Colorado Deer · GMU 581
Colorado GMU 581 covers 440,670 acres and lies 22 miles north of Cañon City and 32 miles west of Colorado Springs. 42% of it is public land, mostly BLM (22%) and national forest (11%). In 2024, 572 people hunted deer here and took 292, a 51% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM049O2R, put up 800 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 263 nonresident first-choice applicants, 101 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 2 points.
14 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
23% BLM
440,670 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 581
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE049O1A Standard | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 49 | 0% | 1 | |
| DE049O1A Youth | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 49 | 100% | 0 | |
| DF049O1M Standard | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 49 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| DF049O1M Youth | Deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 49 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF058O2R Standard | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 58 | not open | — | |
| DF058O2R Youth | Deer female rifle season 2 GMU 58 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DF058O3R Standard | Deer female rifle season 3 GMU 58 | 0% (small sample) | 4 | |
| DF069L1R Standard | Deer female rifle late season GMU 69 | not open | — | |
| DM049O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 49 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM049O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 49 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM049O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 49 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM049O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 49 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM049O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 49 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM049O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 49 | 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 | 572 | 292 | 51% |
| 2023 | 540 | 266 | 49% |
| 2022 | 537 | 317 | 59% |
| 2021 | 518 | 248 | 48% |
2024 split: rifle 256 (88%) from 450 hunters, 57%, archery 28 (10%) from 96 hunters, 29%, muzzleloader 7 (2%) from 26 hunters, 27%
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 | 253,905 ac | 58% |
| BLM | 99,055 ac | 22% |
| National Forest | 50,557 ac | 11% |
| State land | 30,285 ac | 7% |
| National Park Service | 6,271 ac | 1% |
| County or city land | 594 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