Some designated wilderness and potential for grizzly bear encounters
Glassing is your best bet to locate sheep, bring good glass and put it to use
Rugged backcountry hunt, physically demanding
Species
General Size
Trophy Potential
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
160"-170"
175"+
On The Ground
Terrain
Vegetation
Access
Camping and Lodging
Historical Temperatures
High
Low
Moon Phases
November 2024
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Area 3 is located just east of Yellowstone National Park and south of the North Fork Shoshone River. This area is considered a good sheep unit for both quality and opportunity and can offer a great hunt for mature sheep.
The terrain here is made up of relatively rough and rugged sheep country. This area is largely located within designated wilderness requiring a nonresident hunter to use an outfitter.
The terrain is rugged with deep canyons and high elevation mountain peaks. North slopes are heavily timbered and have open, grassy ridges and slopes. Steep, rocky drainages can also be found in this area. Wapiti Ridge runs southwest to northeast through the unit and contains a large portion of the sheep habitat within the hunt area.
Wilderness
Under Wyoming law nonresidents are not permitted to hunt big game or trophy game in any federally designated wilderness areas without the presence of a licensed guide or resident companion. The resident companion must first get a free non-commercial guide license from a Game and Fish office. The law does not prohibit nonresidents from hiking, fishing or hunting game birds, small game, or coyotes in wilderness areas.
Upper elevations above timberline have rocky faces with grassy patches. Mid elevations are heavily timbered with subalpine fir, Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, whitebark pine and limber pine slopes with some open grass-covered hillsides. Grasses in this area include wheatgrass species and other native cool season bunch grasses. Lower elevations have a mixture of rolling sagebrush hills, grasslands and pine pockets. Creek and river bottoms are covered in willows, shrubs, grasses, forbs, sedges and timber pockets.
The South Fork Road out of Cody travels southwest and has various roads running back to the northwest that can be used to access the wilderness and high country. Roads running south off of Highway 20 can serve as a jump off points into the backcountry on the south side of the unit. Those roads include the White Creek Road, Breteche Creek Road and Green Creek Road. A good map and GPS with land ownership layers is highly recommended.
Cody is located near the north east border of the hunt area and has several hotels, campgrounds, gas stations, markets, restaurants, bars and a sporting goods store. There are also some services within Yellowstone National Park, including gas, lodging, and dining. Camping is allowed on most public lands. Hunting is likely to be horseback or backpack style hunting in the rougher country.
Roughly 692 square miles
91% public land
Elevations from 5,500-12,065 feet
66.6% Wilderness
ATV not required
No motorized access within the wilderness area
Horseback or backpack hunting is recommended
Good pack trails are located in most drainage bottoms