California Bighorn Sheep — Zone 5

San Gorgonio Mountains

California Zone 5 covers 311,421 acres and lies 25 miles east of Moreno Valley and 34 miles north-east of Menifee. 61% of it is public land, mostly national forest (31%) and BLM (18%). In 2025, hunters took 0 bighorn sheep here. The 2025 draw put up 1 tag here for 793 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2025):1 Nonresident share:capped at 10% Applicants:793 Public land:61% Size:311,421 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every bighorn sheep license type on offer in Zone 5, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

1 license on offer · 1 tags · 793 applicants in the 2025 draw

Chances are from the 2025 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 505 Zone 5 - San Gorgonio Wilderness - General Method - Ram 1 tags · 793 applicants
    <1% Point builder
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2025 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2025 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2025 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Per application $227.94 $227.94 $2,350.69

Application window: opens Apr 15, closes Jun 2, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Moreno Valley Escondido Lancaster Visalia Modesto
Zone 5 within California
Moreno Valley San Bernardino Menifee
Zone 5 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • National Forest 97,692 ac · 31%
  • BLM 56,684 ac · 18%
  • Other public 25,570 ac · 8%
  • County or city land 6,154 ac · 2%
  • State land 3,114 ac · 1%
  • Private or other non-public land 122,205 ac · 39%

Source: California Protected Areas Database (CPAD) 2026a -- Holdings by Agency Classification

How the hunting has gone

What California Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. California Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season.

Season Harvest
2025 0

Boundary: Bighorn Sheep Hunt Zones [ds784]

Harvest: Bighorn Sheep Hunting (CDFW landing page) -- 2025 Desert Bighorn Sheep Tag Drawing Statistics table

How we compute draw odds · All California bighorn sheep hunts