Unit S20 (Marshall Pass)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit S20 lies in Gunnison, Chaffee and Saguache counties. CPW bounds it by U.S. 50 and U.S. 285 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 25%. Federal land covers about 48% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S20
Unit S20 lies in Gunnison, Chaffee and Saguache counties. CPW bounds it by U.S. 50 and U.S. 285 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 25%. Federal land covers about 48% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit S20
CPW draws an exact line around unit S20 and says nothing about where the bighorn sheep stand inside it. 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 Gunnison, Chaffee and Saguache counties.
The lines of the unit: U.S. 50, U.S. 285 and Marshall Pass Rd
CPW has unit S20 bounded on the north by U.S. 50; on the east by U.S. 285; on the south by Marshall Pass Rd.; on the west by U.S. 50. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.
High ground inside the line: Mount Ouray, Chipeta Mountain and Pahlone Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Mount Ouray at 13,971 feet, Chipeta Mountain at 13,463 feet, Pahlone Peak at 12,636 feet, Mount Peck at 12,202 feet and Peel Point at 12,123 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: Devils Armchair, Monarch Pass and Taylor Gulch
Below them sit Devils Armchair at 11,911 feet, Monarch Pass at 11,308 feet, Taylor Gulch at 9,506 feet, Hunter Gulch at 8,469 feet and Dry Lake Gulch at 8,123 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.
Public ground to start from: Little Cochetopa Creek STL and Poncha Pass STL
CPW lists Little Cochetopa Creek STL and Poncha Pass 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 48% of the unit on top of those.
The herd this unit belongs to: RBS-11
CPW does not manage bighorn sheep unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit RBS-11, and unit S20 is one piece of it. The rest of RBS-11 is unit S10. 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 S20 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Mount Ouray (13,971 ft), Chipeta Mountain (13,463 ft), Pahlone Peak (12,636 ft), Mount Peck (12,202 ft)
Holding ground: Devils Armchair (11,911 ft), Monarch Pass (11,308 ft), Taylor Gulch (9,506 ft), Little Cochetopa Creek STL, Poncha Pass 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 S20
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success in unit S20 at 25% — 1 animals taken by 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 2 | 42 | 4.8% | 3 |
| Archery — 1st Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 2 | 61 | 3.3% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st 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 S20, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- SMS20O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 61 applicants for 2 licences, 3.3% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SMS20O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 42 applicants for 2 licences, 4.8% 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 S20?
What is the bighorn sheep success rate in unit S20?
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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 S20, 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