Unit S49

Castle Rock and Stony Point serve as dominant visual references for orientation across the unit; McKinley Mountain, Lookout Mountain, and the Scrapping Ridges define major ridge systems valuable for glassing. Sheep Basin offers concentrated summer habitat; Boneyard Park, Goat Park, and Price Park are logical spotting grounds for higher-elevation animals. The Tights and Copper Gulch Divide funnel game movement.

Falling Rock Spring and Mow Spring provide reliable water for both sheep and hunters in mid-country basins.

The unit spans from canyon-floor scrub near Grape Creek around 5,200 feet to high alpine ridges exceeding 12,100 feet, with most productive sheep country clustered on the rolling plateaus between 8,000 and 10,500 feet. Low-elevation canyons feature scattered pinyon-juniper and sagebrush; mid-elevation slopes transition to ponderosa pine and Douglas fir with aspen groves in protected draws; upper plateaus open to tundra-like alpine grasslands and rocky outcrops. Bighorn favor the cliff-face country and windswept ridges where forage is accessible and escape terrain abundant.

Nearly 900 miles of roads connects the unit, though most follow lower canyon and valley corridors around Florence, Canon City, and McKenzie Junction. Main access highways concentrate initial pressure near populated areas; true bighorn habitat sits several miles beyond road-heads requiring pack-in effort. The rolling complexity and elevation gain create natural pressure relief for hunters willing to penetrate mid-country basins.

Most pressure concentrates during opening week near trailheads; mid-season and late-season hunters find significantly fewer competitors at higher elevations.

S49 covers the Grape Creek and Copper Ridge country in Custer and Fremont counties, bounded by the Arkansas River and US 50 to the north, Colorado 67 to the east, Colorado 96 to the south, and Colorado 69 and Hayden Pass Road to the west. The unit sits on the transition zone between lower canyon drainages and the high plateaus of the Sangre de Cristo range. McKenzie Junction and Florence provide the nearest supply points; Cotopaxi and Canon City serve as staging areas.

The vast terrain allows hunters to escape crowded access corridors through mid-country pack-in routes.

Grape Creek drains the western slopes and serves as the primary corridor; South Newlin Creek, Adobe Creek, and Sandy Creek offer secondary drainage routes with seasonal flow. Multiple ditches—Fremont, Oil Creek, and Crooked—indicate reliable water systems in lower-elevation areas. Higher plateaus depend on springs like Falling Rock, Mow, and Indian Springs; Willow Lake and Hook Reservoir supplement in drier seasons.

Limited water above 10,000 feet means high-country camping requires carrying capacity; most reliable hunting water lies in the 7,500 to 9,500-foot band.

S49 is a dedicated bighorn sheep unit requiring mountain-specific conditioning and optics-intensive glassing strategy. Sheep concentrate on high ridges and cliff-face systems where escape routes are optimal; early season focuses on finding summer bands on alpine plateaus near Sheep Basin and the Boneyard Park complex. Mid-season shifts as sheep migrate to mid-elevations where water becomes scarce; hunting the spring systems around Falling Rock and Mow Spring produces encounters.

Late season drives sheep lower into canyon systems along Grape Creek where winter range offers better forage. Success depends on sustained glassing from elevated positions, careful stalk planning through the rolling terrain, and pack-in logistics to reach productive sheep country.