Colorado Deer · GMU 16

Colorado GMU 16 covers 204,857 acres and lies 17 miles north-east of Steamboat Springs and 53 miles east of Craig. 52% of it is public land, mostly national forest (34%) and BLM (12%). In 2024, 153 people hunted deer here and took 22, a 14% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DE006O1A, put up 165 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 79 nonresident first-choice applicants, 24 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 1 point.

Tags, 2026
836

18 licenses · NR capped at 25%

Applicants
284

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
14%

2024, all licenses

Public Land
52%

34% Forest Service

Size
320 mi²

204,857 acres

Steamboat Springs 16
14%hunter success 2024 · 153 hunters, 22 deer

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.

Every License in GMU 16

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
DE006O1A Standard 0% 1
Youth 75% (small sample) 0
DF006E1R Standard not open —
DF006O1M Standard 0% (small sample) 3
DF006P5R Standard · private 100% —
DM006O1M Standard 0% 1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
DM006O4R Standard 0% (small sample) 17 ▲4
Youth 0% (small sample) —
DM006W1R Standard 100% (small sample) —
DM014E1R Standard 0% 5 ▲3
Youth 0% (small sample) —
DM016E1R Standard 0% 1 ▼1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
DM016O1R Standard 0% (small sample) 1 ▼1
Youth 0% (small sample) —
DM016O2R Standard 100% —
DM016O3R Standard 0% (small sample) 1 ▲1

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: DM006O1A.

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 153 22 14%
2023 140 26 19%
2022 129 59 46%
2021 136 21 15%

2024 split: rifle 18 (82%) from 102 hunters, 18%, archery 2 (9%) from 39 hunters, 5%, muzzleloader 2 (9%) from 12 hunters, 17%

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 98,671 ac 48%
National Forest 70,349 ac 34%
BLM 24,259 ac 12%
State land 10,785 ac 5%
National Wildlife Refuge 791 ac <1%
County or city land 0 ac <1%

Source: Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency.

▸ Sources 10
  1. CPW 2026 Primary DEER Post Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. CPW 2026 2 CCR 406-0 Chapter W-0 General… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. CPW 2026 Big Game Hunting brochure fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. CPW 2026 web page fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. CPW 2024 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. CPW 2023 Statewide Deer Hunting Harvest… harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. CPW 2022 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. CPW 2021 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. CPW 2026 GMU Boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. 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.

Report an error on this page

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

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