Unit S65 (Costilla)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit S65 lies in Costilla County. CPW bounds it by Alamosa-Costilla and Huerfano-Costilla Co. lines among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S65
Unit S65 lies in Costilla County. CPW bounds it by Alamosa-Costilla and Huerfano-Costilla Co. lines among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit S65
CPW's material on unit S65 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 Costilla County.
The lines of the unit: Alamosa-Costilla, Huerfano-Costilla Co. lines and Huerfano-Costilla Co. line
CPW has unit S65 bounded on the north by Alamosa-Costilla and Huerfano-Costilla Co. lines; on the east by Huerfano-Costilla Co. line and farther S by southern Sangre de Cristo divide (Culebra range); on the south by NM; on the west by Colo. 159 and U.S. 160. 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: Sierra Blanca, Mount Lindsey and Culebra Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Sierra Blanca at 14,318 feet, Mount Lindsey at 14,027 feet, Culebra Peak at 14,016 feet, Culebra Range at 14,007 feet and Vermejo Peak at 13,703 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: Jarioso Canyon, Indian Park and Banana Canyon
Below them sit Jarioso Canyon at 10,428 feet, Indian Park at 10,274 feet, Banana Canyon at 10,254 feet, Apache Canyon at 10,211 feet and Deep Canyon at 9,907 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.
Public ground to start from: Mountain Home Reservoir SWA and Sanchez Reservoir SWA
CPW lists Mountain Home Reservoir SWA and Sanchez Reservoir 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 52% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Cat Spring
Named sources include Cat Spring. 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 S65 is one piece of it. The rest of RBS-10 is unit S8, unit S9 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 S65 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Sierra Blanca (14,318 ft), Slide Mountain (12,301 ft), Napoleon Peak (11,854 ft)
Holding ground: Veta Pass (9,232 ft), Mountain Home Reservoir SWA, Sanchez Reservoir SWA, Cat Spring
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 S65
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success in unit S65 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 — 1st Season ram only (resident) | 2 | 181 | 1.1% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ram only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season ewe only (resident) | 2 | 23 | 8.7% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season ewe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
Data from 2024 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.
Open in Draw Odds EngineCPW's 2024 draw recap for bighorn sheep in unit S65, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- SMS65W1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 181 applicants for 2 licences, 1.1% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- SFS65W1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ewe Only, resident: 23 applicants for 2 licences, 8.7% 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 S65?
What is the bighorn sheep success rate in unit S65?
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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 S65, 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