Bighorn Sheep Hunting Details

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It’s tough to draw a Montana license to hunt bighorn sheep. For the fall 2006 season, about two percent of all applicants were successful in drawing one of the 487 bighorn sheep licenses , including either-sex and ewe-only licenses.   Hunters pursuing sheep this fall applied for the license drawing last spring .   Bighorn hunting season is generally open Sept. 15-Nov. 26, with some exceptions .   Hunters awarded a bighorn sheep license will remember it as the hunt of a lifetime. The research and preparation required for this type of hunt is significant, and every step is important—including after-harvest steps.  

  To help, here are some of the regulations and mandatory reporting requirements bighorn sheep hunters need to keep in mind.

*  A hunter harvesting a bighorn sheep must, if required by FWP, physically return to the kill site for inspection and show the complete head and cape intact.

*  A hunter harvesting a bighorn sheep with a license valid for a "legal ram" must not alter the head and horns in any way that affects the ability to determine if it is a legal ram.

*  A hunter harvesting a bighorn ram must personally present the complete head and cape intact within 48 hours to any FWP office, game warden or designated employee in the administrative region where the bighorn ram was taken.   A transportation permit is required and will be issued at that time.

*  Bighorn ram horns greater than one-half curl must be plugged or pinned at a FWP office within 10 days after the harvest.   A list of designated personnel and phone numbers has been sent to all bighorn sheep license holders.

*  Hunter orange is required for all bighorn sheep hunters.