Utah Desert Bighorn Sheep Draw Odds by Unit

Every once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn ram unit in the 2026 draw, with applicants, permits and the highest points that drew. Pick a unit for odds by point level and each hunt's history.

In the 2026 Utah draw, 9,505 resident applications went to 18 once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn sheep hunts for 74 resident permits, about 128.4 applications per permit (Utah DWR data). The longest resident odds were Zion rifle (DS6611) at 1 in 452.0; the best were San Juan San Juan River rifle (DS6623) at 1 in 51.0.

Data: Utah DWR draw odds, utahdraws.com/drawodds (2026). Page built Sept. 24, 2026.

Apply at utahdraws.com Opens the official state site

A desert bighorn ram with curled horns on a red rock ledge — Illustration: a desert bighorn ram.

OIAL desert bighorn sheep hunts

in the 2026 report

Units

with a 2026 draw

Resident applications

9,505

summed across hunts

Resident permits

drawn in 2026

Units

Filter units

All once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn sheep hunts per unit, 2026 draw, summed across weapons. Sorted by resident applications. Click a column to sort.

San Rafael	4	2,239	22	3,652	3	101.8	29	+24%
Kaiparowits	2	2,001	12	6,925	4	166.8	31	+18%
Pine Valley	2	1,449	5	0	0	289.8	29	+26%
Zion	1	1,356	3	0	0	452.0	27	-22%
San Juan	4	620	9	0	0	68.9	27	+15%
Mineral Mountains	1	483	4	0	0	120.8	28	n/a*
La Sal	1	473	8	0	0	59.1	26	+59%
Escalante	2	467	8	1,626	2	58.4	28	n/a*
Henry Mountains	1	417	3	0	0	139.0	26	+2%

* n/a when any hunt on the unit was missing in 2022 or DWR printed a different hunt name then (renamed or redrawn), so there is no like-for-like comparison. Source: Utah DWR drawing odds reports, 2022 and 2026. 2026 PDF. CWMU hunts are on the CWMU page.

Every desert bighorn sheep hunt

2026 draw, resident and nonresident totals per hunt. 2026 season dates from the DWR guidebook.
		Weapon	2026 season
Escalante East	DS6626	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	288	5	1 in 57.6	28	2
Escalante West	DS6627	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	179	3	1 in 59.7	25	0
Henry Mountains	DS6600	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	417	3	1 in 139.0	26	0
Kaiparowits East	DS6601	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	1,278	9	1 in 142.0	31	3
Kaiparowits West	DS6603	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	723	3	1 in 241.0	28	1
La Sal Potash/South Cisco	DS6604	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	473	8	1 in 59.1	26	0
Mineral Mountains	DS6625	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	483	4	1 in 120.8	28	0
Pine Valley Virgin River	DS6620	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Oct. 24 to Dec. 25	621	3	1 in 207.0	29	0
Pine Valley Beaver Dam	DS6621	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Oct. 24 to Dec. 25	828	2	1 in 414.0	28	0
San Juan Lockhart	DS6606	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	135	2	1 in 67.5	25	0
San Juan South	DS6607	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	199	2	1 in 99.5	27	0
San Juan North	DS6622	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	184	3	1 in 61.3	27	0
San Juan San Juan River	DS6623	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	102	2	1 in 51.0	25	0
San Rafael Dirty Devil	DS6608	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	444	3	1 in 148.0	26	1
San Rafael North	DS6609	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	774	7	1 in 110.6	29	0
San Rafael South	DS6610	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	753	10	1 in 75.3	28	2
San Rafael Dirty Devil	DS6624	Archery	Nov. 11 to Dec. 17	268	2	1 in 134.0	23	0
Zion	DS6611	Rifle (any legal weapon)	Sept. 12 to Nov. 10	1,356	3	1 in 452.0	27	0

Once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn sheep: all applicants by year

DWR prints a species summary block in each odds report. It counts every applicant for once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn sheep across all hunts in that report.

Source: Utah DWR drawing odds reports, species summary ("All Applicants") blocks. Years from utahdraws.com are summed from every hunt, the same way DWR's summary block adds up (checked against every 2025 species). Each year links to its source.
Year	Res. applicants	Res. permits	Res. odds	Res. applicants with 10+ points	Top res. point level	Nonres. applicants	Nonres. permits
2026	9,505	74	1 in 128.4	3,446	31	12,203	9
2025	8,983	77	1 in 116.7	3,319	29	12,553	9
2024	8,660	69	1 in 125.5	3,148	29	12,707	5
2023	8,167	68	1 in 120.1	2,980	28	12,224	5
2022	8,117	64	1 in 126.8	2,986	27	12,599	5
2021	7,916	73	1 in 108.4	2,834	26	12,298	6
2020	7,338	73	1 in 100.5	2,613	25	11,653	5
2019	7,197	65	1 in 110.7	2,472	24	11,134	4
2018	6,674	50	1 in 133.5	2,291	23	10,264	4

Hunters who applied for a point only (no hunt). Source: Utah DWR point-only purchase reports; years from utahdraws.com use the point-code entries in DWR's draw odds.
Year	Residents	Nonresidents	Top point level listed (res / nonres)
2026	4,016	6,811	31 / 33
2025	3,831	6,393	30 / 31
2024	3,481	6,947	29 / 31
2023	3,438	6,934	28 / 30

How the desert bighorn sheep draw works

Desert Bighorn Sheep once-in-a-lifetime hunts use bonus points. About half the permits on each hunt go to the applicants with the most points. For the rest, you get one random number plus one per bonus point, and your lowest number counts.

Read the guide

2027 key dates

DWR has not published 2027 dates yet. For reference, the 2026 application period ran March 19 (8 a.m. MDT) to April 23 (11 p.m. MDT) and results were emailed on or by May 31.

All dates

Deadline reminders

We plan to email when DWR announces the next application dates and before the deadline. Delete any time via [email protected].

Questions

How many once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn sheep hunts does Utah offer?

DWR's 2026 draw odds list 18 once-in-a-lifetime desert bighorn sheep hunts on 9 units. 9,505 resident applications went to those hunts for 74 resident permits.

Which desert bighorn sheep hunts had the longest resident odds in 2026?

Zion rifle (any legal weapon) (DS6611), 1 in 452.0; Pine Valley Beaver Dam rifle (any legal weapon) (DS6621), 1 in 414.0; Kaiparowits West rifle (any legal weapon) (DS6603), 1 in 241.0.

Which desert bighorn sheep hunts had the best resident odds in 2026?

San Juan San Juan River rifle (any legal weapon) (DS6623), 1 in 51.0; Escalante East rifle (any legal weapon) (DS6626), 1 in 57.6; La Sal Potash/South Cisco rifle (any legal weapon) (DS6604), 1 in 59.1. Hunts with few applicants can swing a lot from year to year.

What is the bonus point code for desert bighorn sheep?

DBS, per the 2026 DWR Big Game Application Guidebook. You use it to buy a bonus point without applying for a hunt.

Is this the official Utah draw site?

No. Utah Draw Guide is independent and not affiliated with Utah DWR. Apply only at utahdraws.com.