Colorado Deer · GMU 12
Colorado GMU 12 covers 315,247 acres and lies 21 miles south of Craig and 40 miles south-west of Steamboat Springs. 53% of it is public land, mostly national forest (43%) and BLM (6%). In 2024, 467 people hunted deer here and took 147, a 32% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM012O2R, put up 950 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 435 nonresident first-choice applicants.
31 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
43% Forest Service
315,247 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2024. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
- Success
- 32%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 100 / 7
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 32%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 100 / 1
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 32%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 950 / 435
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 32%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 800 / 349
- If Drawn
- $636.03
Every License in GMU 12
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE011O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 | 21% | 0 | |
| DE011O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DE011P2R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| DE011P2R Youth · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DE011P3R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| DE011P3R Youth · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| DE012O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DE012O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DE012P4R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DE012P4R Youth · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DE211W1R Standard | Deer either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 211 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF011O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 | not open | — | |
| DF012O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF012O1M Youth | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DF012O2R Standard | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 80% | 0 | |
| DF012O2R Youth | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DF012O3R Standard | Deer female rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF012O3R Youth | Deer female rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF211W1R Standard | Deer female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 211 | 100% | — | |
| DM011O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 | 0% | 1 | |
| DM011O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM012E1R Standard | Deer male rifle early season GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | 9 ▼4 | |
| DM012E1R Youth | Deer male rifle early season GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM012O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM012O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM012O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DM012O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% | 0 | |
| DM012O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DM012O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DM012O4R Standard | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 12 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM012O4R Youth | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | — |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: DE012W1R, DF012W1R.
Draw results: CPW 2026 Primary DEER Post Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $636.03 ($129.11 to apply) · Youth $636.03 ($129.11 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 6, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 467 | 147 | 32% |
| 2023 | 553 | 163 | 30% |
| 2022 | 1,289 | 495 | 38% |
| 2021 | 1,183 | 478 | 40% |
2024 split: rifle 136 (92%) from 330 hunters, 41%, archery 8 (5%) from 84 hunters, 10%, muzzleloader 4 (3%) from 54 hunters, 7%
What Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Colorado's figures come from CPW's post-season hunter survey. CPW's 2025 report dropped the per-GMU table in favour of hunt-code rows, so the newest year shown here is 2024. Source: CPW 2024 Statewide Deer Harvest; CPW 2023 Statewide Deer Hunting Harvest…; CPW 2022 Statewide Deer Harvest.
The Ground
| Private | 149,212 ac | 47% |
| National Forest | 134,127 ac | 43% |
| BLM | 20,223 ac | 6% |
| State land | 11,684 ac | 4% |
| County or city land | 0 ac | <1% |
Source: Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency.
▸ Sources 10
- CPW 2026 Primary DEER Post Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 2 CCR 406-0 Chapter W-0 General… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 Big Game Hunting brochure fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 web page fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2024 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2023 Statewide Deer Hunting Harvest… harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2022 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2021 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2026 GMU Boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency land ownership, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Colorado Parks and Wildlife's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
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We don't take applications: check Colorado Parks and Wildlife's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Colorado Parks and Wildlife's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Colorado deer hunts