Colorado Deer · GMU 23
Colorado GMU 23 covers 271,005 acres and lies 9 miles south-east of Meeker and 28 miles north of Rifle. 45% of it is public land, mostly national forest (32%) and BLM (8%). In 2024, 565 people hunted deer here and took 150, a 26% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM012O2R, put up 950 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 435 nonresident first-choice applicants.
34 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
32% Forest Service
271,005 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
- 26%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 175 / 58
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 26%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 100 / 7
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 26%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 100 / 1
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 26%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 950 / 435
- If Drawn
- $636.03
Every License in GMU 23
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE011O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 | 21% | 0 | |
| DE011O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DE011P2R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| DE011P2R Youth · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DE011P3R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| DE011P3R Youth · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| DE012O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DE012O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DE012P4R Standard · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DE012P4R Youth · private | Deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DE023O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 23 | 100% | — | |
| DE023O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 23 | 100% | 0 | |
| DE023W1R Standard | Deer either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF011O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 | not open | — | |
| DF012O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF012O1M Youth | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DF012O2R Standard | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 80% | 0 | |
| DF012O2R Youth | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DF012O3R Standard | Deer female rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF012O3R Youth | Deer female rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF023O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 23 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DF023W1R Standard | Deer female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM011O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 | 0% | 1 | |
| DM011O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM012O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM012O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM012O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DM012O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% | 0 | |
| DM012O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DM012O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| DM012O4R Standard | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 12 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM012O4R Youth | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM023O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 23 | 100% | 0 | |
| DM023O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 23 | 100% (small sample) | 0 |
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 | 565 | 150 | 26% |
| 2023 | 564 | 156 | 28% |
| 2022 | 1,173 | 356 | 30% |
| 2021 | 1,195 | 481 | 40% |
2024 split: rifle 138 (93%) from 388 hunters, 36%, archery 7 (5%) from 117 hunters, 6%, muzzleloader 4 (3%) from 60 hunters, 7%
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 | 150,305 ac | 55% |
| National Forest | 85,481 ac | 32% |
| BLM | 20,901 ac | 8% |
| State land | 14,275 ac | 5% |
| County or city land | 41 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