Colorado Deer · GMU 96
Colorado GMU 96 covers 157,974 acres and lies 8 miles north-east of Fort Morgan and 33 miles south-west of Sterling. 7% of it is public land, mostly state land (6%) and Bureau of Reclamation (1%). In 2024, 656 people hunted deer here and took 191, a 29% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, DM096O1R, put up 80 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 4 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 2 points.
10 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
6% State
157,974 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.
Every License in GMU 96
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE096O1A | Deer either-sex archery season 1 GMU 96 | 0% (small sample) | 2 ▲1 | |
| DF096L1R | Deer female rifle late season GMU 96 | — | — | |
| DF096O1R | Deer female rifle season 1 GMU 96 | — | — | |
| DF096O2M | Deer female muzzleloader season 2 GMU 96 | — | — | |
| DF096P5X · private | Deer female rifle (season choice) private-land-only GMU 96 | 100% | — | |
| DF096P6X · private | Deer female rifle (season choice) private-land-only GMU 96 | 100% | — | |
| DM096L1R | Deer male rifle late season GMU 96 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| DM096O1R | Deer male rifle season 1 GMU 96 | 0% (small sample) | 2 ▲1 | |
| DM096O2M | Deer male muzzleloader season 2 GMU 96 | — | — | |
| DM096P5R · private | Deer male rifle private-land-only GMU 96 | 100% | — |
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): $636.03 ($129.11 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 6, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 656 | 191 | 29% |
| 2023 | 658 | 145 | 22% |
| 2022 | 681 | 298 | 44% |
| 2021 | 736 | 280 | 38% |
2024 split: rifle 164 (86%) from 509 hunters, 32%, archery 22 (12%) from 100 hunters, 22%, muzzleloader 5 (3%) from 47 hunters, 11%
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 | 146,235 ac | 93% |
| State land | 9,420 ac | 6% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 1,673 ac | 1% |
| BLM | 448 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 197 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