Unit 44AE (Granite Wash, Harcuvar and Black Mountains)

Unit 44A splits into three bighorn hunt areas — east, west and south — and the south is combined with unit 42. This is the eastern one, and it's the biggest herd of the three: about 117 animals, with a steady increase over the past decade. Rams in recent years have scored around 160 to 163.

Three ranges, three kinds of country

The herd spreads across the Granite Wash Mountains, the Harcuvar Mountains and the Black Mountains. Between them you get the full range of desert sheep habitat, from low rolling hills to high craggy cliffs. That variety is worth planning around — the glassing you'd do in the Granite Wash is not the glassing the Harcuvars ask for.

Access, ranked

The agency is specific and useful here: the Granite Wash has the most access of the three ranges and the Harcuvar has the least. If you're short on time or on vehicle, start in the Granite Wash. If you want the ground fewest people reach, the Harcuvars are it.

The wilderness areas

Four major BLM wilderness areas fall inside unit 44A: Harquahala, which is now in the unit 42 bighorn hunt; Gibraltar, in 44A West; and Tres Alamos and Harcuvar, both in 44A East. Inside those two, motorized travel is out — including for retrieving a sheep.

The sheep waters, and why December changes things

There are nine developed sheep waters across these hunt areas. The caveat matters: bighorn rarely water actively during the December hunts, so a water hole that was the centre of activity in September may be quiet when you hunt it. Use the waters to learn where the herd lives, then hunt the terrain rather than the trough.

The terrain to work

Our terrain layer puts Harquahala Mountain at 5,676 feet with Smith Peak at 5,233 and Harcuvar Peak at 4,583 in the neighbouring country, and the Granite Wash Mountains at 3,969. The passes between — Sunset Pass at 3,857 feet, Aso Pass at 2,938, Cunningham Pass at 2,555, Rudy Pass at 2,522 and Bullard Pass at 2,468 — are where sheep cross between ranges.

Rifle success on these tags runs about 75 percent. With a growing herd of 117 animals across three ranges, the decision that shapes the hunt is which range you commit to.

Match the range to your situation

Granite Wash for the best access and the quickest learning curve. The Black Mountains as the middle option. The Harcuvars when you want country almost nobody reaches and you're equipped to walk into it. Trying all three in a week turns a sheep hunt into a driving tour.

Don't plan on a water sit in December

Sheep rarely water actively during the December hunts. Locate the nine developed waters to understand the herd's range, then hunt the ridges, saddles and cliff bands rather than sitting a trough and waiting.

Glass from the base of the mountain

Ten or 20 power from the bottom first. Sheep with escape room above them often stand and watch; a direct climb at them sends them away unseen. Once you're up, stay within the lower two-thirds and stop regularly to sit, glass and listen for rock-fall.

Wilderness means a pack-out

Tres Alamos and Harcuvar Wilderness both sit in this hunt area with no motorized access of any kind. A desert ram boned out plus head and cape is a serious load out of craggy ground. Decide with your partner which slopes you're prepared to kill on before you glass them.

Low rolling hills need a different eye

Part of this habitat is low rolling hills rather than cliffs, and sheep there are harder to pick out because there's no skyline to catch them against. Slow down, work small sections, and look for the horizontal line of a back rather than a whole animal.

Self-sufficiency

Carry all your water, take two spares and recovery gear, and tell someone your route. Access in the Harcuvars especially is sparse enough that a breakdown is a long walk.