Colorado Deer — GMU 7

Colorado GMU 7 covers 155,767 acres and lies 50 miles north-east of Steamboat Springs. 87% of it is public land, mostly national forest (79%) and BLM (7%). In 2024, 1,006 people hunted deer here and took 117 — 12% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 200 tags here for 2 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):779 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:272 Hunter success (2024):12% Public land:87% Size:155,767 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 7, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

18 licenses on offer · 779 tags · 272 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • DE007O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 97 tags · 74 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    91% Likely draw 0% as 2nd choice
  • DE007O1A deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 26 tags · 3 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF007O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 7 tags · 5 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    75% Likely draw 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF007O1M deer female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 200 tags · 2 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF007O2R deer female rifle season 2 GMU 7 3 tags · 2 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF007O2R deer female rifle season 2 GMU 7 2 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF007O3R deer female rifle season 3 GMU 7 3 tags · 2 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DF007O3R deer female rifle season 3 GMU 7 80 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM006E1R deer male rifle early season GMU 6 [That portion of GMU 6 above 10,000 feet elevation and GMU 7 within the Rawah] 5 tags · 16 applicants · needed 4 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM006E1R deer male rifle early season GMU 6 [That portion of GMU 6 above 10,000 feet elevation and GMU 7 within the Rawah] 20 tags · 2 applicants · needed 3 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder
  • DM007O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 68 tags · 51 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 49% as 2nd choice
  • DM007O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 13 tags · 4 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 25% as 2nd choice
  • DM007O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 7 30 tags · 30 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    45% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM007O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 7 9 tags · 2 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM007O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 7 42 tags · 50 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    54% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM007O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 7 8 tags · 3 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    50% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM007O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 7 [7, 8] 21 tags · 22 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    58% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM007O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 7 [7, 8] 145 tags · 3 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    67% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
Colorado lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Standard license $129.11 $129.11 $636.03
Youth license $129.11 $129.11 $636.03

Application window: opens Mar 1, closes Apr 7, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Steamboat Springs Fort Collins Longmont Arvada Gypsum
GMU 7 within Colorado
131 14 16 161 17 171 19 191 20 6 8 9 Steamboat Springs
GMU 7 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • National Forest 122,288 ac · 79%
  • Private 19,705 ac · 13%
  • BLM 10,179 ac · 7%
  • County or city land 3,590 ac · 2%

Source: BLM Colorado Surface Management Agency

How the hunting has gone

What Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. 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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2024 1,006 117 12%
2023 1,070 160 15%
2022 1,162 95 8%
2021 1,037 170 16%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 59 · 51% · 407 hunters, 14% success
  • Archery 28 · 24% · 289 hunters, 10% success
  • Muzzleloader 29 · 25% · 309 hunters, 9% success

Boundary: CPW GMU Boundary (Big Game)

Harvest: 2024 Statewide Deer Harvest

Harvest: 2023 Statewide Deer Hunting Harvest Estimates

Harvest: 2022 Statewide Deer Harvest

How we compute draw odds · All Colorado deer hunts