Unit 45A (Kofa Mountains and Livingston Hills)
Arizona Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
GMU 45A is Kofa country in western Arizona — the Kofa Mountains, Livingston Hills and the canyons that drain them, reached off Highway 95 between Quartzsite and Yuma. Desert bighorn here dropped sharply and have climbed steadily since 2010; the total ram count is rising, though AZGFD notes the number of Class IV rams remains very low. Tags are an extremely limited draw and rifle success has run about 75 percent. Access is a handful of rough four-wheel-drive roads into Burro Canyon, Kofa Queen Canyon and the MST&T tower, and everything past them is on foot.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit 45A
GMU 45A is Kofa country in western Arizona — the Kofa Mountains, Livingston Hills and the canyons that drain them, reached off Highway 95 between Quartzsite and Yuma. Desert bighorn here dropped sharply and have climbed steadily since 2010; the total ram count is rising, though AZGFD notes the number of Class IV rams remains very low. Tags are an extremely limited draw and rifle success has run about 75 percent. Access is a handful of rough four-wheel-drive roads into Burro Canyon, Kofa Queen Canyon and the MST&T tower, and everything past them is on foot.
Where the rams are in 45A: Livingston Hills, Burro Canyon and Kofa Queen Canyon
45A's bighorn population rebounded from a significant decline and has been climbing since 2010. The ram count is up. What hasn't recovered is the top end — AZGFD says the estimated number of Class IV rams remains very low, which is the single most useful thing to know before you decide what to hold out for.
Livingston Hills and the MST&T road
The guide's first recommendation for scouting. Take the MST&T road off Highway 95 at milepost 92.7; it runs all the way to the MST&T tower. The Livingston Hills themselves sit at 2,614 feet — low, broken ground rather than a single massif, and easier to work than the high Kofas.
Burro Canyon
From the MST&T road, side roads to the south lead into Burro Canyon, and the agency says hunters have had success there in the past. Burro Canyon bottoms out around 2,404 feet. Canyons like this are where to glass at first and last light — sheep bed on the shaded faces and feed on the benches above.
Kofa Queen Canyon and the Palm Canyon road
The other named way in: Palm Canyon road off Highway 95, then drive into Kofa Queen Canyon. The canyon floor is near 2,274 feet and the walls above it carry the range's best country. Signal Peak tops the unit at 4,856 feet, with the Kofa Mountains at 4,841, Ten Ewe Mountain at 4,697, Summit Peak at 4,276, Old Smokey Mountain at 4,238 and Hoodoo Peak at 4,125.
The canyon system, which is the real map
Sheep here are canyon animals. Inside the unit the named drainages run Summit Canyon at 2,996 feet, Indian Canyon at 2,936, Ten Ewe Canyon at 2,845, Surprise Canyon at 2,533, Hidden Canyon at 2,312, Four Palms Canyon at 2,280, Tunnel Spring Canyon at 2,266 and Tunnel Mine Canyon at 2,225, with Big Horn Pass at 3,056 as the obvious crossing. Work the heads and the junctions.
Know the land status before you glass it
Our ownership tags on these features come back unverified, and the hunt area overlaps Kofa National Wildlife Refuge ground where refuge rules apply on top of state ones. Check both the parcel and the refuge boundary in onX before you set up, and call the refuge about current regulations.
Unit 45A terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 1,388–3,393 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 2,008 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 321.5 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- BLM — 15%
- Private / Other — 85%
Roughly 15% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 19 tanks
- 8 springs
- 69 stream segments
- 1 lakes
Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Signal Peak (4,856 ft), Old Smokey Mountain (4,238 ft), High Peak (2,671 ft)
Holding ground: Big Horn Pass (3,056 ft), Summit Canyon (2,996 ft)
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 45A: rough roads in, long days on foot, and a hard decision about rams
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — General Rifle bull/buck only (combined pool) | 4 | 376 | 0.5% | — |
| Rifle — Late Rifle Nov bull/buck only (combined pool) | 5 | 694 | 0.4% | — |
| Rifle — Late Rifle Dec bull/buck only (combined pool) | 5 | 655 | 0.6% | — |
Data from 2023 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 EngineUnit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply for a bighorn sheep tag in GMU 45A?
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Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-04-17.
- AZGFD 2026 Bighorn Sheep Hunt Regulations — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Unit 45A bighorn season, Tag allocation, Legal weapon types · accessed 2026-04-17
- AZGFD Draw Portal — Hunt Drawing Information — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Bonus point draw, Historical tag counts for 45A, Applicant data · accessed 2026-04-17
- AZGFD Desert Bighorn Sheep — Species Management — Arizona Game and Fish Department · supports: Southern Arizona borderland bighorn management, Herd monitoring · accessed 2026-04-17