Colorado Deer — GMU 231

Colorado GMU 231 covers 114,119 acres and lies 26 miles south-west of Steamboat Springs and 38 miles north of Gypsum. 64% of it is public land, mostly national forest (61%) and BLM (2%). In 2024, 143 people hunted deer here and took 22 — 15% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 70 tags here for 0 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):301 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:258 Hunter success (2024):15% Public land:64% Size:114,119 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 231, 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

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
DE131P2R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 131 [131, 231] 50 tags · 3 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
DE131P3R deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 131 [131, 231] 38 tags · 2 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
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
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
DM012E1R deer male rifle early season GMU 12 [Those portions of GMUs 12, 24, 25, 26, and 231 within the Flat Tops Wilderness Area] 2 tags · 34 applicants · needed 9 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM012E1R deer male rifle early season GMU 12 [Those portions of GMUs 12, 24, 25, 26, and 231 within the Flat Tops Wilderness Area] 10 tags · 3 applicants · Youth

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
DM131O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 131 [131, 231] 13 tags · 10 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 17% as 2nd choice
DM131O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 131 [131, 231] 70 tags · 0 applicants · Youth

100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
DM131O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 131 [131, 231] 6 tags · 6 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 12% as 2nd choice

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	License	Season
DE011O1A ↗ deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23 and 24] Archery	21% Long shot	0%	0 steady since 2021	63 / 102	Standard	Sep 2–30, 2026
DE011O1A ↗ deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23 and 24] Archery	100% Undersubscribed	0%	0 steady since 2021	8 / 1 undersubscribed	Youth	Sep 2–30, 2026
DE131P2R ↗ deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 131 [131, 231] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	0%	— +1 since 2021	50 / 3 undersubscribed	Standard	Oct 24 – Nov 1, 2026
DE131P3R ↗ deer either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 131 [131, 231] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	0%	—	38 / 2 undersubscribed	Standard	Nov 7–15, 2026
DF011O1M ↗ deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] Muzzleloader	Not open to nonresidents	—	—	0 / 0	Standard	Sep 12–20, 2026
DM011O1M ↗ deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] Muzzleloader	0% Point builder	0%	1 steady since 2021	38 / 87	Standard	Sep 12–20, 2026
DM011O1M ↗ deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 11 [11, 13, 22, 131, 211, 231 and private land portions of 12, 23, and 24] Muzzleloader	0% Point builder	0%	1 steady since 2021	3 / 10	Youth	Sep 12–20, 2026
DM012E1R ↗ deer male rifle early season GMU 12 [Those portions of GMUs 12, 24, 25, 26, and 231 within the Flat Tops Wilderness Area] Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	9 −4 since 2021	2 / 34	Standard	Sep 5–13, 2026
DM012E1R ↗ deer male rifle early season GMU 12 [Those portions of GMUs 12, 24, 25, 26, and 231 within the Flat Tops Wilderness Area] Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	—	10 / 3	Youth	Sep 5–13, 2026
DM131O2R ↗ deer male rifle season 2 GMU 131 [131, 231] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	17%	— steady since 2021	13 / 10 undersubscribed	Standard	Oct 24 – Nov 1, 2026
DM131O2R ↗ deer male rifle season 2 GMU 131 [131, 231] Rifle	100% No first-choice applicants	0%	— −1 since 2022	70 / 0	Youth	Oct 24 – Nov 1, 2026
DM131O3R ↗ deer male rifle season 3 GMU 131 [131, 231] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	12%	— steady since 2021	6 / 6 undersubscribed	Standard	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.

2 hunts not offered in 2026 are 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 231

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

DE012W1R — deer either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 12 Standard DF012W1R — deer female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 12 Standard

The country

GMU 231 within Colorado

GMU 231 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

National Forest 69,753 ac · 61%
Private 40,979 ac · 36%
BLM 2,073 ac · 2%
County or city land 666 ac · 1%
State land 646 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.