Hunt 568A (Sheepshead Mountains)
Oregon Hunting Guide — Bighorn Sheep
Sheepshead Mountains is a bighorn hunt in southeast Oregon, covering the part of Unit 68 north of a line from Burns Junction. It's nearly all public land and is built around Mickey Butte, Table Mountain and Ryegrass Butte.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 568A
Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Oregon Unit 568A 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.
Free accounts get one report a year with the top spot unlocked. ProHunt Pro includes unlimited reports, all three spots, the full camp plan, and GPX/KML downloads for onX and Google Earth. Prefer to see one first? Open the builder and pick any unit.
Bighorn Sheep Hunting in Unit 568A
Sheepshead Mountains is a bighorn hunt in southeast Oregon, covering the part of Unit 68 north of a line from Burns Junction. It's nearly all public land and is built around Mickey Butte, Table Mountain and Ryegrass Butte.
Where to Find Bighorn Sheep in the Sheepshead Mountains: the buttes north of Mickey Hot Springs Road
The line starts at Burns Junction
ODFW describes this hunt as the part of Unit 68 north of a line that begins at Burns Junction. From there the line goes south on US 95 for several miles to the Crooked Creek and Mickey Hot Springs road, which runs on BLM roads, then west to the East Steens County Road. Counties are Malheur and Harney, and ODFW lists the ground as almost all public.
Buttes out of low ground
Mickey Butte, at 6,303 feet, is the high named point. Table Mountain, Small Butte, Ryegrass Butte and Coffin Butte round out the list, and the lowest named elevation is about 3,922 feet. These are isolated buttes rising above low terrain, not a continuous range. Sheep ground will sit on the faces and rims of those buttes, so mark each one on your map and plan to glass them one at a time rather than trying to cover the whole block in a day. US 95 and the East Steens County Road frame the south and west edges, and BLM roads connect the buttes. Plan on gravel and slow driving, and carry a full-size spare.
The ground ODFW draws for this hunt
ODFW's boundary for this hunt covers about 444 square miles, 95% of it public land by ODFW's count. Named features inside the line fall in Malheur County and Harney County. Elevation runs from about 3,922 to 6,303 feet. The highest named points are Mickey Butte (6,303 ft), Table Mountain (6,055 ft) and Small Butte (5,775 ft). ODFW's description reads: "95% public lands. That part of Unit 68 north of the following line: Beginning at Burns Junction; south 6 mi on US Hwy 95 to Crooked Cr/Mickey Hot Springs Rd (BLM Rds 6313000, 7282100 and 7282000); west on that route to East Steens Co Rd about 4 mi north" ODFW's line is the legal one, so check it against a current land-ownership map, and get permission before you cross private ground or a locked gate inside it.
Unit 568A terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,093–5,748 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,790 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 444 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- BLM — 15%
- Private / Other — 85%
Roughly 15% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 6 tanks
- 8 stream segments
- 2 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: Mickey Butte (6,303 ft), Table Mountain (6,055 ft), Small Butte (5,775 ft), Ryegrass Butte (5,773 ft)
Holding ground: Groan Canyon (4,616 ft), Big Basin (4,461 ft), Mickey Canyon (4,427 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 the Sheepshead Mountains: one butte at a time
Bighorn Sheep Success Rates
568A1 Sheepshead Mtns No. 1: 2 taken on 1 tag; 568A2 Sheepshead Mtns No. 2: 1 taken on 1 tag. Figures are ODFW's own 2025 harvest statistics.
Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery — Controlled ram only (resident) | 1 | 638 | 0.2% | — |
| Archery — Controlled ram only (resident) | 1 | 237 | 0.4% | — |
| Any Legal Weapon — Controlled ram only (resident) | 1 | 711 | 0.1% | — |
| Any Legal Weapon — Controlled ram only (resident) | 1 | 485 | 0.2% | — |
Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.
Open in Draw Odds EngineFrom ODFW's 2026 regulations, residents and nonresidents together: 2026 tags against 2025 first-choice applicants.
- 568A1 Sheepshead Mtns No. 1: 2 tags for 2026; 505 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 568A2 Sheepshead Mtns No. 2: 1 tags for 2026; 638 first-choice applicants in 2025.
ODFW sets a point cut-off per hunt each year; its point summary reports carry it.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
What ground does this Oregon bighorn sheep page cover?
When is the 2026 bighorn sheep season here?
Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro
Unlock advanced tactics, the Tag-to-Trail Planner, AI hunt strategy assistant, and personalized camp and trip execution plans.
Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-30.
- 2026 Oregon Big Game Hunting Regulations — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · supports: Hunt areas and boundary descriptions, Seasons, bag limits and 2026 tags · accessed 2026-10-30
- Big game hunting harvest statistics, 2025 — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · supports: Hunters, harvest and success · accessed 2026-10-30
- Wildlife Management Units (ArcGIS) — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · supports: 444 square miles · accessed 2026-10-30
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the boundary — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Mickey Butte 6,303 ft, Table Mountain 6,055 ft · accessed 2026-10-30