Colorado Deer · GMU 73
Colorado GMU 73 covers 570,198 acres and lies 9 miles south-east of Cortez and 30 miles west of Durango. 37% of it is public land, mostly national forest (20%) and national park (9%). A further 36% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2024, 622 people hunted deer here and took 302, a 49% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM072O3R, put up 575 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 139 nonresident first-choice applicants.
16 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
20% Forest Service
570,198 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.
- Success
- 49%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 190 / 54
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 49%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 160 / 38
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 49%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 455 / 111
- If Drawn
- $636.03
- Success
- 49%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 575 / 139
- If Drawn
- $636.03
Every License in GMU 73
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DF072P5R Standard · private | Deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 72 | 100% | — | |
| DF072P5R Youth · private | Deer female rifle private-land-only GMU 72 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM072O1A Standard | Deer male archery season 1 GMU 72 | 51% | 0 | |
| DM072O1A Youth | Deer male archery season 1 GMU 72 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM072O1M Standard | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 72 | 63% | 0 | |
| DM072O1M Youth | Deer male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 72 | 75% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM072O2R Standard | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 72 | 71% | 0 | |
| DM072O2R Youth | Deer male rifle season 2 GMU 72 | 40% | 0 | |
| DM072O3R Standard | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 72 | 100% | — | |
| DM072O3R Youth | Deer male rifle season 3 GMU 72 | 100% | — | |
| DM072O4R Standard | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 72 | 0% | 4 | |
| DM072O4R Youth | Deer male rifle season 4 GMU 72 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM072P2R Standard · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 72 | 100% | — | |
| DM072P2R Youth · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 72 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| DM072P3R Standard · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 72 | 100% | — | |
| DM072P3R Youth · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 72 | 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 | 622 | 302 | 49% |
| 2023 | 594 | 282 | 48% |
| 2022 | 571 | 274 | 48% |
| 2021 | 517 | 273 | 53% |
2024 split: rifle 248 (82%) from 478 hunters, 52%, archery 30 (10%) from 79 hunters, 38%, muzzleloader 25 (8%) from 66 hunters, 38%
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
| Tribal | 205,274 ac | 36% |
| Private | 155,201 ac | 27% |
| National Forest | 111,497 ac | 20% |
| National Park Service | 53,860 ac | 9% |
| BLM | 35,927 ac | 6% |
| State land | 6,721 ac | 1% |
| County or city land | 1,000 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 578 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 123 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