Colorado Deer · GMU 53
Colorado GMU 53 covers 253,633 acres and lies 33 miles north-east of Montrose and 51 miles south of Glenwood Springs. 77% of it is public land, mostly national forest (68%) and BLM (9%). In 2024, 387 people hunted deer here and took 280, a 72% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM053O2R, put up 26 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 168 nonresident first-choice applicants, 26 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 9 points.
13 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
68% Forest Service
253,633 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.
None of these licenses drew anyone at your points in 2026: see the table below for the cut on each.
Every License in GMU 53
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF053P5R Standard · private | Deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 53 | 100% | — | |
| DM053O1A Standard | Deer male archery season 1 GMU 53 | 0% | 4 ▲3 | |
| DM053O1A Youth | Deer male archery season 1 GMU 53 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM053O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 53 | 0% | 5 ▼1 | |
| DM053O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 53 | 0% | 9 ▲4 | |
| DM053O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 53 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM053O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 53 | 0% | 19 ▲4 | |
| DM053O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 53 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM053O4R Standard | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 53 | 0% (small sample) | 28 ▲3 | |
| DM053O4R Youth | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 53 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DM053P2R Standard · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 53 | 100% | — | |
| DM053P3R Standard · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 53 | 79% | 0 ▼1 | |
| DM053P3R Youth · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 53 | 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 | 387 | 280 | 72% |
| 2023 | 374 | 272 | 73% |
| 2022 | 335 | 248 | 74% |
| 2021 | 332 | 234 | 70% |
2024 split: rifle 263 (94%) from 327 hunters, 80%, archery 13 (5%) from 47 hunters, 28%, muzzleloader 4 (1%) from 13 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 | 172,707 ac | 68% |
| Private | 58,705 ac | 23% |
| BLM | 22,104 ac | 9% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 115 ac | <1% |
| State land | 0 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