Unit S04 (Grant)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit S04 lies in Clear Creek, Park and Jefferson counties. CPW bounds it by N boundary of Pike National Forest and USFS Trail 603 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 41% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S04
Unit S04 lies in Clear Creek, Park and Jefferson counties. CPW bounds it by N boundary of Pike National Forest and USFS Trail 603 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 41% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit S04
CPW draws an exact line around unit S04 and says nothing about where the bighorn sheep stand inside it. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Clear Creek, Park and Jefferson counties.
The lines of the unit: N boundary of Pike National Forest, USFS Trail 603 and Tumbling Creek
CPW has unit S04 bounded on the north by N boundary of Pike National Forest, USFS Trail 603, a line from junctions of USFS trails 603 and 602 to head of Tumbling Creek, Tumbling Creek, Beartrack Creek and Bear Creek; on the east by CR 73; on the east and south by U.S. 285; on the south by North Fork of South Platte River; on the west by Continental Divide. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. Its value is practical — those are the features you will navigate by, and the ridges that separate one day's country from another's.
High ground inside the line: Square Top Mountain, Rosalie Peak and Epaulet Mountain
Named high points inside the unit include Square Top Mountain at 13,770 feet, Rosalie Peak at 13,571 feet, Epaulet Mountain at 13,507 feet, Landslide Peak at 13,218 feet and Mount Logan at 12,874 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Sheep need rock to escape into and will not stand far from it.
Holding ground: Mill Gulch, Handcart Gulch and Sawmill Gulch
Below them sit Mill Gulch at 9,868 feet, Handcart Gulch at 9,868 feet, Sawmill Gulch at 9,722 feet, Buno Gulch at 9,686 feet and Geneva Park at 9,659 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.
Public ground to start from: Crooked Top STL and Mount Evans SWA
CPW lists Crooked Top STL and Mount Evans SWA inside this unit as ground open to public hunting. Each property sets its own restrictions, and the agency's page for it is where they are written down. Federal land covers about 41% of the unit on top of those.
The herd this unit belongs to: RBS-04
CPW does not manage bighorn sheep unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit RBS-04, and unit S04 is one piece of it. The rest of RBS-04 is unit S3 and unit S41. So the objective behind your tag was written for that whole area, and a neighbouring unit in the same herd is a fairer comparison than the statewide figure.
Unit S04 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Square Top Mountain (13,770 ft), Rosalie Peak (13,571 ft), Epaulet Mountain (13,507 ft), Landslide Peak (13,218 ft)
Holding ground: Guanella Pass (11,667 ft), Smelter Basin (11,401 ft), Kirby Gulch (9,891 ft), Crooked Top STL, Mount Evans SWA
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 Bighorn Sheep in Unit S04
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success in unit S04 at 100% — 3 animals taken by 3 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside it.
These are the agency's own printed figures for this unit, not a modelled estimate and not a state average. They describe one season, so check CPW's current harvest estimates before you read a trend into them.
Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — 2nd Season ewe only (resident) | 2 | 24 | 8.3% | 3 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ewe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 2 | 185 | 1.1% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 70 | 1.4% | 3 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
Data from 2026 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.
Open in Draw Odds EngineCPW's 2026 draw recap for bighorn sheep in unit S04, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- SMS04O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 185 applicants for 2 licences, 1.1% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SMS04O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Ram Only, resident: 70 applicants for 1 licences, 1.4% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SFS04O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Ewe Only, resident: 24 applicants for 2 licences, 8.3% drawn, 3 preference points needed
Colorado runs a pure preference-point draw, so the point figure above is the requirement the agency published for that code in that year, not a forecast for the next one. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit S04?
What is the bighorn sheep success rate in unit S04?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-23.
- Colorado Sheep & Goat Hunting Brochure — Game Management Unit (GMU) Descriptions (pp. 16-17) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Data analysis unit (DAU) the unit belongs to · accessed 2026-10-22
- 2023 Colorado Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for bighorn sheep in unit S04, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
- CPW CPWAdminData feature service — GMU and sheep/goat unit boundaries — Colorado Parks and Wildlife GIS Unit · supports: Mapped extent of the unit, Which named ground falls inside the unit line · accessed 2026-10-22