Idaho Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Unit S20 (Bighorn Sheep Hunt Area 20)

Idaho Hunting Guide — Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Hunt Area 20 is drawn from units 20, 21 and 17, in Idaho and Lemhi counties. Named ground inside it runs from 2,456 to 8,992 feet. Idaho Fish and Game publishes no per-unit Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep success figure we can verify for this hunt area. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Idaho Hunting Guide

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Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Idaho Unit S20 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep guide

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Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit S20

Where to Find Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in Hunt Area 20

Idaho Fish and Game draws an exact line around hunt area 20 and says nothing about where the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep stand inside it. Every place named below sits inside the hunt-area line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out.

What hunt area 20 is

Idaho Fish and Game draws Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt area 20 in Idaho and Lemhi counties on a line that runs along Forest Service Road 421, and past Red River, Horse Creek, Reynolds Creek and Witter Ridge, written out corner by corner in its controlled hunt area descriptions. That makes it a piece of ground drawn for this hunt, not a unit, and the outline on this page is IDFG's own polygon for it rather than a unit outline. The units it is drawn from lie in Idaho and Lemhi counties.

High ground inside the line: Stripe Mountain, Salmon Mountain and Thirteen Mountain

Named high points inside the hunt area include Stripe Mountain at 8,992 feet, Salmon Mountain at 8,928 feet, Thirteen Mountain at 8,924 feet, Waugh Mountain at 8,867 feet and Waugh Ridge at 8,867 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: Buck Creek Saddle, Thompson Flat and Smith Gulch

Below them sit Buck Creek Saddle at 6,310 feet, Thompson Flat at 4,802 feet, Smith Gulch at 2,736 feet, Big Eddy at 2,456 feet and Dead Man Saddle at 7,975 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this hunt area has, and they are what you glass into from above. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.

Water: Sheep Spring, Rattlesnake Spring and Granite Spring

Named sources include Sheep Spring, Rattlesnake Spring, Granite Spring and Cabin Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

How high the named ground goes

Named ground inside hunt area 20 runs from 2,456 feet to 8,992 feet — more than 4,000 feet between the named features alone, so the season you draw decides which part of it you hunt.

Unit S20 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Stripe Mountain (8,992 ft), Salmon Mountain (8,928 ft), Waugh Mountain (8,867 ft), Mist Peak (8,629 ft)

Holding ground: Dead Man Saddle (7,975 ft), Lost Packer Meadows (7,966 ft), Dry Saddle (7,840 ft), Sheep Spring, Rattlesnake 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 Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep in Hunt Area 20

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, so there is no Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep success figure we can tie to hunt area 20 alone, and we won't borrow one from a unit. The plan: pick a glassing position across from the escape terrain and stay on it for hours, not minutes.

The 2025 and 2026 controlled hunts

Idaho Fish and Game's 2025 and 2026 rules list one controlled hunt for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in hunt area 20.

Hunt 5004 — 2 tags, Aug 30–Oct 13

Dates and tag numbers are IDFG's as printed for that season, and IDFG changes hunt areas between years, so check the current booklet before you apply.

Applying for hunt area 20

Idaho Fish and Game takes moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat applications together, and anyone who applies for one of the three may not apply for another big game controlled hunt in the same year's first drawing, apart from the unlimited, extra, black bear and depredation hunts IDFG names. A hunter drawn for either bighorn may not apply for a bighorn tag for two years, and IDFG allows one Rocky Mountain and one California bighorn per hunter in a lifetime. Two hunters may apply together on one application. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points to build.

Glassing from Swet Point, Harrington Ridge and Sheep Hill

Take a position on one of Swet Point (8,478 ft), Harrington Ridge (8,429 ft), Sheep Hill (8,394 ft) and Square Top (8,376 ft) and be on it before light. In the dark the air runs downhill. Pick an approach that doesn't send it into the country you want to see, and plan to move once the slope warms. Glass the edges first, then the shaded timber, then the edges again as the light goes. On the rut hunts, late hunts put rams with ewe groups on the same rock.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Stripe Mountain, Salmon Mountain, Waugh Mountain and Mist Peak as places to see from, and Dead Man Saddle, Lost Packer Meadows, Dry Saddle and Sheep Spring as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the hunt-area line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Take the pair you can reach on one road and treat the rest as a second trip.

What a day here costs you

With 6,536 feet between the lowest and highest ground, the walk back up out of a kill site is the part to plan first. One good position held through the whole of first light beats three visited in a hurry.

What we can't tell you

We have no Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep success figure for this hunt area that survives checking against Idaho Fish and Game's own harvest and hunter counts, and we would rather say so than print a statewide average as though it were measured here.

Idaho rules that decide your day

Summarised from IDFG regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Idaho has no general off-road retrieval allowance on federal ground; stay on designated routes.

Tagging

Validate the tag by cutting out the month and day, and attach it to the carcass before moving it.

Leaving meat

Wasting edible meat is illegal.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No shooting from or across a public highway, and no shooting toward an occupied dwelling.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Success Rates

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics describe general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 20 is a controlled-hunt area, not a unit, so there is no figure here we can tie to it. A unit's general-season number would describe different hunters on different ground. Idaho Fish and Game's hunt planner reports controlled-hunt results hunt by hunt, which is the figure to check before you apply.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds

Draw odds data not available for this specific unit/species combination in our database.

Search Idaho Draw Odds

Idaho Fish and Game's 2026 first drawing for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep in hunt area 20, with residents and nonresidents kept apart because they draw from different tag pools:

Hunt 5004 — residents 35 applicants for 2 tags, 6% drawn; nonresidents 25 applicants for 0 tags, 0% drawn

Idaho draws at random with no point system, so these are what that year happened to look like, not a requirement to build toward. Idaho Fish and Game reuses hunt numbers for different areas between years, so the figures are matched on the area each hunt had in 2026. Checked against Idaho Fish and Game's hunt planner draw results on 2026-06-09.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

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Water

4 named water sources inside the hunt area in our water layer, including Sheep Spring, Rattlesnake Spring and Granite Spring. Which of them run in autumn is something only a scouting trip will tell you.

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Road Conditions

Idaho Fish and Game's boundary for the hunt area follows Forest Service Road 421. That is the edge, not a promise of access inside — check a current motor-vehicle-use map before you drive in.

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Terrain Difficulty

Named features inside the hunt area run from 2,456 to 8,992 ft. More than 4,000 feet between them alone, so plan the pack-out before the shot.

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Permit Notes

Idaho Fish and Game controlled hunt 5004 (2025 and 2026 rules). Moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat applications run April 1 to 30. Idaho's draw is random, with no preference or bonus points.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Idaho hunt area 20?

Hunt Area 20 is drawn from units 20, 21 and 17, in Idaho and Lemhi counties. Idaho Fish and Game draws Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt area 20 on a line that runs along Forest Service Road 421, and past Red River, Horse Creek, Reynolds Creek and Witter Ridge, written out corner by corner in its controlled hunt area descriptions.

What is the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep success rate in hunt area 20?

Idaho Fish and Game's per-unit harvest statistics cover general seasons on game management units, and hunt area 20 is a controlled-hunt area, so there is no figure we can tie to it. Idaho Fish and Game's hunt planner reports controlled-hunt results hunt by hunt, and that is the number to check before you apply.

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Sources & Verification

Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-24.

Moose, Bighorn Sheep & Mountain Goat 2025 & 2026 Seasons & Rules — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Controlled hunt area description for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep hunt area 20, The game management units the area is drawn from, Controlled hunt numbers, tags and season dates · accessed 2026-10-24
IDFG Hunt Planner — controlled hunt drawing odds — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Applicants, tags and percent drawn by hunt, year and residency · accessed 2026-06-09
IDFG GameManagementUnits and ControlledHunts_All feature services — game management units and every species' controlled-hunt areas — Idaho Department of Fish and Game · supports: Mapped extent of the unit or hunt area, Which named ground falls inside its line · accessed 2026-10-24