AmmoSight

Colorado Deer — GMU 23

Colorado GMU 23 covers 271,005 acres and lies 28 miles north of Rifle and 41 miles south of Craig. 45% of it is public land, mostly national forest (32%) and BLM (8%). In 2024, 565 people hunted deer here and took 150 — 26% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 856 tags here for 188 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):4,059 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:1,652 Hunter success (2024):26% Public land:45% Size:271,005 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 23, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

34 licenses on offer · 4,059 tags · 1,652 applicants in the 2026 draw

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
  • DE011O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23 and 24] 63 tags · 102 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    21% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE011O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23 and 24] 8 tags · 1 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE011P2R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 [11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 211] 588 tags · 164 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 44% as 2nd choice
  • DE011P2R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 [11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 211] 500 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 25% as 2nd choice
  • DE011P3R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 [11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 211] 856 tags · 188 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 47% as 2nd choice
  • DE011P3R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 [11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24, 211] 156 tags · 2 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 71% as 2nd choice
  • DE012O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 [12, 23 north of the White River and 24 north of the North Fork of the White River] 33 tags · 48 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE012O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 [12, 23 north of the White River and 24 north of the North Fork of the White River] 9 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 50% as 2nd choice
  • DE012P4R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 12 [12, 13, 23, 24] 256 tags · 40 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 85% as 2nd choice
  • DE012P4R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 12 [12, 13, 23, 24] 56 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed
  • DE023O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 23 [23 south of the White River and 24 south of the North Fork of the White River] 72 tags · 58 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 13% as 2nd choice
  • DE023O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 23 [23 south of the White River and 24 south of the North Fork of the White River] 175 tags · 5 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE023W1R deer either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 1 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • DF011O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • DF012O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 [12, 23 north of the White River, and 24 north of the North Fork of the White River] 1 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF012O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 [12, 23 north of the White River, and 24 north of the North Fork of the White River] 25 tags · 1 applicants · needed 4 pts · Youth
    0% Undersubscribed
  • DF012O2R deer female rifle season 2 GMU 12 9 tags · 7 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    80% Likely draw 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF012O2R deer female rifle season 2 GMU 12 100 tags · 2 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF012O3R deer female rifle season 3 GMU 12 7 tags · 1 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 17% as 2nd choice
  • DF012O3R deer female rifle season 3 GMU 12 6 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 50% as 2nd choice
  • DF023O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 23 [23 south of the White River, and 24 south of the North Fork of the White River] 9 tags · 1 applicants · Standard
    0% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF023W1R deer female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 2 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • DM011O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] 38 tags · 87 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM011O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] 3 tags · 10 applicants · needed 1 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 [12, 23 north of the White River, and 24 north of the North Fork of the White River] 11 tags · 18 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 [12, 23 north of the White River, and 24 north of the North Fork of the White River] 50 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 12 480 tags · 435 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 8% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 12 24 tags · 21 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 12 390 tags · 349 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 13% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 12 14 tags · 27 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 12% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 12 [12, 13, 23, 24] 16 tags · 55 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM012O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 12 [12, 13, 23, 24] 1 tags · 5 applicants · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM023O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 23 [23 south of the White River, and 24 south of the North Fork of the White River] 25 tags · 21 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM023O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 23 [23 south of the White River, and 24 south of the North Fork of the White River] 75 tags · 1 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
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.

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.

The country

Rifle Craig Grand Junction Delta Boulder
GMU 23 within Colorado
11 12 131 211 22 231 24 25 26 32 33 34 Rifle Glenwood Springs Gypsum
GMU 23 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 150,291 ac · 55%
  • National Forest 85,481 ac · 32%
  • BLM 20,901 ac · 8%
  • County or city land 14,331 ac · 5%

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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2024 565 150 26%
2023 564 156 28%
2022 1,173 356 30%
2021 1,195 481 40%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 138 · 93% · 388 hunters, 36% success
  • Archery 7 · 5% · 117 hunters, 6% success
  • Muzzleloader 4 · 3% · 60 hunters, 7% success

Boundary: CPW GMU Boundary (Big Game)

Harvest: 2024 Statewide Deer Harvest

Harvest: 2023 Statewide Deer Hunting Harvest Estimates

Harvest: 2022 Statewide Deer Harvest

How we compute draw odds · All Colorado deer hunts