Nevada Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds
In the 2025 draw Nevada offered 18 bighorn sheep hunts to nonresidents, drawn by a lottery weighted by bonus points. At 0 points a nonresident had at least an even chance in 0 hunts open to every hunter.
Main draw: closes May 13, 2027 (expected)
Leftover / second draw: closes Jun 15, 2027 (expected)
Kept if you miss. Bighorn Sheep license $1,200 only if drawn
2025 draw
29,238 nonresident applicants
Point only: $10 nonresident · on the draw application · apply by May 13, 2027 (expected) → Buying Points in Nevada
How the Nevada Draw Works (30-Second Version)
Bonus points (squared).
Every applicant gets points² + 1 entries in a random draw, so more points mean more chances, but never a guarantee.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Odds × hunter success × public land, 10 tags or more. Private-land, ranch, landowner and youth hunts left out.
Before You Apply
A Waiting Period, Not Once In A Lifetime
Draw one and you wait 10 years before applying again.
Drawing a bighorn ram tag starts a ten-year wait, counted per subspecies and triggered by receiving the tag, so a Nelson ram does not block a California ram application; a ewe tag carries a two-year wait, while a Nelson one-horn or management ram tag is once in a lifetime. Returning the tag at least one business day before the season opens erases the wait, and not paying for a drawn tag still counts as drawing it. The rule for residents differs. Drawing a bighorn ram tag starts a ten-year wait, counted per subspecies and triggered by receiving the tag; a ewe tag carries a two-year wait, while a Nelson one-horn or management ram tag is once in a lifetime. Returning the tag at least one business day before the season opens erases the wait.
Source: leg.state.nv.us
- Limit
- 10-year wait
- Nonresident Share
- Up to 10%
- About a tenth of a hunt's tags go to nonresidents under Commission Policy 24, with no minimum of one, so a small hunt can round to none; Rocky Mountain rams had no nonresident quota at all in 2026.
- Tag Fee
- Due only if drawn
- You pay the tag only if you draw.
- Your Points
- Earned on a miss
- Missing the draw earns you a point for next year.
Every Hunt at 0 Points
18 hunt codes drawn in 2025 · 0 at 50% or better · first choice · nonresident
| Hunt | Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8251-032~pineforestpueblos-0901New 2025 Unit 032 · Any ram · California bighorn sheep · 032 B Pine Forest, Pueblos | Any ram · California bighorn sheep · 032 B Pine Forest, Pueblos | 032 | Sep 1–Oct 31 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 3,026 | — |
| 8251-034-0901 Unit 034 · Any ram · California bighorn sheep | Any ram · California bighorn sheep | 034 | Sep 1–Oct 31 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 1,009 | — |
| 8251-035~jacksons-0901New 2025 Unit 035 · Any ram · California bighorn sheep · 035 D Jacksons | Any ram · California bighorn sheep · 035 D Jacksons | 035 | Sep 1–Oct 31 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 4,582 | — |
| 8251-068-0901 Unit 068 · Any ram · California bighorn sheep | Any ram · California bighorn sheep | 068 | Sep 1–Oct 31 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 4,719 | — |
| 3251-181~west-1120 Unit 181 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep · 181 West D | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep · 181 West D | 181 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 609 | — |
| 3251-182.044-1120 Unit 182 +1 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 182 +1 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 922 | — |
| 3251-183.153-1120 Unit 183 +1 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 183 +1 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 778 | — |
| 3251-184-1015 Unit 184 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 184 | Oct 15–Nov 15 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 316 | — |
| 3251-205-1120 Unit 205 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 205 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 1,359 | — |
| 3251-213-1120 Unit 213 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 213 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 308 | — |
| 3251-243-1120New 2025 Unit 243 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 243 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 569 | — |
| 3251-253-1120 Unit 253 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 253 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 1,091 | — |
| 3251-263-1120 Unit 263 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 263 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 4,944 | — |
| 3251-267-1120 Unit 267 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 267 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 585 | — |
| 3251-268-1116New 2025 Unit 268 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep · 268 Early | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep · 268 Early | 268 | Nov 16–Dec 8 | 0% (small sample) | — | 3 / 3,265 | — |
| 3251-268-1210New 2025 Unit 268 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep · 268 Late | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep · 268 Late | 268 | Dec 10–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 3 / 209 | — |
| 3281-268-1020 Unit 268 · Any ewe · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ewe · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 268 | Oct 20–Nov 15 | <1% | — | 10 / 662 | — |
| 3251-283.284-1120 Unit 283 +1 · Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | Any ram · Nelson (desert) bighorn sheep | 283 +1 | Nov 20–Jan 1 | 0% (small sample) | — | 1 / 285 | — |
Showing all 18 · sorted by unit · 202 hunts not offered in 2025 hidden — show discontinued hunts
What These Columns Mean
- Odds at your points —
- the share of first-choice applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2025 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year. A badge marked * had under five tags, so one applicant either way swings it.
- Pts needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2025 draw; the ▲ or ▼ is how far that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold. A 0 marks a hunt that went Undersubscribed: fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
- Tags / apps —
- tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them.
- Success —
- the share of hunters in the unit who killed an animal, from the latest harvest report on file. It is the whole unit's figure, not the hunt's.
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About These Numbers
Every percentage here is the chance an applicant with that many points had in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results; quotas, applicant numbers and point levels change every year. A dash means the agency did not publish the number. Under five tags the percentage is flagged: one applicant either way swings it. Check the agency's site and apply there; we don't take applications. How we compute these.