Arizona Unit 13B Bighorn Sheep Hunting Guide

Unit 13B, tucked into the far northwest corner of Arizona along the Grand Canyon's western reaches, is one of the most storied bighorn sheep destinations in the desert Southwest. This is a long-term, once-in-a-lifetime tag for most hunters — the kind of unit that anchors a hunting career rather than fills a season. For hunters researching Arizona Unit 13B bighorn sheep hunting, the unit combines extreme, remote terrain with a legitimate trophy pedigree, but it demands patience at the application stage and serious physical preparation once a tag is drawn.

The numbers alone tell part of the story. Unit 13B sits entirely on public land — 100% public land across roughly 2,005,683 acres — with elevations ranging from a low desert floor around 1,102 feet up to 7,836 feet in the higher rimrock and plateau country. There's no wilderness designation recorded for this unit, which simplifies access logistics somewhat, but the sheer scale and vertical relief of the terrain make this one of the more physically demanding bighorn hunts in the state regardless of land status.

Bighorn sheep tags here are issued in extremely limited numbers, and the unit's reputation among longtime Arizona applicants is well earned — forum discussions referencing decades-long waits to draw this tag aren't exaggeration. This is a unit built around exclusivity, not volume.

Herd Health & Population Trends

Harvest data for Unit 13B reflects the tightly controlled nature of the bighorn sheep draw here. In 2025, 6 hunters harvested 5 rams for an 83% success rate. In 2024, all 6 hunters who drew tags harvested rams, a 100% success rate. In 2023, 4 hunters harvested 3 rams, a 75% success rate. These numbers, drawn from HuntPilot's harvest tracking, show a consistent pattern: very few tags issued, but success rates in the 75-100% range across the last three recorded years, which speaks to a healthy, huntable population and well-informed tag holders (many of whom, per forum discussion, invest in scouting support before ever stepping into the field).

The 2022 figure of 44 hunters and 200 harvested animals with a 455% success rate is a clear anomaly in the dataset and almost certainly reflects a different reporting methodology or a combined multi-hunt-type total rather than a single bighorn sheep draw outcome. Hunters should not use that year as a benchmark for what an individual tag holder can expect; the 2023-2025 figures are far more representative of what a Unit 13B sheep hunter actually experiences.

Tag quota trends reinforce how tightly this resource is managed. Across the two primary hunt types tracked for this unit, quotas have moved in only one direction recently: one hunt type dropped from 3 tags in 2024 to 2 tags in 2025, a one-third reduction, while the other dropped from 2 tags in 2024 to 1 tag in 2025, a 50% cut. Both hunt types are managed completely independently of one another, but the trend line across both is the same — fewer tags, not more. Hunters should treat Unit 13B as a shrinking-quota unit going into future draw cycles and not assume tag numbers will rebound.

Trophy Quality

Unit 13B carries a strong trophy history among Arizona bighorn sheep units. The counties overlapping this unit have produced a meaningful number of record-book entries over time, and that trophy pedigree is one of the primary reasons the tag is so heavily sought after by both resident and nonresident applicants. This isn't a unit where hunters draw a tag and settle for whatever legal ram they can find — the terrain and herd history both support genuine trophy potential, and rams taken from this country have consistently measured into elite categories over the years.

That said, trophy quality in any single season depends heavily on individual ram age structure and the specific area within this large unit a hunter is able to access and glass. Given the unit's remoteness and vertical terrain, mature rams that survive multiple seasons in the roughest country tend to reach the higher end of the trophy spectrum. Hunters serious about maximizing trophy potential here should plan on extensive pre-season scouting or professional scouting assistance, a theme echoed repeatedly in hunter forums discussing this specific unit.

Access & Terrain

Unit 13B is entirely public land — 100% public land ownership across its full acreage — which is a significant advantage for access planning. There is no wilderness designation recorded for this unit, meaning nonresident hunters are not subject to Arizona's outfitter-guide requirements that apply in designated wilderness areas elsewhere in the state.

The terrain itself is the real challenge. With elevations spanning from roughly 1,102 feet near the low desert breaks up to 7,836 feet on the higher plateau country, Unit 13B covers an enormous vertical range and correspondingly diverse terrain types — from desert canyon country and rimrock near the Colorado River drainage system up through pinyon-juniper benches and higher timbered country. Hunter accounts describe the unit as extremely large, running roughly 140 miles in length and 50 miles in width, which underscores just how much ground a tag holder needs to cover to locate and pattern a mature ram before the hunt.

This combination of extreme relief, remoteness, and sheer size means physical conditioning and logistics planning are as important as marksmanship for anyone drawing this tag. Hunters should use HuntPilot's mapping tools to study public land boundaries, elevation bands, and water sources within the unit well before the season, since the scale of the country makes on-the-fly scouting inefficient once a hunt begins.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 13B Worth Applying For?

For hunters focused purely on drawing a tag quickly, Unit 13B is not the unit to chase — tags are extremely limited, and forum accounts of hunters waiting multiple decades to draw are consistent with a unit where demand vastly outstrips supply. Quota trends only reinforce this: both tracked hunt types saw meaningful cuts from 2024 to 2025, and there is no indication in the available data that tag numbers are trending toward greater availability.

But for hunters building a long-term point strategy around a genuine trophy bighorn sheep opportunity, Unit 13B is one of the strongest options in Arizona. The unit combines a real trophy history with consistently strong harvest success (83-100% in the three most recent standard years of data) and 100% public land access, all inside a unit large and remote enough to hold mature rams that escape pressure for years at a time.

The verdict: Unit 13B is absolutely worth having in a long-range application strategy, especially for hunters who value trophy potential and are prepared to wait. It is not a unit for someone hoping for a fast draw or a low-investment hunt. Given the tag fees involved (detailed below) and the scarcity of tags, hunters who do eventually draw should plan to invest heavily in scouting, whether through their own extended time in the unit or through a scouting package, a strategy multiple successful 13B hunters have specifically recommended in hunting forums.

How to Apply

Note that both resident and nonresident applicants must hold a valid qualifying license before submitting a bighorn sheep application — this license fee is separate from and in addition to the application fee and point fee. The tag fee listed is only charged upon successfully drawing a tag.

Given the extremely limited number of tags issued for Unit 13B each year and the multi-decade wait times reported by successful applicants, hunters should check HuntPilot's Arizona state page (/states/az) and their own application history closely each year, since quota levels for this unit have shown a clear downward trend in the two most recent years of recorded data.

Application dates and fees change every draw cycle. For the current deadlines, fees, and draw odds, see HuntPilot's Arizona page at /states/az.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Unit 13B? Unit 13B spans an enormous elevation range, from roughly 1,102 feet in the low desert country up to 7,836 feet on higher plateau terrain, covering desert canyons, rimrock, and higher benches across an area hunters describe as roughly 140 miles long by 50 miles wide. The entire unit is public land, but the scale and vertical relief make this one of the more physically demanding sheep hunts in Arizona.

What is harvest success like in Unit 13B for bighorn sheep? Recent standard years show strong success rates: 83% in 2025 (5 of 6 hunters), 100% in 2024 (6 of 6 hunters), and 75% in 2023 (3 of 4 hunters). These figures reflect a very small number of tag holders each year, consistent with a highly limited-entry unit, but they indicate that hunters who draw and put in the necessary scouting effort have historically found success.

How big are the bighorn sheep in Unit 13B? The counties overlapping Unit 13B have a strong history of producing trophy-class rams, and the unit's reputation among Arizona sheep hunters reflects genuine trophy potential. Mature rams from this remote, rugged country have consistently reached elite categories in trophy records over the years, though outcomes depend heavily on scouting effort and the specific terrain a hunter is able to access during the season.

Is Unit 13B worth applying for? Yes, for hunters playing a long game. Tags are extremely scarce, and recent quota trends show cuts rather than increases, so this is not a unit for hunters seeking a quick draw. But the combination of 100% public land, strong trophy history, and consistently high harvest success among tag holders makes it one of the premier bighorn sheep units in Arizona for hunters willing to accumulate points over the long term.

Do nonresidents need a guide to hunt Unit 13B? There is no wilderness designation recorded for Unit 13B, so Arizona's wilderness-specific guide requirements do not apply here. That said, given the unit's remoteness and scale, many successful hunters — resident and nonresident alike — have used professional scouting assistance to make the most of a tag that may only come once in a lifetime.