Unit S27-4 (Bighorn Sheep Hunt Area 27-4)

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 27-4 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 27-4.

• Hunt 5011 — 4 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 27-4

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 Sliderock Ridge, Fly Creek Point and Loon Creek Point

Take a position on one of Sliderock Ridge (9,108 ft), Fly Creek Point (8,963 ft), Loon Creek Point (7,042 ft) and Sleeping Deer Mountain (9,852 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 Sleeping Deer Mountain, Sherman Peak, Mayfield Peak and Grouse Creek Peak as places to see from, and Woodtick Summit, Loon Creek Summit and Horse Heaven Meadows as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the hunt-area line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Walk between two of them rather than driving between four, and you will learn more in a day.

What a day here costs you

With 4,705 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.