Unit 271 focuses on the Sheep Range proper, overlapping with portions of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. The Sheep Range is a massive limestone mountain block trending north-south for about 35 miles, with sheer cliff faces, deep canyons, and rocky basins. Elevations run from roughly 3,000 feet at the base to 9,924 feet on Hayford Peak. The lower slopes are exposed Mojave Desert — sparse creosote, cacti, and bare rock with very little shade. Mid-elevations provide transitional habitat with blackbrush, Joshua trees, and yucca. The upper elevations host a surprisingly lush assemblage of pinon-juniper, mountain mahogany, white fir, and relict ponderosa pine stands in sheltered canyons. This is premier desert bighorn sheep habitat, and the steep limestone terrain is exactly what bighorns prefer — cliff bands for escape cover, open slopes for feeding, and sparse vegetation that allows visibility. Tags are extremely limited and take decades to draw. Access is challenging: dirt roads from US 93 approach the east side, while the Corn Creek Road off US 95 serves the west. The terrain inside is rugged and requires scrambling and climbing in many areas. Carry plenty of water — natural sources are scarce and unreliable. Las Vegas provides the closest full services. Cell service is spotty at best. Physical conditioning is critical: you will be climbing steep, rocky slopes at elevation while glassing for rams. The best hunting strategy is to get high, set up with good optics, and glass methodically. Lightweight, high-quality binoculars and a spotting scope are more important here than in almost any other unit in the state. Unit 271 on the Sheep Range is a desert bighorn sheep unit where drawing a tag is a lifetime achievement — expect 20-30+ years of applications, and many hunters will never draw. This overlaps the Desert National Wildlife Refuge, with all the access restrictions that entails, including permanent closure of the military-overlap zone. Land is entirely federal — USFWS and BLM — with no private holdings. Water is the survival variable for both sheep and hunters: natural sources are limited to a handful of springs on the mountain, and NDOW maintains guzzlers (artificial water catchments) that concentrate sheep and serve as key glassing points. The unit is known as one of the premier desert bighorn destinations in North America — the Sheep Range supports a robust, genetically diverse herd on classic limestone cliff habitat. The physical demands are extreme: hunting involves climbing steep, rocky terrain in desert heat at elevations from 3,000 to nearly 10,000 feet, glassing for days to locate a mature ram, and then executing a stalk on exposed terrain. Las Vegas provides the staging convenience, but the mountain itself is as wild and demanding as any hunt in the West.