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Nevada Mule Deer Bighorn Sheep

Unit 022 (Virginia Mountains, Pah Rah Range and Tule Ridge)

Nevada Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Bighorn Sheep

Unit 022 lies just north of Reno, about 1,500 square miles of Washoe County that's mostly public land. The north end around Vinegar Peak and Tule Ridge has aspen and good deer cover but poor access past private ranches, while the south offers rough two-tracks to Virginia Peak, Pond Peak and Spanish Springs Peak. Hunters often stay in Reno and commute.

🏔️
41%
Public Land
⛰️
3,795–6,030 ft
Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 022

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Nevada Unit 022 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.

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 022

Unit 022 lies just north of Reno, about 1,500 square miles of Washoe County that's mostly public land. The north end around Vinegar Peak and Tule Ridge has aspen and good deer cover but poor access past private ranches, while the south offers rough two-tracks to Virginia Peak, Pond Peak and Spanish Springs Peak. Hunters often stay in Reno and commute.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 022: Tule Ridge, Vinegar Peak and the Pah Rah Range

Vinegar Peak and Tule Ridge in the north

In the north end of Unit 022, NDOW says to concentrate on the Vinegar Peak and Tule Ridge areas. Access there is poor, and the sheet expects hunters to be ready to hike off established trails to find deer. That's also where the aspen grows. Aspen stands sit mainly in the northern part of the unit and give deer excellent cover.

The Pah Rah Range and the southern peaks

In the Pah Rah Range, access is from the west side through Warm Springs Valley. Farther south, the country around Virginia Peak, Pond Peak and Spanish Springs Peak gives you places to hunt mule deer in the southern part of the unit.

Open brush that makes glassing work

Upper-elevation deer habitat here is mountain mahogany, big sagebrush, bitterbrush, juniper and other mountain brush. Compared with eastern Nevada, NDOW says the vegetation is open, which makes it well suited to spotting deer. Use that. Glass the mahogany and bitterbrush slopes from a distance before you commit to a hike, especially in the north, where NDOW expects you to hike off established trails.

Put together, the sheet sets up a simple choice: the harder-to-reach north with aspen cover and Tule Ridge, or the more accessible southern peaks.

The ground NDOW draws for this tag

A mule deer tag for this group is good in unit 022, about 1,515 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Washoe County. The named ranges inside the line are Fox Range, Terraced Hills, Virginia Mountains, Painted Hills, Pah Rah Range and Lake Range. The highest named points are Tule Peak (8,715 ft), Virginia Peak (8,360 ft) and Pah Rah Mountain (8,248 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 3,817 feet. We don't print a land-status split for Nevada groups, because the figures we held didn't come from BLM's surface-management data; check BLM's current map for private parcels before you cross a fence or a cattle guard. GNIS names 71 springs inside it, West Springs, Cottonwood Spring, Right Hand Spring and Stag Spring among them.

Unit 022 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

  • 3,795–6,030 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,676 ft ; peaks can run higher.
  • 1,515.1 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Water on the ground

  • 72 tanks
  • 83 springs
  • 3,716 stream segments
  • 12 lakes

Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Tule Peak (8,715 ft), Virginia Peak (8,360 ft), Pah Rah Range (7,882 ft), Fox Range (7,587 ft)

Holding ground: Scott Pass (7,991 ft), Mahogany Flat (7,951 ft), Right Hand Canyon (5,882 ft), Salt Cabin Spring, Upper Scott 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 Mule Deer in Unit 022: Winnemucca Ranch Road, Highway 447 and blocked canyons

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Mule Deer Success Rates

Antlered, any legal weapon: 23 of 40 hunters afield (57%); Junior, seasonal weapon restriction: 13 of 18 hunters afield (72%); Antlered, archery: 5 of 14 hunters afield (36%); Antlered, muzzleloader: 3 of 7 hunters afield (43%). Figures are NDOW's own, from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

SeasonTagsApplicantsDraw %Pts (n/p)
Rifle — Mid Season bull/buck only (resident) 404059.9% —
Rifle — Mid Season bull/buck only (nonresident) 2553.6% —
Rifle — Limited Entry either sex (resident) 203951.3% —
Rifle — Limited Entry either sex (nonresident) 100.0% —
Rifle — Limited Entry antlerless (resident) 156025.0% —
Rifle — Early Season either sex (resident) 204742.6% —
Archery — Early Season bull/buck only (resident) 153345.5% —
Archery — Early Season bull/buck only (nonresident) 2825.0% —
Muzzleloader — Early Season bull/buck only (resident) 62227.3% —
Muzzleloader — Early Season bull/buck only (nonresident) 1333.3% —

Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number. This agency publishes no point thresholds, so the Pts column stays blank and these are pool odds, not what a point total draws.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

From NDOW's 2025 Big Game Hunt Data. Demand is NDOW's count of tags awarded plus first-choice applicants who did not draw; its draw rate is tags over demand.

  • Antlered, any legal weapon — Residents: 405 demand for 40 tags, a 9.9% draw rate; Nonresidents: 55 demand for 2 tags, a 3.6% draw rate.
  • Junior, seasonal weapon restriction — Residents: 47 demand for 20 tags, a 42.6% draw rate.
  • Antlered, archery — Residents: 33 demand for 15 tags, a 45.5% draw rate; Nonresidents: 8 demand for 2 tags, a 25.0% draw rate.
  • Antlered, muzzleloader — Residents: 22 demand for 6 tags, a 27.3% draw rate; Nonresidents: 3 demand for 1 tag, a 33.3% draw rate.
  • Guided antlered, any legal weapon — Nonresidents: 4 demand for 2 tags, a 50.0% draw rate.

NDOW's hunt data publishes no points-required figure, so none is given here.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which units does a Nevada mule deer tag for 022 cover?
NDOW draws it as one unit group: unit 022, about 1,515 square miles in Washoe County. The tag is good anywhere inside that line and nowhere outside it.
What was hunter success for mule deer on units 022 in 2025?
On NDOW's largest 2025 mule deer hunt here, the antlered hunt (any legal weapon), Oct 05 - Nov 05, 23 of 40 hunters afield filled their tag, 57%. That is NDOW's figure from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.
How hard is the mule deer draw for units 022?
For the antlered hunt (any legal weapon) NDOW counted 405 resident demand for 40 tags in 2025, a 9.9% draw rate, and 55 nonresident demand for 2, 3.6%. NDOW publishes no points-required figure in that data.
Which units does a Nevada bighorn sheep tag for 022 cover?
NDOW draws it as one unit group: unit 022, about 1,515 square miles in Washoe County. The tag is good anywhere inside that line and nowhere outside it.
What was hunter success for bighorn sheep on units 022 in 2025?
On NDOW's largest 2025 bighorn sheep hunt here, the any ram hunt (any legal weapon), Sep 01 - Nov 10, 2 of 2 hunters afield filled their tag, 100%. That is NDOW's figure from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.
How hard is the bighorn sheep draw for units 022?
For the any ram hunt (any legal weapon) NDOW counted 1,087 resident demand for 2 tags in 2025, a 0.2% draw rate. NDOW publishes no points-required figure in that data.

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Sources & Verification

Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-25.

  1. Hunt Information Sheet — Mule deer, 022 — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25
  2. 2025 Nevada Big Game Hunt Data — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Seasons, quotas and tags issued, Demand and draw rate by residency, Hunters afield, successful hunters and hunter success, Days hunted · accessed 2026-10-25
  3. NDOW Hunt Unit Boundaries — unit groups (ArcGIS) — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Units 022, 1,515 square miles · accessed 2026-10-25
  4. Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the group — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Fox Range, Terraced Hills, Virginia Mountains, Tule Peak 8,715 ft, Virginia Peak 8,360 ft · accessed 2026-10-25
  5. Hunt Information Sheet — California bighorn sheep, 022, 021 — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25