Arizona Unit 24B Bighorn Sheep Hunting Guide

Arizona Unit 24B is one of the state's premier desert bighorn sheep units, offering a rugged, low-elevation landscape that produces some of the most sought-after tags in the western sheep hunting world. Spanning 497,574 acres with elevations ranging from 1,311 to 6,235 feet, this unit combines extreme terrain diversity with near-total public access, making it a unit that serious sheep hunters track closely — whether they're years into building points or fortunate enough to draw with fewer.

Bighorn sheep hunting in Arizona operates entirely through limited-quota draw tags, and Unit 24B is no exception. There is no general season here — every hunt, including those for mature rams, is issued through a controlled draw process with a small, tightly managed number of tags. That scarcity is central to understanding both the opportunity and the challenge this unit presents.

Unit Overview: Terrain and Access

Unit 24B's elevation band — from just above 1,300 feet to over 6,200 feet — creates classic desert bighorn habitat: steep, broken volcanic and sedimentary ranges rising out of desert flats, laced with rocky canyons, box canyons, and sheer escarpments that sheep use for escape terrain. This vertical relief is exactly the kind of country desert bighorns favor, and it's also exactly the kind of country that punishes hunters physically.

With 97% of the unit classified as public land, access is about as good as it gets in Arizona sheep country. Hunters are not fighting for scattered parcels of huntable ground or negotiating private landowner permission — the vast majority of this unit is open for scouting and hunting. Layered on top of that, 32% of the unit falls within designated wilderness. Wilderness areas carry their own access restrictions — no motorized or mechanized travel, meaning wilderness portions of 24B are foot and stock-access only. Hunters drawing tags here should expect a mix of vehicle-assisted scouting on the non-wilderness two-thirds of the unit and demanding, boots-on-the-ground effort in the wilderness third, where rams often retreat to the most inaccessible escape terrain.

This is not gentle country. The combination of extreme elevation change packed into a relatively compact footprint, wilderness travel restrictions, and desert heat at the lower elevations makes 24B a physically demanding unit that rewards hunters who scout extensively and are in strong physical condition before ever pulling the trigger on a hunt.

Harvest Success Rates

Harvest data for Unit 24B shows a hunt that, when tags are drawn, converts at an exceptionally high rate. In 2025, all 4 hunters who drew tags harvested a ram, a 100% success rate. That mirrors 2024, when 4 hunters again harvested 4 rams for another 100% success rate, and 2023, when 7 hunters harvested 7 rams — also 100%.

These numbers reflect what's typical of desert bighorn hunting in Arizona: extremely low tag numbers paired with intensive, often multi-week scouting efforts by hunters (and frequently entire networks of family and friends) who know that a tag here may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When only a handful of tags are issued, hunters treat the season as an all-in effort, and success rates cluster near 100% as a result.

The 2022 figure of 51 hunters and 300 harvested animals, producing a reported 588% success rate, is a clear statistical outlier compared to the surrounding years and does not reflect a typical bighorn sheep hunt structure — that figure likely reflects a different reporting methodology or an aggregation of hunt types beyond the individual ram tags described elsewhere in this data. Hunters should not use 2022 as a benchmark; the 2023–2025 pattern of small hunter numbers and 100% success is the far more reliable indicator of what a drawn tag in 24B actually looks like.

Tag Quota Trends

Unit 24B's sheep tags are split across at least three distinct hunt types, and the quota trend across all of them points the same direction: down.

• Hunt 6017 issued 2 tags in 2023, rose to 3 in 2024, then dropped back to 2 in 2025 — a 33% cut from 2024 to 2025.
• Hunt 6018 held steady at 2 tags in both 2023 and 2024, then was cut to 1 tag in 2025 — a 50% reduction.
• Hunt 6019 issued 2 tags in 2024 and was cut to 1 tag in 2025 — also a 50% reduction.

Every tracked hunt type in this unit saw a quota cut heading into 2025. None increased. For hunters watching this unit, that's an important signal: tag numbers here are small to begin with, typically in the single digits per hunt type, and the recent trend has been toward tightening rather than expanding. That has direct implications for draw competitiveness, discussed further below, and reinforces that this is not a unit where hunters should expect quota growth to improve their odds over time.

Trophy Quality

The counties overlapping Unit 24B carry an extensive history of trophy-class bighorn sheep entries, and that trophy pedigree is one of the biggest reasons this unit draws so much attention from serious sheep hunters. It's worth noting, as with all bighorn sheep hunting data, that trophy-record entries are logged at the county level, not the specific hunt unit — the record book history attributed to the counties overlapping 24B is shared with neighboring units in the same county boundaries, and any given ram entered in the record books may have come from elsewhere within that shared county footprint.

That caveat aside, the extensive trophy history tied to this area reflects genuinely exceptional potential. Desert bighorn country capable of consistently producing record-book rams is rare, and the terrain profile of 24B — steep, rugged, with the kind of extreme elevation relief that lets mature rams live out full life cycles in remote escape terrain — lines up with what's needed to grow heavy-horned, mature rams. Hunters who draw here should treat this as trophy-caliber ground, understanding that any individual ram's fate still depends heavily on hunter effort, scouting quality, and a fair amount of luck in the field.

Herd Health & Population Trends

The most recent wildlife survey data available for Unit 24B, from 2024, reports a buck:doe... more precisely for this species, a ram:ewe-equivalent ratio of 75:100, based on a single survey year with 54 animals observed on average per survey.

A ratio this high should be read with caution. Ratios well above the norm for wild sheep populations are far more often the product of a small survey sample than an actual reflection of an unusually productive herd. With only one survey year on record and a modest average of 54 animals observed, this figure should not be treated as confirmation of a booming ram population — it's more likely a data artifact tied to the limited sample size. Without multiple years of survey data to compare against, hunters should treat this number as informational rather than definitive, and rely more heavily on the unit's demonstrated harvest and trophy history when assessing herd quality.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 24B Worth Applying For?

For desert bighorn sheep hunters, Unit 24B checks nearly every box that matters. Public land access sits at 97%, meaning hunters drawing a tag here will spend almost no time navigating private land restrictions. Wilderness coverage at 32% adds a genuine backcountry element without locking hunters out of vehicle-supported scouting across the rest of the unit. The trophy history tied to the surrounding counties is extensive, giving drawn hunters real confidence that mature, record-class rams live in this country. And the harvest data backs it up — hunters who draw tags here convert them into filled tags at rates at or near 100% across the last three reported years.

The catch, and it's a significant one, is tag scarcity. This is a unit issuing tags in the low single digits per hunt type, and the trend across all three tracked hunt types has been toward further cuts rather than expansion heading into 2025. That means this remains a serious long-term investment unit for point-holders rather than an accessible option for hunters just starting to apply.

For a hunter with the points to be competitive, or a hunter fortunate enough to draw with minimal point investment, Unit 24B is absolutely worth applying for. The combination of near-total public access, strong trophy pedigree, and consistently high harvest success once drawn makes this one of the more compelling desert bighorn units in Arizona's portfolio. HuntPilot's data on this unit reflects a hunt that rewards patience and preparation — for hunters willing to play the long game, few tags in the western United States carry this much upside.

How to Apply

Arizona bighorn sheep tags, including those for Unit 24B, are issued exclusively through the state's limited-quota draw system — there is no general season or over-the-counter option for this species anywhere in Arizona. Both resident and nonresident hunters apply through the same statewide draw process, though tag allocations and point structures differ between residency classes.

Arizona's bonus point system plays a central role in draw competitiveness for bighorn sheep, and given the low tag numbers and recent quota cuts in Unit 24B's hunt types, hunters should expect this to remain a heavily points-dependent draw for the foreseeable future. Because Arizona's draw structure and point requirements shift from year to year, and because application windows, fees, and any point requirements change on a regular cycle, hunters should not rely on any static figures for planning.

For current application dates, fees, and draw odds specific to Unit 24B's hunt types, see HuntPilot's Arizona state page at /states/AZ, and check the Unit 24B page directly for the latest tag and quota information before submitting an application.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Arizona Unit 24B? Unit 24B features extreme elevation relief, ranging from roughly 1,311 feet up to 6,235 feet within the unit boundary. This produces classic desert bighorn habitat — steep, rocky mountain ranges rising out of desert flats, with a significant wilderness component (32% of the unit) that restricts motorized access and demands foot or stock travel in the most rugged portions.

What is harvest success like in Unit 24B? Recent years show extremely high harvest success for hunters who draw tags in this unit. In 2025, 2024, and 2023, every hunter who drew a tag successfully harvested a ram, a 100% success rate across all three years. This reflects both the intensity of effort hunters put into a rare tag and the quality of habitat and access in the unit.

How big are the bighorn sheep in Unit 24B? Trophy data indicates the counties overlapping this unit have an extensive history of producing trophy-class rams entered into the record books. Because record entries are logged by county rather than specific hunt unit, this trophy history is shared with neighboring units in the same county area, but it nonetheless signals strong potential for mature, heavy-horned rams to be taken from this general area.

Is Unit 24B worth applying for? Yes, for hunters targeting desert bighorn sheep, Unit 24B ranks among the stronger options in Arizona based on available data — near-total public access at 97%, extensive trophy history, and consistently high harvest success. The primary drawback is extremely limited tag numbers, with all tracked hunt types seeing quota reductions into 2025, meaning this is a long-term points investment for most applicants rather than an easy draw.

Does Unit 24B have a general season for bighorn sheep? No. Arizona does not offer a general season for bighorn sheep anywhere in the state, including Unit 24B. Every hunt opportunity here, for rams of any class, is issued through the limited-quota draw system.