Colorado Deer · GMU 161
Colorado GMU 161 covers 261,039 acres and lies 32 miles north-east of Steamboat Springs and 59 miles north-east of Craig. 71% of it is public land, mostly national forest (40%) and BLM (26%). In 2024, 249 people hunted deer here and took 70, a 28% 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.
20 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
40% Forest Service
261,039 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.
None of these licenses drew anyone at your points in 2026: see the table below for the cut on each.
Every License in GMU 161
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE006O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 6 | 0% | 1 | |
| DE006O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 6 | 75% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DF006E1R Standard | Deer female rifle early season GMU 6 | not open | — | |
| DF006O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 | 0% (small sample) | 3 | |
| DF006P5R Standard · private | Deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 6 | 100% | — | |
| DM006O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 | 0% | 1 | |
| DM006O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM006O4R Standard | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 6 | 0% (small sample) | 17 ▲4 | |
| DM006O4R Youth | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 6 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM006W1R Standard | Deer male rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 6 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM014E1R Standard | Deer male rifle early season GMU 14 | 0% | 5 ▲3 | |
| DM014E1R Youth | Deer male rifle early season GMU 14 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM161E1R Standard | Deer male rifle early season GMU 161 | 0% | 4 ▲1 | |
| DM161E1R Youth | Deer male rifle early season GMU 161 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM161O1R Standard | Deer male rifle season 1 GMU 161 | 0% (small sample) | 6 ▲3 | |
| DM161O1R Youth | Deer male rifle season 1 GMU 161 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM161O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 161 | 0% | 3 ▲1 | |
| DM161O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 161 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM161O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 161 | 0% | 5 ▼1 | |
| DM161O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 161 | 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: 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 | 249 | 70 | 28% |
| 2023 | 253 | 87 | 34% |
| 2022 | 232 | 140 | 61% |
| 2021 | 203 | 118 | 58% |
2024 split: rifle 41 (59%) from 150 hunters, 27%, archery 15 (21%) from 57 hunters, 26%, muzzleloader 14 (20%) from 42 hunters, 33%
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
| National Forest | 105,408 ac | 40% |
| Private | 75,635 ac | 29% |
| BLM | 66,608 ac | 26% |
| State land | 13,277 ac | 5% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 42 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 8 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