Big Game by StateThe public record of western draws

Idaho · Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep · Hunt 5004

Idaho rocky mountain bighorn sheep controlled hunt 5004

How many hunters put this controlled hunt first and how many of them drew it — season by season, for both of Idaho's application periods and both residency pools. Every figure comes from an Idaho Fish and Game response linked at the foot of this page.

What the 2026 drawing did

Idaho offered 2 permits on hunt 5004 in 2026 and issued 2 — the hunt filled. In the first application period, 60 hunters put it first and 2 drew, 3.33%.

Idaho grants no preference for having applied before. The department is direct about it — "IDFG does not use any point system in our draw process" — and its own published data has never carried a point, preference or bonus field in the twenty-nine seasons it covers. Applying for eleven years earns exactly what applying for the first time earns. There is no points-to-draw figure on this page because there is none to publish, and any site showing you one for Idaho has invented it.

Published in 29 of the 29 seasons Idaho offers, 1998 to 2026.

Residency

First-choice draw rate, by season

The rate is the hunters awarded this hunt on their first choice, divided by the hunters who named it first. Both are exact integers Idaho Fish and Game returns in the same record. A dash means nobody named it first, so the drawing answered nothing — absent, not nought.
SeasonAreaPermits availablePut it firstDrew on first choiceFirst-choice draw ratePut it secondDrew on second choicePermits issued
20262026023.33%2102
20252025323.77%2602
20242026023.33%4102
20232027322.74%2502
20222023725.41%2002
20212026223.23%2502
20202023925.13%802
20192027722.60%2502
201820*22129.52%1502
201720*23026.67%1102
201620*22627.69%1702
201520*22727.41%902
201420A23326.06%702
201320A22129.52%1002
201220A23425.88%702
201120A216212.50%1302
201020A213215.38%502
200920A220210.00%1702
200820-2213215.38%1502
200720-222129.52%2902
200620-2211218.18%902
200520-2216212.50%1502
200420-2212216.67%1502
200320-2220210.00%1802
200220-227114.29%1612
200120-2219210.53%1602
200020A67767.79%7906
199920A646613.04%3106
199820A67568.00%3706

The area label changes across seasons for this hunt number — Idaho printed 20, 20*, 20A, 20-2. A controlled hunt number is reissued, and the department publishes nothing that settles whether the same number covers the same ground from one season to the next: across all its hunts, 874 of 974 numbers see its own internal area key change and 888 see the printed label change, independently of each other. So each row shows the label Idaho printed for that season and this page asserts nothing about the place.

By residency

Idaho splits both applicants and permits by residency. The applicant counts are first-choice only in every season; the permit counts are not, which is why some rates here are blank.
SeasonResidencyPut it firstPermitsDraw rateWhat the permit count coversIDFG's own figure
2026Resident3525.71%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree6%
2026Nonresident2500.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2025Resident3725.41%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree5%
2025Nonresident1600.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2024Resident4224.76%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree5%
2024Nonresident1800.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2023Resident4124.88%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree5%
2023Nonresident3200.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2022Resident2727.41%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree7%
2022Nonresident1000.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2021Resident3525.71%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree6%
2021Nonresident2700.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2020Resident3013.33%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree3%
2020Nonresident9111.11%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree11%
2019Resident4124.88%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree5%
2019Nonresident3600.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2018Resident18211.11%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree11%
2018Nonresident300.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2017Resident2528.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree8%
2017Nonresident500.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2016Resident2314.35%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree4%
2016Nonresident3133.33%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree33%
2015Resident2328.70%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree9%
2015Nonresident400.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2014Resident14214.29%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree14%
2014Nonresident1900.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2013Resident7228.57%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree29%
2013Nonresident1400.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2012Resident19210.53%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree11%
2012Nonresident1500.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2011Resident8225.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree25%
2011Nonresident800.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2010Resident4250.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree50%
2010Nonresident900.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2009Resident18211.11%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree11%
2009Nonresident200.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2008Resident11218.18%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree18%
2008Nonresident200.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2007Resident17211.76%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree12%
2007Nonresident400.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2006Resident9222.22%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree22%
2006Nonresident200.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2005Resident12216.67%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree17%
2005Nonresident400.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2004Resident11218.18%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree18%
2004Nonresident100.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2003Resident14214.29%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree14%
2003Nonresident600.00%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree0%
2002Resident12—both draw choices100%
2002Nonresident60—both draw choices0%
2001Resident8112.50%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree12%
2001Nonresident1119.09%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree9%
2000Resident30516.67%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree16%
2000Nonresident4712.13%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree2%
1999Resident23521.74%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree21%
1999Nonresident2314.35%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree4%
1998Resident27518.52%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree18%
1998Nonresident4812.08%no permits went to second choice, so the two readings agree2%

Why some residency rates are blank. Idaho changed what its residency permit columns count around the 2019 season without renaming them. Before, they cover both application choices; from 2019, first choice only. The applicant columns are first-choice-only throughout. So on an older row where permits went to second-choice hunters, dividing one by the other counts winners the denominator never counted — on one 1998 deer hunt that arithmetic gives 250%. Rather than publish that, or pick an era and apply it to every row, this site reads which meaning each row's own totals support and leaves the rate empty where the two do not match.

IDFG's own figure is the percentage the department publishes alongside its counts. It is a rounded summary and it disagrees with its own rows: on the 1998 hunt above it reads 100. It is shown because the department publishes it and a reader will meet it elsewhere, not because it answers the question this page is about.

At least one row here has hunters who applied and no rate. That is the case above, and the "what the permit count covers" column says which.

Where Idaho's own figures disagree with each other

  • IDFG printed 4 different area labels for rocky-mountain-sheep hunt 5004 across the seasons it published (20, 20*, 20-2, 20A). Neither its label nor its internal area key is an identity, so this site shows what the department printed for each season and asserts nothing about whether the ground is the same.

Nothing above is corrected. Correcting it would mean publishing a figure the department never stated.

Sources for this hunt

Nearby hunt numbers

Hunt 5001Hunt 5002Hunt 5003Hunt 5005Hunt 5006Hunt 5007Hunt 5008Hunt 5009All Idaho rocky mountain bighorn sheepAll Idaho species

Idaho grants no preference to previously unsuccessful applicants, so nothing on this page accumulates and nothing here predicts next season. See how these numbers are produced and checked, or the Idaho application deadlines.