Unit S09 (Sangre De Cristo)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit S09 lies in Alamosa, Saguache, Custer and Huerfano counties. CPW bounds it by Saguache CR LL 57 and USFS 970 (Hayden Pass Rd.) among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 61%. No federal land falls inside it, so every acre is a permission question. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S09
Unit S09 lies in Alamosa, Saguache, Custer and Huerfano counties. CPW bounds it by Saguache CR LL 57 and USFS 970 (Hayden Pass Rd.) among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 61%. No federal land falls inside it, so every acre is a permission question. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit S09
What CPW publishes for unit S09 is a boundary, not a bighorn sheep map. So the ground below is the unit's own and the read on where to start is ours, labelled as such. The unit lies in Alamosa, Saguache, Custer and Huerfano counties.
The lines of the unit: Saguache CR LL 57, USFS 970 (Hayden Pass Rd.) and Fremont-Saguache
CPW has unit S09 bounded on the north by Saguache CR LL 57, USFS 970 (Hayden Pass Rd.) and Fremont-Saguache and Fremont-Custer Co. lines; on the east by Colo. 69; on the south by Huerfano CRs 550, 580, 581 and 583, USFS 583 (Mosca Pass), USFS Trail 883 and Sixmile Lane; on the west by Colo. 17 and U.S. 285. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. 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: Crestone Peaks, Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle
Named high points inside the unit include Crestone Peaks at 14,258 feet, Crestone Peak at 14,258 feet, Crestone Needle at 14,141 feet, Kit Carson Mountain at 14,131 feet and Challenger Point at 14,052 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: Cloverdale Basin, Music Pass and Horseshoe Bend
Below them sit Cloverdale Basin at 11,490 feet, Music Pass at 11,362 feet, Horseshoe Bend at 11,249 feet, Big Branch at 11,175 feet and Henderson Gulch at 10,929 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.
Public ground to start from: Foster Gulch STL, Froze Creek STL and Middle Taylor Creek SWA
CPW lists Foster Gulch STL, Froze Creek STL, Middle Taylor Creek SWA, Mineral Hot Springs STL and Mirage STL 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 0% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Antelope Springs, King Well and Cedar Spring
Named sources include Antelope Springs, King Well, Cedar Spring, Hayden Spring and Mineral Hot Springs. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
The herd this unit belongs to: RBS-10
CPW does not manage bighorn sheep unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit RBS-10, and unit S09 is one piece of it. The rest of RBS-10 is unit S8, unit S65 and unit S68. 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 S09 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Crestone Peaks (14,258 ft), Humboldt Peak (14,011 ft), Mount Adams (13,857 ft), Rito Alto Peak (13,769 ft)
Holding ground: Hermit Pass (13,013 ft), Venable Pass (12,542 ft), Kolkman Basin (11,599 ft), Foster Gulch STL, Froze Creek STL
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 S09
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success in unit S09 at 61% — 14 animals taken by 23 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 — 1st Season ewe only (resident) | 4 | 9 | 44.4% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ewe only (nonresident) | 1 | 5 | 20.0% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 8 | 780 | 1.0% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (nonresident) | 1 | 585 | 0.2% | 3 |
| Archery — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 8 | 249 | 3.2% | 3 |
| Archery — 1st Season ram only (nonresident) | 1 | 239 | 0.4% | 3 |
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 S09, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- SMS09O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 780 applicants for 8 licences, 1% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SMS09O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, nonresident: 585 applicants for 1 licences, 0.2% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SMS09O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 249 applicants for 8 licences, 3.2% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SMS09O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Ram Only, nonresident: 239 applicants for 1 licences, 0.4% 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. There are 2 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit S09?
What is the bighorn sheep success rate in unit S09?
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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 S09, 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