Hunting districts / Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep hunting district · Region 4 (Great Falls)
District 482
Montana hunting district 482 (Bighorn sheep), FWP Region 4 (Great Falls): 1,780 sq mi in Fergus County; 27% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land; median elevation 3,287 ft; FWP estimated 8 sheep harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the most private of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 27% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land. MSL Public Lands (calculated)
- Among the highest sheep harvests of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 8 sheep harvested in 2025 (FWP estimate). FWP harvest estimates
- Among the largest of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 1,780 square miles. FWP district boundary
- Among the most Block Management of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 17 BMAs, about 68,937 acres. FWP Block Management (calculated)
- Among the lowest of 36 bighorn sheep districts: median elevation 3,287 ft. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
- Among the flattest of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 3,114 ft from low point to high point. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
Publicly administered land
| Bureau of Land Management | 19.0% | |
| Montana state trust land | 7.2% | |
| US Fish & Wildlife Service | 1.7% | |
| Montana FWP | 0.6% |
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 | 8 | 40 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 2024 | 8 | 43 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 24 | 168 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 0 |
| 2022 | 19 | 119 | 18 | 14 | 4 | 0 |
| 2021 | 35 | 228 | 28 | 15 | 8 | 0 |
| 2020 | 46 | 164 | 35 | 20 | 14 | 0 |
| 2019 | 52 | 227 | 30 | 20 | 9 | 0 |
| 2018 | 59 | 362 | 49 | 18 | 30 | 1 |
| 2017 | 53 | 320 | 42 | 19 | 22 | 0 |
| 2016 | 51 | 199 | 44 | 19 | 25 | 0 |
| 2015 | 38 | 208 | 35 | 21 | 14 | 0 |
| 2014 | 35 | 166 | 30 | 16 | 14 | 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
- Fergus County
- National forests
- —
- Wilderness
- None
- Wildlife management areas
- Beckman
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- North Moccasin Mountains
- Highest named summits
- Sheepherder Peak (≈3,917 ft), Seventytwo Hills (≈3,806 ft), Indian Graves Butte (≈3,773 ft), Sand Rock Hill (≈3,698 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- The Divide
- Towns and places
- Armells (historical), Box Elder (historical), Christina, Coffee Creek, Cone Butte (historical), Denton, Everson (historical), Judith (historical), Kendall (historical), Moulton, Rumble Creek (historical), Salt Creek (historical), Suffolk, Winifred
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
- HD 680 55% public · 3,176 ft median
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.