Unit 184 (Desatoya Mountains and the Broken Hills)
Nevada Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Unit 184 covers about 820 square miles of Churchill and Lander counties, centred on the Desatoya Mountains east of Fallon. NDOW's desert bighorn sheet keeps the plan simple: drive Highway 50 to the base of the range, then climb. Roads rarely go higher than the foot of the mountain, and the sheet warns that the ground is steep, rocky and quick to turn stormy.
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Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit 184
Unit 184 covers about 820 square miles of Churchill and Lander counties, centred on the Desatoya Mountains east of Fallon. NDOW's desert bighorn sheet keeps the plan simple: drive Highway 50 to the base of the range, then climb. Roads rarely go higher than the foot of the mountain, and the sheet warns that the ground is steep, rocky and quick to turn stormy.
Where to Find Desert Bighorn Sheep in Unit 184: Big Den Creek, Desatoya Peak and Carroll Summit
The Desatoya Mountains: the Den creeks to Carroll Summit
NDOW calls the Desatoya Mountains the primary range for Unit 184's bighorn herd, and most of the places its sheet names to glass and hunt are on that range or beside it. Start with Big Den Creek and Little Den Creek. Desatoya Peak, one of the range's high points, is on the list, and so is Carroll Summit. The Eastgate "Hills", a name NDOW puts in quotation marks, complete it.
The sheet doesn't rank these areas or say how sheep shift between them over the season. Treat them as a set of glassing points to work through, starting with whichever lies closest to where your road ends at the base of the mountain. From there it's a climb, because NDOW expects the higher sheep habitat to be reached on foot.
South of Highway 50: Grayback and the Broken Hills
NDOW also tells hunters to consider the Grayback and the Broken Hills, south of Highway 50. They sit apart from the main Desatoya range, so they mean a different drive and a different set of canyons. The sheet offers them as worth a look without saying how many sheep use them. Timing gives you two windows: an archery hunt through September, and the any-legal-weapon hunt from mid-October to mid-November.
The ground NDOW draws for this tag
A bighorn sheep tag for this group is good in unit 184, about 820 square miles measured on NDOW's own boundary, in Churchill County and Lander County. The named ranges inside the line are East Gate Range, Broken Hills and Desatoya Mountains. The highest named points are Desatoya North Twin (9,964 ft), Desatoya Peak (9,958 ft) and Bald Mountain (8,964 ft), and the lowest named ground sits near 4,686 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 30 springs inside it, White Rock Springs, Smith Creek Valley Hot Springs, Snell Spring and Abel Spring among them.
Unit 184 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 5,051–8,400 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,588 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 820.2 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
Water on the ground
- 15 tanks
- 86 springs
- 153 stream segments
- 1 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: Desatoya North Twin (9,964 ft), Bald Mountain (8,964 ft), Indian Peak (8,534 ft), Emigrant Peak (7,835 ft)
Holding ground: Grayback (7,504 ft), Big Den (7,497 ft), Carroll Summit (7,478 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 Desert Bighorn Sheep in Unit 184: Highway 50 from Fallon and a Long Climb
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
Any ram, any legal weapon: 7 of 7 hunters afield (100%); Any ram, archery: 1 of 1 hunters afield (100%). Figures are NDOW's own, from its 2025 Big Game Hunt Data.
Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts (n/p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — Early Season ram only (resident) | 5 | 154 | 3.2% | — |
| Rifle — Early Season ram only (nonresident) | 1 | 84 | 1.2% | — |
| Rifle — Mid Season ram only (resident) | 6 | 353 | 1.7% | — |
| Rifle — Mid Season ram only (nonresident) | 1 | 316 | 0.3% | — |
| Archery — Early Season ram only (resident) | 1 | 21 | 4.8% | — |
Data from 2020 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: 353 demand for 6 tags, a 1.7% draw rate; Nonresidents: 316 demand for 1 tag, a 0.3% draw rate.
- Any ram, archery — Residents: 21 demand for 1 tag, a 4.8% 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 184 cover?
What was hunter success for bighorn sheep on units 184 in 2025?
How hard is the bighorn sheep draw for units 184?
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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, 184 — 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 184, 820 square miles · accessed 2026-10-25
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the group — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: East Gate Range, Broken Hills, Desatoya Mountains, Desatoya North Twin 9,964 ft, Desatoya Peak 9,958 ft · accessed 2026-10-25