Colorado Elk EF005O3R — GMU 5

elk female rifle season 3 GMU 5

GMU 5 within Colorado

What you may take: elk female rifle season 3 GMU 5
Weapon: Rifle
Where: GMU 5; 61% public of 191,203 acres
Season (2026): Nov 7–15, 2026
Tags (2026): 12; for 10 first-choice applicants · nonresidents capped at 25%
Hunter success here (2024): 36%; of everyone who hunted the area

Showing nonresident results (Standard class). Switch to resident · Standard Youth

Odds by point level — 2026 draw

Undersubscribed: 10 of 11 tags claimed by first-choice nonresident applicants in 2026. Everyone who applied drew and the rest went to the leftover draw — the 100% reflects low demand, not a great tag. A code like this can flip the year demand catches up.

Prior-draw probability for a first-choice nonresident applicant. 11 tags, 10 first-choice applicants. Source: 2026 Primary ELK Post Draw... · p. 337.

Points	Your chance	Applicants	Drawn
0	100%	8	8
1	100%	1	1
2	100%	—	—
3	100%	1	1
4–10	100% same chance at every one of these levels	—	—

Preference points, computed from published point-level pools. A dash means Colorado Parks and Wildlife did not publish a count for that level. How we compute these.

What it costs (2026 nonresident fees)

Cash to apply

$129.11

Out of pocket if unsuccessful

$129.11

Total if drawn

$974.27

Refunded if unsuccessful

At the 2026 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $974.27 (enough points to draw) .

Nonresident limited-license application-processing fee (per species, per draw) · paid at application $11.49 source

Nonresident annual small game license (cheapest qualifying license to enter the draws; base $102.11 + surcharges) · paid at application $104.86 or $194.21 source

Colorado Wildlife Habitat Stamp (ages 18-64, once per license year, added automatically) · paid at application $12.76 source

Preference point fee, deer/elk/pronghorn (none until the 2028 draw) · only for a point bought without applying — an unsuccessful applicant gets the point free $0 source

Nonresident elk license (bull, either-sex or cow; includes annual fishing combo; base $842.41 + surcharges) - charged only if drawn · paid if drawn, refundable $845.16 source

Optional, not counted above: Hunt-code exchange fee (same species, quota remaining, before season starts) $5 and License refund processing fee (most refunds) $15.

Not applying this year? A point-only purchase costs $0 (Mar 1 – Apr 7, expected) and keeps you moving toward the 1-point cut.

Next application window: opens Mar 1, closes Apr 7, 2027 (expected) · results ~May 26. Last cycle's schedule rolled forward — confirm when the agency publishes.

Point creep & years to draw

Insufficient history (2 of 3 draws) — a creep trend needs at least three draw years.

Seasons (2026)

Split 1: Nov 7–15, 2026 p. 337

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in GMU 5, Colorado Parks and Wildlife counted 874 hunters and 316 elk taken in 2024 — 36% of them killed something. Full GMU 5 profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →

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: 2024 Statewide Elk Harvest 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates

As a lower choice

2nd choice

25%

Tags issued to lower choices ÷ lower-choice applicants, as published. Points do not help a lower choice.

Year by year

The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year. Colorado runs a second, random pass after the points pass; it is shown beside the year it belongs to.

Year	Tags	Applicants	Applicants per tag	Points needed	Random pass	Source
2026	12	10	0.8	—	1 tagfrom 0 applications	2026 Primary ELK Post Draw... · p. 337
2025	29	7	0.2	—	22 tagsfrom 4 applications	2025 Primary ELK Post Draw... · p. 284
2024	2	3	1.5	1	—	2024 Primary ELK Post Draw... · p. 246
2023	2	15	7.5	1	—	2023 Primary ELK Post Draw... · p. 253

Other licenses valid in GMU 5

EE003O1R — elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 3 [-Sex 3, 4, 5, 301, 441] Rifle EE003P1A — elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 14, 214, 301, 441] Archery EE003P1R — elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 214, 301, 441] Rifle EE004O1A — elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 4 [Public and private lands in 4, 5, 441] Archery EE004O1M — elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 4 [4, 5, and 441] Muzzleloader EE004P1M — elk either-sex muzzleloader private-land-only GMU 4 [4, 5, 441] Muzzleloader EE005O4R — elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 5 [-Sex] Rifle EE005W1R — elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EE005W2R — elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EF003O1R — elk female rifle season 1 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 214, 301, 441] Rifle EF003O4R — elk female rifle season 4 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 301, 441] Rifle EF003P5R — elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 301, 441] Rifle EF004O1M — elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 4 [4, 5, and 441] Muzzleloader EF004P1M — elk female muzzleloader private-land-only GMU 4 [4, 5, 441] Muzzleloader EF005O2R — elk female rifle season 2 GMU 5 [5] Rifle EF005W1R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EF005W2R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EF005W3R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EF005W4R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EF005W5R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EF005W6R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 Rifle EM003O1R — elk male rifle season 1 GMU 3 [Antlered 3, 4, 5, 301, 441] Rifle EM003O2R — elk male rifle season 2 GMU 3 [Antlered 3, 4, 5, 14, 214, 301, 441] Rifle EM003O3R — elk male rifle season 3 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 14, 214, 301, 441 Antlered] Rifle EM005O4R — elk male rifle season 4 GMU 5 [Antlered] Rifle

Legal cartridges for elk in Colorado

From the Colorado hunting laws rules on file for a rifle. "Depends" means the rule turns on your specific load — check the state page.

.243 Winchester depends from $1.11/rd

.25-06 Remington

6.5 Creedmoor

6.5 Grendel

.270 Winchester from $0.16/rd

7mm-08 Remington

7mm Remington Magnum

.30-06 Springfield

.300 AAC Blackout from $0.56/rd

.300 Winchester Magnum from $1.25/rd

.30-30 Winchester

.308 Winchester

.338 Winchester Magnum

.350 Legend from $1.07/rd

.35 Whelen

.360 Buckhammer

.400 Legend

.444 Marlin

.450 Bushmaster from $2.00/rd

.45-70 Government from $1.97/rd

.50 Beowulf

Spot a data error on this page? Tell us.

How to read these numbers

Every percentage on this page is a prior-draw probability: the chance an applicant with that many points would have drawn in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results. It is not a forecast — quotas, applicant numbers, and point creep change every year. Every figure links to the agency document it came from. Where a state does not publish a number, we show a dash, never a zero. Hunts with fewer than five tags show counts instead of percentages. Fees show the fee year used. Read the methodology for the engine details.

Not an application service

This page is informational only. Draw rules, quotas, fees, and deadlines are set by the state agency and change by commission action — confirm everything on the agency's own site before you apply, and apply through the agency, not here. We disclaim all liability for reliance on this page.