I was on the montana fish and game page looking for info on the sheep lottery. I realize my chances are slim to none, but I figure I'm 31, if I start putting in now maybe someday before I'm dead I'll get a crack at one!!! I couldn't really find any info on it. Also, what areas are best and do they only put up the info when it comes time to apply? Thanks...

Montana used to have a couple of areas that offered unlimited tags. Anyone that wanted to put down the cash could hunt. It was always described as hellaciously rough country with low sheep numbers but they filled the quota every year.

So, you can put in for the lottery and also hunt the unlimited areas. That you you're in the running for a good tag and able to get some field experience along the way. Best of both worlds. Plus you just may be one of the lucky ones that fills every year.

quote:

Montana used to have a couple of areas that offered unlimited tags. Anyone that wanted to put down the cash could hunt. It was always described as hellaciously rough country with low sheep numbers but they filled the quota every year.

So, you can put in for the lottery and also hunt the unlimited areas. That you you're in the running for a good tag and able to get some field experience along the way. Best of both worlds. Plus you just may be one of the lucky ones that fills every year.

That ended about 12 years ago. Now you have to apply for a limited tag OR purchase an unlimited tag by May 1st. Also, if you draw a Limited Bighorn sheep license or if you kill a Unlimited Unit ram, you cannot apply for any sheep license for the next 7 years. The success rate for drawing one of the Limited Montana Ram permits is less than 1% in most Units, and Montana's Bonus point system is just a VERY little better than worthless.

This year there were only 5 Unlimited Bighorn Units, and the harvest quota was 2 or 3 rams in each Unit. Also, the Units close on 48 hours notice if the quota is filled.

Also, like Flags wrote, the Unlimited Units can be in some very rough and remote country, bordering Yellowstone National Park. The sheep move in and out of the Park, the hunters cannot.

I guess I was also one of the lucky ones that Flags mentioned. In the mid 80's, I killed 4 rams in 4 consecutive years in several of the Unlimited Units.

Flags is incorrect. You either get a guaranteed unlimited tag if that is the way you want to go or put in for a limited draw area. You cannot do both!

Thanks for the correction guys. Note that I chose the word "used". I wasn't sure if they still did it or not. I know it once was that way.

Montana is still the only place in the lower 48 that I know of that issues unlimited sheep tags. I've thought about getting one a few times, but military duties never let me know if I'll be able to make the hunt. So I never have put it.

I hunted the 300 unlimited unit twice. The first time there were no sheep to be found and after a week I had to go back to the real world. The second time, well, a small army was camped up there, all horse packed in. They had arrived about a week before and found a couple of rams in a nasty canyon just outside the Park. Season was over about 5 minutes after legal shooting hours.

It's nice country though and I'd do it again, maybe...

I just finished sheep hunting the Unlimited District #303. It is just north of Gardiner. There was a two ram quota and one was taken on October 13th on Deckard Flats (the old Firing Line). The season closed Monday, Oct.31st. This is designed to give the rams a free pass to their winter range along the Yellowstone River just downstream from the Park. I spent 9 days, saw lots of immature rams, ewes, and lambs down on the wintering grounds. However, I finally found a legal ram last Friday at mid day. Long story short he was just too young and too small. The season is now closed. As of late Monday there haven't been any rams taken in districts 501 or 502 in the Beartooth Mountains core area. Yes, it's damn tough country with a small population, but in 38 years I don't recall that NO sheep taken from at least one or two of those high country districts. I don't know what might have happened to them.
If you kill a ram, unlimited or otherwist, a hunter must wait seven years before he can even start applying again. If I'd shot the small ram, I'd be 71 before I could even try again to get a tag. Ugh!
It can be a daunting task to fill a tag in the unlimited districts as an out of state hunter. You must know the area very well, IMHO, and residents like me can actually start "hunting" when the snow leaves in the summer. You just don't pull the trigger until September 15th.
The Sun River herd still has some great rams, and of course the Missouri Breaks is the valhalla fo sheepdom these days. The areas around Missoula, Skalkaho Pass, and the Flint Creek areas have been hit with pneumonia or pink eye or some kind of crap. The areas up around Plains and Thompson Falls have also apparently taken some hits to the population.
If nothing else, what that does is load up the application areas.
Still, I had a great hunt along the Yellowstone River in perfect Fall weather and colors. Lots of game about and strane enough, few hunters to compete with.
Good luck

I'll throw in here and suggest that you avoid the unlimited hunts unless you just want to see what backpack sheep hunting is all about. They are very tough hunts with low chances of success. I hunted area 300 for my last two years of college as a resident and saw 4 legal rams, but none were shooters in my opinion. They had all just made it to 3/4 curl. I will say that both years I had a lot of fun and saw some amazing country. The units that border Yellowstone are better, but there may of may not be sheep on the huntable side of the line.

As mentioned earlier, the standard areas for MT are Thompson Falls, Sun River Canyon, and the Breaks. These are all still good areas. My dad shot his ram in Sun River Canyon in 1983, and I keep putting in there to try to shoot one where he did. 7 bonus points and counting.

The above areas give the most tags as well, but most areas of the state have quality full curl rams that will score 160 or better. I say this because the draw odds are worse in the best areas. If you just want to hunt quality sheep, don't overlook the rest of the state. That said, the draw odds are still tough. A call to the biologist in that region will give you a good picture of the quality in that area.

Montana rotates areas every other year for non-residents, so you can't put in for the same area each year. Kind of annoying, but that is the way it is. This means that I put in for Sun River every other year.

Good luck. If you get a tag one day and need a pack mule, I am your man. Any excuse to get back home is welcome, and a hunting excuse is utopia.

Thanks for the info guys! But do I have to wait for the lottery to open to find it on the website?

The regs give the previous year's odds of drawing success. They are on page 42 in the 2011 regs. Odds of drawing success. FWP never really says which is the best.

Here is a link to harvest reports: Harvest Reports