Colorado Deer · GMU 421

Colorado GMU 421 covers 346,012 acres and lies 24 miles south of Rifle and 33 miles north of Delta. 66% of it is public land, mostly national forest (54%) and BLM (10%). In 2024, 934 people hunted deer here and took 406, a 43% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM041O3R, put up 750 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 467 nonresident first-choice applicants, 147 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 2 points.

Tags, 2026
4,890

20 licenses · NR capped at 25%

Applicants
1,615

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
43%

2024, all licenses

Public Land
66%

55% Forest Service

Size
541 mi²

346,012 acres

Rifle Grand Junction 421
43%hunter success 2024 · 934 hunters, 406 deer

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.

None of these licenses drew anyone at your points in 2026: see the table below for the cut on each.

Every License in GMU 421

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
DE041O1A Standard 0% 1 ▲1
Youth 100% —
DF041O1M Standard not open —
Youth 100% (small sample) —
DF041O2R Standard 0% (small sample) —
Youth 100% (small sample) —
DF041O3R Standard not open —
Youth 100% (small sample) —
DM041O1M Standard 0% 1 ▲1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
DM041O2R Standard 0% 1 ▲1
Youth 0% 0
DM041O3R Standard 0% 2 ▲1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
DM041O4R Standard 0% 4
Youth 0% (small sample) —
DM041P2R Standard · private 65% 0
Youth · private 100% (small sample) 0
DM041P3R Standard · private 24% 0
Youth · private 0% (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 934 406 43%
2023 806 349 43%
2022 775 341 44%
2021 795 393 49%

2024 split: rifle 313 (77%) from 591 hunters, 53%, archery 50 (12%) from 206 hunters, 24%, muzzleloader 43 (11%) from 137 hunters, 31%

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

National Forest 188,463 ac 54%
Private 117,394 ac 34%
BLM 34,934 ac 10%
Bureau of Reclamation 3,004 ac <1%
State land 2,153 ac <1%
County or city land 63 ac <1%

Source: Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency.

▸ Sources 10
  1. CPW 2026 Primary DEER Post Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. CPW 2026 2 CCR 406-0 Chapter W-0 General… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. CPW 2026 Big Game Hunting brochure fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. CPW 2026 web page fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. CPW 2024 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. CPW 2023 Statewide Deer Hunting Harvest… harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. CPW 2022 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. CPW 2021 Statewide Deer Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. CPW 2026 GMU Boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. 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

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

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