Unit S77 (Gore Canyon)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit S77 lies in Grand, Eagle, Summit and Routt counties. CPW bounds it by Colo. 134 and U.S. 40 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 86% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S77
Unit S77 lies in Grand, Eagle, Summit and Routt counties. CPW bounds it by Colo. 134 and U.S. 40 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 86% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Unit S77
CPW's material on unit S77 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its bighorn sheep live. 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 Grand, Eagle, Summit and Routt counties.
The lines of the unit: Colo. 134, U.S. 40 and Colo. 9
CPW has unit S77 bounded on the north by Colo. 134; on the east by U.S. 40, Colo. 9 and Blue River; on the south by Elliott Creek, Hoagland Reservoir, North Fork of Elliott Creek, Elliott Ridge/ Arapaho/White River National Forest boundary, Eagles Nest Wilderness boundary, Piney Ridge, Elk Creek and Colorado River to State Bridge; on the west by Colo. 131. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. 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: Piney Ridge, Piney Peak and Cottonwood Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Piney Ridge at 11,565 feet, Piney Peak at 11,555 feet, Cottonwood Peak at 11,485 feet, Sheep Mountain at 11,089 feet and Chimney Rock at 11,086 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: McDonald Gulch, Shane Gulch and Cow Camp Gulch
Below them sit McDonald Gulch at 7,986 feet, Shane Gulch at 7,979 feet, Cow Camp Gulch at 7,949 feet, Cottonwood Gulch at 7,943 feet and Cox Gulch at 7,939 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.
Public ground to start from: Radium SWA, Radium SWA - Blacktail Unit and Radium SWA - Hartman Unit
CPW lists Radium SWA, Radium SWA - Blacktail Unit, Radium SWA - Hartman Unit, Radium SWA - Sheephorn Unit and Radium SWA - Trail Creek Unit 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 86% of the unit on top of those.
The herd this unit belongs to: RBS-32
CPW does not manage bighorn sheep unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit RBS-32, and unit S77 is one piece of it. The rest of RBS-32 is unit S2. 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 S77 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Piney Ridge (11,565 ft), Cottonwood Peak (11,485 ft), Sheep Mountain (11,089 ft), Chimney Rock (11,086 ft)
Holding ground: McCord Pass (10,826 ft), Gore Pass (9,537 ft), Radium SWA, Radium SWA - Blacktail Unit, Radium SWA - Hartman Unit
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 S77
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put bighorn sheep success in unit S77 at 100% — 1 animals taken by 1 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) | 1 | 175 | 0.6% | 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 S77, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- SMS77O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Ram Only, resident: 175 applicants for 1 licences, 0.6% 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 S77?
What is the bighorn sheep success rate in unit S77?
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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 S77, 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