Hunting districts / Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep hunting district · Region 5 (Billings)
District 502
Montana hunting district 502 (Bighorn sheep), FWP Region 5 (Billings): 556 sq mi in Carbon, Park counties; 75% USFS, BLM, state trust and FWP land (mostly Custer Gallatin National Forest); median elevation 8,054 ft; FWP estimated 2 sheep harvested in 2025.
What stands out
- Among the busiest for sheep hunters of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 0.7 sheep hunter-days per square mile in 2025. FWP harvest estimates (calculated per sq mi)
- Among the most rugged of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 8,455 ft from low point to high point. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
- Among the highest of 36 bighorn sheep districts: median elevation 8,054 ft. AWS Terrain Tiles (calculated)
- Among the most wilderness of 36 bighorn sheep districts: 41% designated wilderness. USFS wilderness boundaries (calculated)
Publicly administered land
| US Forest Service | 64.5% | |
| Bureau of Land Management | 7.7% | |
| Montana state trust land | 2.8% | |
| Montana FWP | 0.2% | |
| City & county | 0.1% |
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 | 41 | 389 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 74 | 466 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 45 | 317 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 41 | 418 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 59 | 423 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 39 | 307 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 22 | 192 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 22 | 155 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 29 | 168 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | 18 | 143 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | 35 | 204 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 23 | 150 | 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
- Carbon, Park counties
- National forests
- Custer Gallatin National Forest
- Wilderness
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness (41%)
- Wildlife management areas
- Silver Run
- Mountain ranges (GNIS)
- —
- Highest named summits
- Castle Mountain (≈12,516 ft), Silver Run Peak (≈12,369 ft), Whitetail Peak (≈12,260 ft), Beartooth Mountain (≈12,234 ft)
- Passes and gaps
- Sundance Pass, Colter Pass
- Towns and places
- Alex Boggio Place, Alpine, Chance, Cooke City, Eagle (historical), Linley (historical), Luther, Rankin Place, Richel Lodge, Roscoe, Silver Gate
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 501 69% public · 8,182 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.