If you are hoping to hunt bighorn sheep in the lower 48, you have no choice but to tolerate some extremely difficult draw odds. Here are how the the numbers ended up for New Mexico sheep in 2022:
'22 Draw Odds
Hunt Code | Hunt Type | '22 Resident Odds | '22 Nonres. Odds | '22 Outfitter Odds |
BHS-1-201 | Ram - Rocky Mtn. | 0.33% | 0.05% | 0.13% |
BHS-1-204 | Ram - Desert | 0.34% | 0.05% | 0.08% |
BHS-1-202 | Ewe - Rocky Mtn. | 1.3% | 1.9% | 8.9% |
BHS-2-203 | Ewe - Rocky Mtn. | 2% | 2.9% | 5% |
'22 Total Tags Issued
Hunt Code | Hunt Type | '22 Tags Res. | '22 Tags Nonres. | '22 Tags Outfitter | Total |
BHS-1-201 | Ram - Rocky Mtn. | 22 | 1 | 3 | 26 |
BHS-1-204 | Ram - Desert | 21 | 1 | 2 | 24 |
BHS-1-202 | Ewe - Rocky Mtn. | 35 | 2 | 4 | 41 |
BHS-2-203 | Ewe - Rocky Mtn. | 15 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
The drawing for sheep in New Mexico is a bit unique in that there is a single hunt code for Bighorn rams (BHS-1-201), a single hunt code for Desert rams (BHS-1-204) and one each for the Ewe hunts (BHS-1-202 & BHS-2-203). And then within each of these hunt codes you are allowed to choose up to 3 specific sheep hunting areas. So if you are lucky enough to be drawn, they will then look at the specific areas on your application, in order, to see if any remaining tags are available in the areas you applied for.
We requested and were able to obtain the applicant area choice information from the New Mexico Game and Fish Department. Here is how applicants used their area choices in 2022:
2022 Bighorn Applications By Area
Area |
1st Choice |
2nd Choice |
3rd Choice |
Total |
Units 49, 50, 53 west of NM 522 (Rio Grande Gorge) Aug 10-24 | 2853 | 1602 | 1658 | 6113 |
Unit 53, south of NM 38 and east of NM 522 (Wheeler Peak) Aug 6-15 | 2004 | 1504 | 1360 | 4868 |
Unit 45 (Pecos) Aug 5-14 | 2397 | 1394 | 1062 | 4853 |
Units 49, 50, 53 west of NM 522 (Rio Grande Gorge) Sep 1-15 | 521 | 2085 | 1028 | 3634 |
Unit 45 (Pecos) Aug 19-28. | 484 | 1937 | 1142 | 3563 |
Units 16B, 22, 23, 24 (San Francisco River/Turkey Creek) Jan 1-31, 2023. | 1584 | 411 | 880 | 2875 |
Unit 53, south of NM 38 and east of NM 522 (Wheeler Peak) Sep 1-10 | 512 | 950 | 940 | 2402 |
Unit 58 (Dry Cimarron) Aug 15-Jan 15, 2023. | 499 | 374 | 784 | 1657 |
Unit 53, north of NM 38 and east of NM 522; 55 south of NM 196/FS Rd 1950 (Latir) Aug 5-14 | 175 | 547 | 628 | 1350 |
Unit 53, north of NM 38 and east of NM 522; 55 south of NM 196/FS Rd 1950 (Latir) Aug 19-28. | 64 | 194 | 502 | 760 |
Unit 45 (Pecos) Youth Only; Aug 19-28 | 553 | 27 | 140 | 720 |
2022 Desert Bighorn Applications By Area
Area |
1st Choice |
2nd Choice |
3rd Choice |
Total |
Units 13, 17 (Ladrones) Dec 1-31 | 4083 | 690 | 871 | 5644 |
Unit 27 (Peloncillos) Nov 1-30 | 1287 | 1267 | 1965 | 4519 |
Unit 20, south of NM 51 (Caballos) Nov 16-30 | 1464 | 1202 | 1362 | 4028 |
Unit 19 (San Andres) Dec 14-21. | 1392 | 1892 | 735 | 4019 |
Unit 20, south of NM 51 (Caballos) Dec 1-15 | 457 | 1411 | 1257 | 3125 |
Unit 26 (Hatchets) Oct 1-15 | 906 | 1023 | 806 | 2735 |
Unit 19 (San Andres) Dec 27-Jan 3, 2023. | 324 | 1286 | 965 | 2575 |
Unit 26 (Hatchets) Oct 16-31 | 201 | 959 | 952 | 2112 |
Unit 20, north of NM 51 (Fra Cristobal) Aug 12-21 | 428 | 347 | 499 | 1274 |
Unit 20, north of NM 51 (Fra Cristobal) Mar 3-12, 2023 | 284 | 393 | 572 | 1249 |
2022 Ewe (Bighorn, Rifle) Applications By Area
Area |
1st Choice |
2nd Choice |
3rd Choice |
Total |
Units 49, 50, 53 west of NM 522 (Rio Grande Gorge) Oct 8-16 | 902 | 600 | 725 | 2227 |
Units 49, 50, 53 west of NM 522 (Rio Grande Gorge) Dec 10-18 | 497 | 850 | 536 | 1883 |
Unit 45 (Pecos) Oct 1-5 | 334 | 883 | 562 | 1779 |
Unit 45 (Pecos) Sep 17-21 | 990 | 305 | 456 | 1751 |
Units 49, 50, 53 west of NM 522 (Rio Grande Gorge) Youth Only; Nov 12-20 | 144 | 67 | 22 | 233 |
Unit 45 (Pecos) Youth Only; Oct 1-5 | 95 | 62 | 31 | 188 |
2022 Ewe (Bighorn, Archery) Applications By Area
Area |
1st Choice |
2nd Choice |
3rd Choice |
Total |
Units 49, 50, 53 west of NM 522 (Rio Grande Gorge) Sep 16-30 | 420 | 325 | 0 | 745 |
Unit 45 (Pecos) Sep 2-11 | 354 | 322 | 0 | 676 |
Part of the reason we obtain the area information details is that it allows us to look closer to see if your choice of areas per hunt code had any material impact on your overall draw odds. For nonresidents and outfitters the answer is mostly no. Unfortunately with so few tags available in the nonresident and outfitter pools you've generally won or lost the battle before area choices become any factor. But you should still be sure to use all of your 3 area choices per hunt code when you apply.
But for residents it did make a very slight but noticeable difference. In every simulated draw that we ran there would be a handful of resident apps pulled - with ram tags still left to give somewhere - that would be unsuccessful because the area choices they specified were all of higher demand. As always, residents should make their 3rd area choice per hunt code a reasonable one (ie less popular) to avoid this scenario. It may well be the difference between getting a chance to harvest a ram in your lifetime - and not.