Hunting districts / Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep hunting district · Region 4 (Great Falls)
District 455
Montana hunting district 455 (Bighorn sheep), FWP Region 4 (Great Falls): 406 sq mi in Cascade, Lewis And Clark counties; 39% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land; median elevation 4,790 ft; FWP estimated 2 sheep harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the most private of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 39% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land. MSL Public Lands (calculated)
- Among the most Block Management of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 4 BMAs, about 35,695 acres. FWP Block Management (calculated)
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 16.3% | |
| Montana FWP | 13.6% | |
| Bureau of Land Management | 5.8% | |
| Montana state trust land | 3.8% |
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 | 2 | 47 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 2 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 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
- Cascade, Lewis And Clark counties
- National forests
- Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest
- Wilderness
- Gates of the Mountains Wilderness (11%)
- Wildlife management areas
- Beartooth
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- The Pinnacles
- Highest named summits
- Moors Mountain (≈7,894 ft), Candle Mountain (≈7,277 ft), Sheep Mountain (≈7,231 ft), Adel Mountain (≈7,070 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- None named in GNIS
- Towns and places
- Adel, Dennison (historical), Nelson, Old Weiss and French Place
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.