Unit S51 (Spanish Peaks (Culebra))
Colorado Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit S51 lies in Huerfano, Costilla and Las Animas counties. CPW bounds it by U.S. 160 and Huerfano- Costilla Co. line among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 79%. Federal land covers about 47% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S51
Unit S51 lies in Huerfano, Costilla and Las Animas counties. CPW bounds it by U.S. 160 and Huerfano- Costilla Co. line among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 79%. Federal land covers about 47% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit S51
CPW's material on unit S51 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its bighorn sheep live. 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 Huerfano, Costilla and Las Animas counties.
The lines of the unit: U.S. 160 and Huerfano- Costilla Co. line
CPW has unit S51 bounded on the north by U.S. 160; on the east by I-25; on the south by NM; on the west by Huerfano- Costilla Co. line and farther south by southern Sangre de Cristo divide (Culebra range). Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. Those features are what you will check against the map all week, and the divides among them are the ones that matter.
High ground inside the line: Red Mountain, Purgatoire Peak and Spanish Peaks
Named high points inside the unit include Red Mountain at 13,896 feet, Purgatoire Peak at 13,658 feet, Spanish Peaks at 13,555 feet, West Spanish Peak at 13,555 feet and Trinchera Peak at 13,507 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: Toby Canyon, Cucharas Pass and Wilkens Park
Below them sit Toby Canyon at 10,262 feet, Cucharas Pass at 9,947 feet, Wilkens Park at 9,899 feet, Wilkins Park at 9,893 feet and Bear Canyon at 9,811 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.
Public ground to start from: Aguilar TV Hill STL, Bear Creek STL and Black Hawk STL
CPW lists Aguilar TV Hill STL, Bear Creek STL, Black Hawk STL, Bosque del Oso SWA and North Lake 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 47% of the unit on top of those.
The herd this unit belongs to: RBS-18
CPW does not manage bighorn sheep unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit RBS-18, and unit S51 is one piece of it. CPW puts no other unit in RBS-18, so this unit carries the herd on its own. Read a neighbour in the same herd before you read the state average — the herd, not the unit line, is what the agency is steering.
Unit S51 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Spanish Peaks (13,555 ft), Trinchera Peak (13,507 ft), Cuatro Peak (13,477 ft), East Spanish Peak (12,619 ft)
Holding ground: Cordova Pass (11,260 ft), Hells Canyon (10,309 ft), Bear Canyon (6,822 ft), Aguilar TV Hill STL, Bear 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 S51
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success in unit S51 at 79% — 11 animals taken by 14 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) | 1 | 17 | 5.9% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ewe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season ewe only (resident) | 1 | 24 | 4.2% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ewe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 114 | 0.9% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 57 | 1.8% | 3 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 2 | 182 | 1.1% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ewe only (resident) | 3 | 47 | 6.4% | 3 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ewe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 285 | 0.4% | 3 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Archery — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 16 | 6.3% | 3 |
| Archery — 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 S51, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- SMS51O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 114 applicants for 1 licences, 0.9% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SMS51O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Ram Only, resident: 57 applicants for 1 licences, 1.8% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SFS51O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ewe Only, resident: 17 applicants for 1 licences, 5.9% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SMS51O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 16 applicants for 1 licences, 6.3% 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 S51?
What is the bighorn sheep success rate in unit S51?
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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 S51, 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