Colorado Deer — GMU 17

Colorado GMU 17 covers 180,269 acres and lies 27 miles east of Steamboat Springs and 64 miles north-west of Boulder. 63% of it is public land, mostly national forest (36%) and BLM (19%). In 2024, 81 people hunted deer here and took 7 — 9% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 165 tags here for 4 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):364 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:221 Hunter success (2024):9% Public land:63% Size:180,269 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 17, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

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

DE006O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 28 tags · 79 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DE006O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 165 tags · 4 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth

75% Likely draw 0% as 2nd choice
DF006E1R deer female rifle early season GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard

— Not open to nonresidents
DF006O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 1 tags · 2 applicants · needed 3 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DF006P5R deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 12 tags · 0 applicants · Standard

100% No first-choice applicants
DM006O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 26 tags · 50 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM006O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 3 tags · 3 applicants · needed 2 pts · Youth

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM006O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 4 tags · 38 applicants · needed 17 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM006O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] 25 tags · 3 applicants · Youth

0% Point builder
DM017E1R deer male rifle early season GMU 17 [17] 11 tags · 14 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard

22% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
DM017E1R deer male rifle early season GMU 17 [17] 50 tags · 6 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth

100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
DM017O1R deer male rifle season 1 GMU 17 4 tags · 8 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM017O1R deer male rifle season 1 GMU 17 15 tags · 1 applicants · needed 1 pts · Youth

0% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
DM017O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 17 [17] 2 tags · 3 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM017O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 17 3 tags · 8 applicants · needed 5 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM017O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 17 15 tags · 2 applicants · Youth

0% Point builder

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	License	Season
DE006O1A ↗ deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Archery	0% Point builder	0%	1 steady since 2025	28 / 79	Standard	Sep 2–30, 2026
DE006O1A ↗ deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Archery	75% Likely draw	0%	0	165 / 4	Youth	Sep 2–30, 2026
DF006E1R ↗ deer female rifle early season GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Rifle	Not open to nonresidents	—	—	0 / 0	Standard	Oct 1–7, 2026
DF006O1M ↗ deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Muzzleloader	0% Point builder	0%	3	1 / 2	Standard	Sep 12–20, 2026
DF006P5R ↗ deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Rifle	100% No first-choice applicants	—	—	12 / 0	Standard	Dec 1–31, 2026
DM006O1M ↗ deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Muzzleloader	0% Point builder	0%	1 steady since 2021	26 / 50	Standard	Sep 12–20, 2026
DM006O1M ↗ deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Muzzleloader	0% Point builder	0%	2 steady since 2022	3 / 3	Youth	Sep 12–20, 2026
DM006O4R ↗ deer male rifle season 4 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	17 +4 since 2021	4 / 38	Standard	Nov 18–22, 2026
DM006O4R ↗ deer male rifle season 4 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Rifle	0% Point builder	—	—	25 / 3	Youth	Nov 18–22, 2026
DM017E1R ↗ deer male rifle early season GMU 17 [17] Rifle	22% Long shot	0%	0 steady since 2021	11 / 14	Standard	Oct 1–7, 2026
DM017E1R ↗ deer male rifle early season GMU 17 [17] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	0%	0 steady since 2023	50 / 6 undersubscribed	Youth	Oct 1–7, 2026
DM017O1R ↗ deer male rifle season 1 GMU 17 Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	1 steady since 2025	4 / 8	Standard	Oct 14–18, 2026
DM017O1R ↗ deer male rifle season 1 GMU 17 Rifle	0% Undersubscribed	0%	1	15 / 1 undersubscribed	Youth	Oct 14–18, 2026
DM017O2R ↗ deer male rifle season 2 GMU 17 [17] Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	1 −1 since 2021	2 / 3	Standard	Oct 24 – Nov 1, 2026
DM017O3R ↗ deer male rifle season 3 GMU 17 Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	5 +1 since 2021	3 / 8	Standard	Nov 7–15, 2026
DM017O3R ↗ deer male rifle season 3 GMU 17 Rifle	0% Point builder	—	— steady since 2021	15 / 2	Youth	Nov 7–15, 2026

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.

1 hunt not offered in 2026 is hidden — show discontinued hunts.

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.

Other licenses valid in GMU 17

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.

DM006O1A — deer male archery season 1 GMU 6 [6, 16, 17, 161, 171] Youth

The country

GMU 17 within Colorado

GMU 17 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 66,738 ac · 37%
National Forest 65,423 ac · 36%
BLM 34,218 ac · 19%
National Wildlife Refuge 9,991 ac · 6%
County or city land 2,929 ac · 2%
State land 968 ac · 1%

Source: BLM Colorado Surface Management Agency

Nearby areas

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.