Unit 044, 182 (Stillwater Range and Granite Mountain)
Nevada Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Units 044, 182 cover about 2,055 square miles of Pershing and Churchill counties. The Stillwater Range in Unit 182 is the main sheep country, reached from Dixie Valley on the east or past Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge on the west, with a smaller herd around Granite Mountain and Root Spring in Unit 044. Roads reach the base of the mountains. After that, you walk.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit 044, 182
Units 044, 182 cover about 2,055 square miles of Pershing and Churchill counties. The Stillwater Range in Unit 182 is the main sheep country, reached from Dixie Valley on the east or past Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge on the west, with a smaller herd around Granite Mountain and Root Spring in Unit 044. Roads reach the base of the mountains. After that, you walk.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in Units 044, 182: the Stillwater Range canyons and Root Spring
Wood, Cottonwood, Hare and Mississippi canyons in the Stillwater Range
NDOW's list of places to glass and hunt is mostly canyons in the Stillwater Range: Wood Canyon, Cottonwood Canyon, Hare Canyon, Mississippi Canyon, White Rock Canyon, North Cottonwood Canyon and the Gilberts Mine areas. On the west side of the range it adds Fondaway and Cox canyons.
Granite Mountain and Root Spring in Unit 044
Unit 044 is the secondary unit in this group. Its bighorn live in the Granite Mountain and Root Spring area, just north of McKinney Pass, and the Root Spring area is the one place there that NDOW names for hunting.
The sheet doesn't say more about where the sheep sit within those canyons, so treat the list as a starting set and fill in the rest with your own scouting. It does note that hunting effort usually begins at lower elevations, just off the valley floor. With roads ending at the base of the mountains, that's where most hunts here will start, glassing up into the canyon country from below.
The ground NDOW draws for this tag
A bighorn sheep tag for this group is good in units 044 and 182, about 2,055 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Pershing County and Churchill County. The named ranges inside the line are Stillwater Range, East Range, Goldbanks Hills and Lahontan Mountains. The highest named points are Job Peak (8,768 ft), Mount Lincoln (8,542 ft) and Granite Mountain (8,384 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 3,744 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 77 springs inside it, McElhany Spring, Mud Springs, Side Spring and High Rock Spring among them.
Unit 044, 182 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Stillwater Range (8,768 ft), Mount Lincoln (8,542 ft), Granite Mountain (8,384 ft), Carson Table Summit (8,303 ft)
Holding ground: Freeman Basin (7,699 ft), Huckleberry Canyon (6,841 ft), Hayden Pass (6,372 ft)
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 Units 044, 182: State Routes 121 and 116, and Coal Canyon
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
Any ram, any legal weapon: 5 of 6 hunters afield (83%); Any ram, archery: 0 of 1 hunters afield (0%). Figures are NDOW's own, from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.
Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — Late Season ram only (resident) | 5 | 815 | 0.6% | — |
| Rifle — Late Season ram only (nonresident) | 1 | 923 | 0.1% | — |
| Archery — Mid Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 35 | 2.9% | — |
| Archery — Early Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 36 | 2.8% | — |
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 EngineFrom 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.
- Any ram, any legal weapon — Residents: 815 demand for 5 tags, a 0.6% draw rate; Nonresidents: 923 demand for 1 tag, a 0.1% draw rate.
- Any ram, archery — Residents: 36 demand for 1 tag, a 2.8% draw rate.
NDOW's hunt data publishes no points-required figure, so none is given here.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Which units does a Nevada bighorn sheep tag for 044, 182 cover?
What was hunter success for bighorn sheep on units 044, 182 in 2025?
How hard is the bighorn sheep draw for units 044, 182?
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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 2026-10-25.
- Hunt Information Sheet — Desert bighorn sheep, 182, 044 — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Access, Recommended hunting areas, Biologist comments · accessed 2026-10-25
- 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
- NDOW Hunt Unit Boundaries — unit groups (ArcGIS) — Nevada Department of Wildlife · supports: Units 044, 182, 2,055 square miles · accessed 2026-10-25
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the group — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Stillwater Range, East Range, Goldbanks Hills, Job Peak 8,768 ft, Mount Lincoln 8,542 ft · accessed 2026-10-25