Unit S31 (Blanca River)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit S31 lies in Archuleta, Conejos and Rio Grande counties. CPW bounds it by Mineral-Archuleta Co. line and USFS 667 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 58% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S31
Unit S31 lies in Archuleta, Conejos and Rio Grande counties. CPW bounds it by Mineral-Archuleta Co. line and USFS 667 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 58% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit S31
CPW draws an exact line around unit S31 and says nothing about where the bighorn sheep stand inside it. Every place named below sits inside the unit line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out. The unit lies in Archuleta, Conejos and Rio Grande counties.
The lines of the unit: Mineral-Archuleta Co. line, USFS 667 and Continental Divide
CPW has unit S31 bounded on the north by Mineral-Archuleta Co. line and USFS 667; on the east by Continental Divide; on the south by NM; on the west by U.S. 84 and U.S. 160. 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: Montezuma Peak, Long Trek Mountain and Banded Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Montezuma Peak at 13,144 feet, Long Trek Mountain at 12,861 feet, Banded Peak at 12,767 feet, Blackhead Peak at 12,473 feet and Quartz Ridge at 12,397 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: Virginia Meadow, East Meadow and South Meadow
Below them sit Virginia Meadow at 8,009 feet, East Meadow at 8,000 feet, South Meadow at 7,953 feet, Bear Meadow at 7,889 feet and Bear Basin at 7,888 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.
The herd this unit belongs to: RBS-24
CPW does not manage bighorn sheep unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit RBS-24, and unit S31 is one piece of it. The rest of RBS-24 is unit S29 and unit S30. 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 S31 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Montezuma Peak (13,144 ft), Blackhead Peak (12,473 ft), Quartz Ridge (12,397 ft), Chalk Mountains (11,984 ft)
Holding ground: Gunsight Pass (12,212 ft), Elwood Pass (11,647 ft), Bear Basin (7,888 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 Bighorn Sheep in Unit S31
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success in unit S31 at 100% — 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 2 | 135 | 1.5% | 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 S31, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- SMS31O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 135 applicants for 2 licences, 1.5% 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 S31?
What is the bighorn sheep success rate in unit S31?
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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 2026-10-23.
- 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 S31, 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