Montana Bighorn Sheep · Hunting District 503 Pryor Mountains

Montana Hunting District 503 covers 222,907 acres and lies 40 miles east of Red Lodge. 81% of it is public land, mostly national forest (34%) and BLM (34%). In 2025, 3 people hunted bighorn sheep here and took 2.

No more draws here. The last one was 2008.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks held its 2026 bighorn sheep draw without Hunting District 503. No current hunt code lists this unit; the Montana bighorn sheep hunts on offer are drawn elsewhere. The odds, costs and harvest below are that history, kept for the record.

Tags, 2008
—

1 license · NR capped at 10%

Applicants
1

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
81%

34% Forest Service

Size
348 mi²

222,907 acres

503

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

Every License in Hunting District 503

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it

The last draw held in Hunting District 503 was 2008. These are that draw's chances for a first-choice nonresident applicant, kept for the record.

503-00 not open —

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2008 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2008 result: 503-10, 503-20.

Draw results: Montana FWP 2008 Bighorn Sheep Drawing Statistics Report, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $137.50 ($137.50 to apply). Open Mar 1 – May 1, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

Year Hunters Harvest Success
2025 3 2 67%
2024 2 2 100%
2023 3 3 100%
2022 3 3 100%
2021 3 3 100%
2020 3 3 100%
2019 3 3 100%
2018 3 3 100%
2017 3 3 100%
2016 3 3 100%
2015 3 2 67%
2014 3 3 100%
2013 3 3 100%
2012 3 3 100%
2011 3 3 100%
2010 3 3 100%
2009 3 3 100%
2008 3 3 100%
2007 3 3 100%
2005 3 3 100%

2025 split: residents 2 from 3 hunters

What Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Montana's figures blend mandatory reporting with a phone and mail survey. FWP does not publish district-level hunter counts for elk or antelope, so success rates are missing for those. Source: Montana FWP 2005-2025 FWP Harvest Estimates export.

The Ground

National Forest 75,052 ac 34%
BLM 74,785 ac 34%
Private 40,769 ac 18%
National Park Service 26,347 ac 12%
State trust land 5,327 ac 2%
Tribal 245 ac <1%
Bureau of Reclamation 0 ac <1%
Department of Defense 0 ac <1%
County or city land 0 ac <1%
State land 0 ac <1%
National Wildlife Refuge 0 ac <1%
Other public 0 ac <1%

Source: Montana FWP 2026-2027 Bighorn sheep Hunting District….

▸ Sources 9
  1. Montana FWP 2008 Bighorn Sheep Drawing Statistics Report draw results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  2. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-113 Application fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. Montana Legislature 2026 MCA 87-2-116 Base hunting license… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. Montana FWP 2026 Hunting Requirements fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. Montana FWP 2026 Nonresident License Fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. Montana FWP 2005-2025 FWP Harvest Estimates export harvest, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  7. Montana FWP 2026 Bighorn Sheep Hunting Districts boundary, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  8. Montana FWP 2026-2027 Bighorn sheep Hunting District… land ownership, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  9. Montana FWP 2026 Moose, Sheep, Goat Hunting Regulations area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2008 draw, the latest on file, computed from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' published results. 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

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Montana bighorn sheep hunts