Colorado Deer — GMU 71

Colorado GMU 71 covers 332,838 acres and lies 32 miles north-east of Cortez and 56 miles south of Montrose. 85% of it is public land, mostly national forest (84%). In 2024, 506 people hunted deer here and took 222 — 44% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 120 tags here for 449 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 3 points.

Tags (2026):726 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:1,148 Hunter success (2024):44% Public land:85% Size:332,838 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 71, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

17 licenses on offer · 726 tags · 1,148 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
  • DF071P2R deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 71 84 tags · 1 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 33% as 2nd choice
  • DF071P2R deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 71 4 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 100% as 2nd choice
  • DF071P3R deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 71 40 tags · 3 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O1A deer male archery season 1 GMU 71 [71, 711] 34 tags · 195 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O1A deer male archery season 1 GMU 71 [71, 711] 4 tags · 6 applicants · needed 3 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 71 [71, 711] 21 tags · 71 applicants · needed 4 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O1M deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 71 [71, 711] 4 tags · 6 applicants · needed 4 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 71 92 tags · 248 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O2R deer male rifle season 2 GMU 71 12 tags · 22 applicants · needed 2 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 71 [71, 711] 120 tags · 449 applicants · needed 3 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O3R deer male rifle season 3 GMU 71 [71, 711] 8 tags · 36 applicants · needed 4 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 71 20 tags · 65 applicants · needed 6 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071O4R deer male rifle season 4 GMU 71 4 tags · 4 applicants · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • DM071P2R deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 91 tags · 17 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 33% as 2nd choice
  • DM071P2R deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 90 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 100% as 2nd choice
  • DM071P3R deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 94 tags · 25 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 17% as 2nd choice
  • DM071P3R deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 4 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 50% 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

Cortez Montrose Grand Junction Alamosa Rifle
GMU 71 within Colorado
70 711 72 73 74 75 751 Cortez Durango
GMU 71 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 281,002 ac · 84%
  • Private 49,922 ac · 15%
  • State land 1,144 ac · 0%
  • BLM 414 ac · 0%
  • County or city land 354 ac · 0%
  • Other public 0 ac · 0%

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 506 222 44%
2023 382 112 29%
2022 407 134 33%
2021 476 186 39%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 185 · 83% · 384 hunters, 48% success
  • Archery 25 · 11% · 81 hunters, 31% success
  • Muzzleloader 12 · 5% · 41 hunters, 29% 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