Colorado Deer · GMU 481
Colorado GMU 481 covers 180,848 acres and lies 64 miles north-west of Cañon City and 75 miles south-east of Glenwood Springs. 80% of it is public land, mostly national forest (75%) and state land (4%). In 2024, 322 people hunted deer here and took 128, a 40% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM048O2R, put up 320 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 73 nonresident first-choice applicants, 40 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 1 point.
14 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
75% Forest Service
180,848 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.
Every License in GMU 481
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF048O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 48 | not open | — | |
| DF048O1M Youth | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 48 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF481P2R Standard · private | Deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 481 | 100% | — | |
| DF481P3R Standard · private | Deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 481 | 100% | — | |
| DF481P5R Standard · private | Deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 481 | 100% | — | |
| DM048E1R Standard | Deer male rifle early season GMU 48 | 0% (small sample) | 12 ▲6 | |
| DM048O1A Standard | Deer male archery season 1 GMU 48 | 26% | 0 | |
| DM048O1A Youth | Deer male archery season 1 GMU 48 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM048O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 48 | 0% | 1 ▲1 | |
| DM048O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 48 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM048O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 48 | 0% | 1 ▲1 | |
| DM048O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 48 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM048O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 48 | 0% | 1 ▲1 | |
| DM048O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 48 | 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 | 322 | 128 | 40% |
| 2023 | 268 | 118 | 44% |
| 2022 | 289 | 138 | 48% |
| 2021 | 344 | 140 | 41% |
2024 split: rifle 115 (90%) from 231 hunters, 50%, archery 8 (6%) from 56 hunters, 14%, muzzleloader 5 (4%) from 35 hunters, 14%
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 | 135,538 ac | 75% |
| Private | 36,616 ac | 20% |
| State land | 7,083 ac | 4% |
| BLM | 1,447 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 162 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