Colorado Deer · GMU 51

Colorado GMU 51 covers 321,976 acres and lies 11 miles south-west of Castle Rock. 46% of it is public land, mostly national forest (44%) and state land (1%). In 2024, 559 people hunted deer here and took 330, a 59% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM051O2R, put up 100 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 25 nonresident first-choice applicants, 17 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 1 point.

Tags, 2026
876

11 licenses · NR capped at 25%

Applicants
123

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
59%

2024, all licenses

Public Land
46%

44% Forest Service

Size
503 mi²

321,976 acres

Castle Rock Castle Pines Littleton Monument Lakewood 51
59%hunter success 2024 · 559 hunters, 330 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.

Every License in GMU 51

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
DE051O1A Standard 0% (small sample) 1
Youth 100% (small sample) 0
DF051O1M Standard 100% (small sample) 0
DF051P5R Standard · private 100% —
DM051O1M Standard 0% 1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
DM051O2R Standard 0% 1
DM051O3R Standard 0% 2 ▲1
DM051O4R Standard 0% 2 ▼1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
DM051P5R Standard · private 0% 1 ▲1

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 559 330 59%
2023 572 331 58%
2022 499 270 54%
2021 502 271 54%

2024 split: rifle 255 (77%) from 385 hunters, 66%, archery 34 (10%) from 103 hunters, 33%, muzzleloader 41 (12%) from 72 hunters, 57%

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 172,804 ac 54%
National Forest 141,057 ac 44%
State land 4,416 ac 1%
Other public 3,696 ac 1%
County or city land 1 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.

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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