Hunting districts / Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep hunting district · Region 2 (Missoula)
District 203
Montana hunting district 203 (Bighorn sheep), FWP Region 2 (Missoula): 412 sq mi in Missoula, Mineral counties; 83% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land (mostly Lolo National Forest); median elevation 4,688 ft; FWP estimated 3 sheep harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the quietest for sheep hunters of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 0.0 sheep hunter-days per square mile in 2025. FWP harvest estimates (calculated per sq mi)
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 76.2% | |
| Montana FWP | 4.3% | |
| Montana state trust land | 2.2% |
Area of Montana State Library 'Montana Public Lands' polygons (derived from the Montana Cadastral Framework, Department of Revenue ownership records) intersected with the FWP district boundary, measured in NAD83(2011) Montana State Plane (EPSG:6514). Ownership is not access: some public land is closed to hunting or has no legal access.
Sheep harvest estimates
| Year | Hunters | Days | Total Harvest | Rams | Ewes | Lambs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 3 | 47 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 38 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 6 | 62 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 7 | 128 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019 | 11 | 38 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 0 |
| 2018 | 12 | 48 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| 2017 | 11 | 96 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| 2016 | 12 | 89 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| 2015 | 12 | 51 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| 2014 | 6 | 38 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
FWP estimates from the annual hunter harvest survey; they carry sampling error. "n/e": FWP did not estimate district-level hunter numbers that year. Boundaries of a numbered district can change between years.
Landscape
- Counties
- Missoula, Mineral counties
- National forests
- Lolo National Forest
- Wilderness
- None
- Wildlife management areas
- Fish Creek
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- Grave Creek Range
- Highest named summits
- Petty Mountain (≈7,218 ft), Telephone Butte (≈6,847 ft), Deer Peak (≈6,647 ft), Blue Mountain (≈6,398 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- None named in GNIS
- Towns and places
- Lothrop, Shangville (historical)
Elevations sampled on a regular grid inside the district from AWS Terrain Tiles (Terrarium, zoom 10, ~105 m pixels; compiled from USGS 3DEP and SRTM). Approximate: summits read lower than their surveyed height.
Neighboring districts
- None
Sources
- District boundary: Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks hunting district layer.
- Public land: Montana State Library, Montana Public Lands (published 2026-10-06).
- Harvest: FWP Harvest Estimates, retrieved 2026-10-30.
- Places: USGS Geographic Names Information System. Wilderness and forests: USDA Forest Service.
- Elevation: AWS Terrain Tiles (USGS 3DEP, SRTM).
Live weather, snow, fire and access conditions are in the atlas card for this district.