Unit S17 (Ferris-Seminoe)

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission names bighorn sheep hunt area 17 "Ferris-Seminoe". It runs to about 1,244 square miles, in Carbon (88%) and Natrona (12%) counties. WGFD reports these bighorn sheep as the Ferris-Seminoe herd unit, which also takes in bighorn sheep hunt area 26. The boundary and the harvest figures are WGFD's. The read of the country inside them is ours, and it says so where it starts.

Where bighorn sheep hunt area 17 begins and ends

WGFD's 2026 Chapter 9 walks the line around bighorn sheep hunt area 17 corner by corner. It starts at the city of Rawlins. On the way round it follows U.S. Highway 287, Wyoming Highway 220, Natrona County Road 407 and Interstate Highway 80, and North Platte River. It is the description your license is good inside, so it is worth reading once in full before you go. The full text is in Section 6 of that chapter, with this year's season dates and license limitations in Section 3.

Not the same ground as the other hunt area 17s

WGFD numbers each species' hunt areas on its own grid, so the number 17 also belongs to its deer, antelope and moose hunt areas 17. None of them shares a county with this one. A license is good only in the hunt area of its own species, so this page is about the bighorn sheep area, and the cards at the foot of the page link the others.

Ground WGFD opens: Morgan Creek and Stone Creek

WGFD administers the Morgan Creek Wildlife Habitat Management Area (4,738 acres) inside or across the line. Its Access Yes program enrolls a Hunter Management Area here that list sheep among their species — Stone Creek (14,915 acres). WGFD's 2026 regulations open Access Yes land only for the species and dates listed for each area, with each area's own rules on WGFD's site and no motorized travel unless WGFD says otherwise. Public Access Areas such as North Platte River-Pathfinder Ranches (36 acres) and North Platte River-Fort Steele (3 acres) are public ways onto water and land; check what each allows before you count on it for hunting.

High ground inside the line: Ferris Mountains, Seminoe Mountains and Bradley Peak

Named high points inside bighorn sheep hunt area 17 include Ferris Mountains at 10,012 feet, Seminoe Mountains at 8,914 feet, Bradley Peak at 8,914 feet, Windy Ridge at 7,917 feet and Haystack Mountains at 7,848 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Sheep need rock to escape into and will not stand far from it.

Holding ground: Dorr Meadow, Hays Meadow and Fieldhouse Cut

Below them sit Dorr Meadow at 7,246 feet, Hays Meadow at 7,151 feet, Fieldhouse Cut at 7,049 feet, Indian Creek Meadow at 6,944 feet and Black Canyon at 6,890 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past.

Water: Cheyenne Spring, Sand Springs and O'Brien Spring

Named water inside the line includes Cheyenne Spring, Sand Springs, O'Brien Spring, McCain Spring, Big Sand Spring and Bell Springs. Nothing in the data says which of it runs in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.