Colorado Deer · GMU 181
Colorado GMU 181 covers 116,458 acres and lies 28 miles south-east of Steamboat Springs and 52 miles north-east of Gypsum. 62% of it is public land, mostly BLM (32%) and national forest (17%). In 2024, 159 people hunted deer here and took 43, a 27% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM018O1M, put up 420 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 72 nonresident first-choice applicants.
17 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
32% BLM
116,458 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
- 27%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 510 / 59
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 27%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 420 / 72
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 27%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 250 / 24
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 27%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 225 / 32
- If Drawn
- $636.03
Every License in GMU 181
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE018O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 18 | 72% | 0 | |
| DE018O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DE018P2R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 18 | 91% | 0 | |
| DE018P3R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 18 | 0% | 0 | |
| DE018P3R Youth · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 18 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DF018O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 18 | not open | — | |
| DF027O2R Standard | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 27 | not open | — | |
| DF027O2R Youth | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 27 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF027O3R Standard | Deer female rifle season 3 GMU 27 | — | — | |
| DM018O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 18 | 100% | — | |
| DM018O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM027O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 27 | 100% | — | |
| DM027O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 27 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM027O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 27 | 100% | — | |
| DM027O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 27 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM027O4R Standard | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 27 | 0% | 1 | |
| DM027O4R Youth | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 27 | 100% (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.
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 | 159 | 43 | 27% |
| 2023 | 432 | 37 | 9% |
| 2022 | 838 | 174 | 21% |
| 2021 | 940 | 226 | 24% |
2024 split: rifle 43 (100%) from 133 hunters, 32%, archery 0 (0%) from 10 hunters, 0%, muzzleloader 0 (0%) from 16 hunters, 0%
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 | 44,417 ac | 38% |
| BLM | 36,768 ac | 32% |
| National Forest | 20,183 ac | 17% |
| State land | 12,994 ac | 11% |
| County or city land | 2,094 ac | 2% |
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.
Report an error on this page
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