hunt around the second half of that.

Kit, as the agency lists it

Good hiking boots. A spotting scope and binoculars. A flat-shooting rifle with a scope. And plenty of help to pack your ram out. That last item is not an afterthought — boned-out meat plus the head and cape for a bighorn ram commonly exceeds 200 pounds.

Two hundred pounds, out of a steep rocky canyon, is a conversation to have with your partners before the season rather than at the animal. Horses or mules solve it. Three fit people and two trips solve it. One person cannot.

Glass from across, not from above

Canyon sheep are found by sitting still with a spotting scope on the opposite wall and letting the light rotate. The core of this country is steep rock with pinyon-juniper and mahogany-oak browse, and sheep show against it when they move. Give a face an hour before you decide it's empty.

Water, weather and the Blue River

If your hunt takes you into the wider unit 27 canyons, take the flood warning seriously: the areas along KP Canyon were burned by the Wallow Fire and floods down the Blue River are frequent, with flash floods highly likely in wet weather. Be prepared to wait out high water and don't cross the river when it's flooded. Weather in this season is unpredictable enough that you should pack for warm days and freezing mornings in the same trip.

Respect the access you've got

Getting into the Bear Canyon country involves crossing private land at the end of the Blue River Road, and the agency asks hunters to respect all private property so that access continues. On a once-in-a-lifetime tag it costs you nothing to be the hunter the landowner is glad to see.

Arizona rules that decide your day

Summarised from AZGFD regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken only during daylight hours — from sunrise to sunset. Check the sunrise and sunset times for your unit, not for Phoenix.

Motorized retrieval

Arizona permits motorized big-game retrieval only where the unit's travel-management decision allows it, and in several units only for elk. Where it is allowed it means one vehicle, one trip, within one mile of a road shown open on the Motor Vehicle Use Map — never inside a quiet area, a wilderness or a closed area. Pull the MVUM for your ranger district and confirm before you shoot somewhere you cannot carry an animal out of.

Tagging

Sign your tag before you go afield and attach it to the animal immediately after the kill. Hunters aged 10–13 must carry their Hunter Education card with the licence and tag.

Leaving meat

Leaving edible meat in the field is illegal. Edible meat means the four quarters and the loins at a minimum.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting within a quarter mile of an occupied farmhouse, cabin, lodge or building without the owner's permission. That rules out shooting toward most lakeside cabin tracts.
Campsites and developed areas — Forest Service rules prohibit discharging a firearm within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area.
Roads and water — No shooting from a vehicle, and no shooting on, across or into a road. No shooting across a body of water adjacent to a Forest road.

Bighorn Sheep: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Bighorn Sheep Success Rates

Rifle75%

Success rates for Unit 27S/28N run 85–95% across recent seasons. With only ~6 tags over three years, every hunter is heavily scouted and often guided. Ram quality is solid — 155–170 B&C is the typical range.

Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Late Rifle Nov bull/buck only (combined pool)	3	1,075	0.3%	—
Rifle — Late Rifle Dec bull/buck only (combined pool)	2	479	0.0%	—

Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

Unit 27S/28N is a once-in-a-lifetime bighorn draw. With only ~6 tags across three years and 1,112 applicants, odds per applicant run around 0.5%. Arizona's weighted bonus-point system routes 20% of tags to max-point holders first; the other 80% run through a random weighted draw. Expect 15–25+ bonus points for realistic competitiveness. Harvesting an Arizona bighorn ends your eligibility to apply for that species in the state again.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Trailer Access

US-70 and US-191 paved and handle any rig. BLM and forest roads into sheep country are rough and generally not trailer-friendly.

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Water

Fill in Safford, Solomon, or Pima. Bonita Creek runs seasonally. Pack water for all stalks.

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Road Conditions

Highways paved. Black Hills Byway graded dirt (rough but passable 2WD dry). Backcountry FR routes 4WD/high-clearance only.

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Terrain Difficulty

Extreme. Canyon rim descents, cliff bands, loose rock, thick catclaw brush. Multi-thousand-foot vertical relief is common.

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Hunting Pressure

Minimal. 2 tags per year.

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Weather

Sheep season November–December. Days 55–75°F, nights 30–45°F. Generally dry with occasional rim-country snow.

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Cell Service

Coverage near Safford and US-70. None in the Gila Box or Pinaleño backcountry. Satellite communicator required.

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Nearest Town

Safford (full services, hospital). Solomon and Pima (limited). Willcox 45 minutes south.

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Permit Notes

Bighorn tag required. Gila Box NCA has specific camping and access rules — check BLM info pre-hunt.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does 27S/28N compare to Unit 28 bighorn?

Both draw from similar southeast Arizona herds. 27S/28N specifically targets the Gila Box and Pinaleño north-slope populations, while Unit 28 is broader. Quality and odds are similar.

Is the Gila Box open to hunting?

Yes. The Gila Box Riparian NCA is BLM-managed and open to hunting with valid AZGFD tags. Respect the riparian conservation area rules and avoid vehicle travel off designated routes.

Are guides required?

No, but strongly recommended. Most successful 27S/28N hunters use local outfitters who track specific ram groups year-round.

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Sources & Verification

Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-04-17.

AZGFD Desert Bighorn Sheep Management — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Combined 27S/28N sheep hunt, Gila River canyon population, Once-in-a-lifetime tag, Pinaleño north-slope habitat · accessed 2026-04-17
AZGFD Draw Portal — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Combined 27S/28N draw rules, Historical odds, Tag caps · accessed 2026-04-17
Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area — Bureau of Land Management · supports: Gila Box access, Bonita Creek, Camping rules · accessed 2026-04-17
Coronado National Forest — Safford Ranger District — USDA Forest Service · supports: Pinaleño north-slope access, Forest road network, Wilderness rules · accessed 2026-04-17