Colorado Deer — GMU 131

Colorado GMU 131 covers 123,826 acres and lies 12 miles south-west of Steamboat Springs and 32 miles east of Craig. 16% of it is public land, mostly BLM (9%) and state land (5%). In 2024, 60 people hunted deer here and took 19 — 32% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 70 tags here for 0 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):289 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:221 Hunter success (2024):32% Public land:16% Size:123,826 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 131, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

10 licenses on offer · 289 tags · 221 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • DE011O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23 and 24] 63 tags · 102 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    21% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE011O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23 and 24] 8 tags · 1 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE131P2R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 131 [131, 231] 50 tags · 3 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE131P3R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 131 [131, 231] 38 tags · 2 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF011O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    Not open to nonresidents
  • DM011O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] 38 tags · 87 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM011O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] 3 tags · 10 applicants · needed 1 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM131O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 131 [131, 231] 13 tags · 10 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 17% as 2nd choice
  • DM131O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 131 [131, 231] 70 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM131O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 131 [131, 231] 6 tags · 6 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 12% as 2nd choice
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
Colorado lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Standard license $129.11 $129.11 $636.03
Youth license $129.11 $129.11 $636.03

Application window: opens Mar 1, closes Apr 7, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Steamboat Springs Gypsum Boulder Loveland Lakewood
GMU 131 within Colorado
12 13 14 15 16 181 214 231 27 441 Steamboat Springs Craig
GMU 131 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • Private 104,551 ac · 84%
  • BLM 10,876 ac · 9%
  • State land 6,529 ac · 5%
  • County or city land 1,039 ac · 1%
  • National Forest 830 ac · 1%

Source: BLM Colorado Surface Management Agency

How the hunting has gone

What Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. 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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2024 60 19 32%
2023 68 15 23%
2022 94 6 7%
2021 85 11 13%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 12 · 60% · 31 hunters, 39% success
  • Archery 8 · 40% · 22 hunters, 36% success
  • Muzzleloader 0 · 0% · 8 hunters, 0% success

Boundary: CPW GMU Boundary (Big Game)

Harvest: 2024 Statewide Deer Harvest

Harvest: 2023 Statewide Deer Hunting Harvest Estimates

Harvest: 2022 Statewide Deer Harvest

How we compute draw odds · All Colorado deer hunts