Idaho Bighorn Sheep 5026
Rams Only Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, any weapon, Hunt Area 28-1L in Unit 28-1L, any legal weapon, Oct 14–31, 2025. 99% public land, mostly National Forest.
No points in this draw. Every applicant has the same chance each year.
Your odds · 2026 draw
about 1 in 20, every year you apply
Every applicant has the same chance each year: in 2026, 2 tags (all residencies) went to 20 nonresident first-choice applicants.
Points: none, same chance every year
- Tags
- 2
- Nonresident Applicants
- 20
- Success
- 100%
First-choice nonresidents; the tags are shared by every residency; nonresidents capped at 10%. Success: Rocky mountain bighorn hunters, 2025.
Odds by Year, 2023–2026
Odds (tags ÷ applicants) ran from 10% to 15% across 2023–2026.
One per lifetime: draw this tag and you cannot apply for bighorn sheep here again.
What It Costs · 2026 NR Fees
Closes Apr 30 · 194 daysThe $45.75 nonresident moose/sheep/goat controlled hunt application fee - nonrefundable, paid with the tag fee is not refunded. The $185 nonresident hunting license (adult; includes 3-day fishing) - required to apply for any controlled hunt is not refunded. The $2,626.75 nonresident bighorn sheep tag - entire amount submitted with the application, refunded if not drawn is refunded if you miss.
Optional, not counted above: Access / Depredation fee (charged with the first annual license of the year) $10.
- Opens
- Apr 1, 2027
- Closes
- Apr 30, 2027
- Results
- about May 11
Next application window: Open Apr 1 – Apr 30, 2027 (expected). Dates are last cycle's, rolled forward until Idaho Department of Fish and Game publishes 2027.
▸ Every Fee, With Sources
- Nonresident moose/sheep/goat controlled hunt application fee - nonrefundable, paid with the tag fee · paid at application $45.75 IDFG 2026 License, Tag, and Permit Costs
- Nonresident hunting license (adult; includes 3-day fishing) - required to apply for any controlled hunt · paid at application $185 IDFG 2026 License, Tag, and Permit Costs
- Nonresident bighorn sheep tag - entire amount submitted with the application, refunded if not drawn · paid at application, refundable $2,626.75 IDFG 2026 License, Tag, and Permit Costs
Details
Odds in This Draw · 2026 Draw
| Who | Chance | Applied | Drew |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everyone | 5% (small sample) | — | 1 |
First-choice tags drawn ÷ first-choice applicants, as published. A dash means Idaho Department of Fish and Game did not publish a count for that level. As a lower choice, 5026 drew no one in 2026, so lower-choice odds are left out.
Draw results: IDFG 2026 Hunt Planner drawing odds, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
How It Hunted, 2025
| Who | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky mountain bighorn | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| All of Unit 28-1L · rocky mountain bighorn | 2 | 2 | — |
Adding up Idaho Department of Fish and Game's published lines for Unit 28-1L gives 2 hunters and 2 rocky mountain bighorn taken in 2025 (sum of published weapon rows). The first rows are hunters holding this license type; the rest of the area's hunters held something else. Idaho's figures are counts from mandatory hunter reports and check stations rather than survey estimates, so they behave differently from the survey states. Source: IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics; IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics.
▸ Year-by-Year Numbers 4 draws
The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year.
| Year | Tags (All Res.) | Nonresident Applicants | Per Tag | Published Odds | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2 | 20 | — | 5% | IDFG 2026 Hunt Planner drawing odds |
| 2025 | 2 | 13 | — | 0.00% | IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner drawing odds |
| 2024 | 2 | 16 | — | 0.00% | IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner drawing odds |
| 2023 | 2 | 17 | — | 0.00% | IDFG 2023 Hunt Planner drawing odds |
Earlier Years, When This Number Was a Different Hunt
Idaho reassigns hunt numbers between years. In these years 5026 stood for another unit or weapon, so they are listed here rather than counted as this hunt's history or in its point-creep trend.
| Year · What It Was | Tags | Applicants | Per Tag | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 · Unit 37AL | 1 | 18 | — | IDFG 2022 Hunt Planner drawing odds |
▸ Sources 12
- IDFG 2026 Hunt Planner drawing odds draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner drawing odds earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner drawing odds earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- IDFG 2023 Hunt Planner drawing odds earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- IDFG 2025 Moose, Bighorn Sheep & Mountain Goat &… draw rules, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- IDFG 2026 License, Tag, and Permit Costs fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner hunt list seasons, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- IDFG 2025 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- IDFG 2024 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- IDFG 2023 Hunt Planner Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- IDFG 2025 Controlled hunt area boundaries boundary, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Idaho Department of Fish and Game's published results (first-choice tags drawn ÷ first-choice applicants, as published). They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
Report an error on this page
We don't take applications: check Idaho Department of Fish and Game's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Idaho Department of Fish and Game's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Idaho bighorn sheep hunts