The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission will hold an emergency public meeting Monday, March 31 to consider closing bighorn sheep hunting for 2025 in hunting district 622.
The commission meeting will start at 10 a.m. and be streamed online via the FWP website or FWP’s YouTube channel. The proposal to close bighorn sheep hunting in HD 622 can be found online, where people are also welcome to comment.
The meeting will be held virtually and people can sign up to comment through the FWP website by March 31 at 7 a.m.
The meeting is prompted by recent surveys conducted by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ biologists. Only a handful of sheep were seen during the surveys and biologists suspect the herd in the HD 622 has declined to the point that there is no longer a huntable population.
During its December meeting the Fish and Wildlife Commission lowered the permits in HD 622 to one either-sex license and one ewe license in response to concerns that disease was causing a population decline in the area.
HD 622 encompasses a portion of the north side of the Missouri Breaks in northeast Montana. The area has had robust populations of bighorn sheep in recent years, but biologists suspect disease within the herd is causing this rapid population decline. A hunter-harvested ram from the area in 2024 tested positive for the bacteria that causes pneumonia. If the commission approves the closure, FWP will contact license applicants who have applied for these licenses and offer them the option of changing their application. The deadline to apply for bighorn sheep licenses is May 1.
