Top 10 high school mascots in Montana: Vote for the best

From Beeters to Refiners to Savage Heat, meet the best high school mascots in Montana

Anaconda Copperheads logo. / SBLive archives

Montana has lots of big-horned sheep, sheepherders and porcupines, but no copperheads.

High school mascot fans might be able to tell you that Copperheads do exist in Montana, along with Sheepherders, Porcupines and Big Horns.

Over the next couple of months, SBLive/SI will be featuring the best high school mascots in every state, giving readers a chance to vote for No. 1 in all 50.

The winners and highest vote-getters will make up the field for our NCAA Tournament-style March Mascot Madness bracket in 2025. The Coalinga Horned Toads (California) are the defending national champions.

Here are High School on SI's top 10 high school mascots in Montana (vote in the poll below to pick your favorite):

The poll will close at 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday, Jan. 7.

1. Bats (Belfry HS)

You’ve probably heard the expression “bats in the belfry,” and Belfry High School has Bats all over the premises. Not only does the mascot play off a popular expression (though the expression refers to someone acting kind of crazy), but there are bell towers in town where bats often live.

2. Beeters (Chinook HS)

Yes, the Beeters want to beat you, but their nickname is short for the Sugarbeeters. Chinook is one of the main producers of sugarbeets in the upper plains.

3. Big Horns (Lone Peak HS)

This relatively new school (it opened in 2009) near Big Sky Resort has the only Big Horns in the country in high school sports. Bighorn sheep are abundant in the surrounding mountains.

4. Copperheads (Anaconda HS)

The Anaconda Anacondas seems so obvious, so why not the Copperheads? After all, there are no anacondas or copperheads in Montana, and the Anaconda Common Gartersnakes wouldn't strike much fear in opponents.

5. Porcupines (Nashua HS)

Porcupines are found year-round all over Montana, but Nashua is the only school in the state to choose the spiny rodent as its mascot.

6. Savage Heat (Hot Springs HS)

For many years, the mascot was simply "Savages," but in the wake of a 2000 Tribal Council Resolution denouncing the use of Native Americans as mascots, the Hot Springs school board agreed in 2007 to change the temperature and rename the team Savage Heat.

7. Refiners (North Toole County HS)

Sunburst, Montana (home of North Toole County High School) for years was a farming community, but upon the discovery of oil, a refinery was built in town. In the 1970s, oil development ceased and the town returned to its agricultural roots, but the high school has retained the area’s oil history by calling themselves the Refiners (complete with a refinery as its logo).

8. Sheepherders (Sweet Grass County HS)

Sweet Grass County High School honors the role the sheep industry played in the development of the county by being the only school in the country with Sheepherders as its mascot. Its logo is a bearded man (presumably a sheepherder) smoking a corn-cob pipe.

9. Vigilantes (East Helena HS)

East Helena opened just over five years ago, becoming the only Vigilantes in the country among U.S. high schools. The logo is a mysterious-looking character who looks straight out of an old Western.

10. Wardens (Powell County HS)

Powell County High School is in Deer Lodge, home of the Montana State Prison. Jim Salmonsen is the prison warden, but there are Wardens all over the county.

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-- Mike Swanson | swanson@scorebooklive.com | @sblivesports