Montana FWP Reduces Bighorn Sheep Hunting Quota

The bighorn sheep license quota in hunting district (HD) 622 has been lowered by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks for the next licensing year.

For the 2025 season, the ewe license and the either-sex license have been combined into one. The population drop drives this proactive action, which could be connected to a disease outbreak.

The hunting rules for 2025 mirror the variations to sheep licenses for HD 622. Should licenses and permits fall within the quota range set by the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission, FWP officials can make quota changes.

Working this spring to estimate populations of numerous species, FWP biologists may make more in-range quota changes if needed.

Hunters first noticed ill sheep in HD 622 in September of 2024; the five 2024 ram license holders reported seeing 80 percent less sheep than in preceding years. Furthermore mentioned as less sheep are additional findings made by area landowners and FWP personnel.

Considered a sought-after license in Montana, bighorn sheep in the Missouri Breaks HD 622 have a past of being healthy and in good shape. Forty live bighorn sheep were taken in 2017-2018 in search of significant sheep diseases. Test findings revealed the herd was generally healthy and particularly lacked Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae and Mannheimia Haemolytica, typically linked with respiratory disease in sheep.

Sheep numbers dropped to levels below target from 2018 to 2023; FWP responded by lowering both ram and ewe licenses. Hunter samples from harvested sheep during that time revealed no evidence of any other respiratory infections.

FWP gathered samples from several hunter-harvested sheep during the 2024 hunting season; lungs of two of those sheep revealed symptoms of respiratory illness and significant lungworm counts. FWP officials have not found any fresh respiratory infections.

To report sick or dead bighorn sheep, you can call regional biologists Thomas Sutton (Malta) at 406-417-1270 or Aaron O'Harra (Glasgow) at 406-594-9918.