Colorado Elk · GMU 181
Colorado GMU 181 covers 116,458 acres and lies 28 miles south-east of Steamboat Springs and 52 miles north-east of Gypsum. 62% of it is public land, mostly BLM (32%) and national forest (17%). In 2024, 1,462 people hunted elk here and took 205, a 14% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE018O1R, put up 405 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 217 nonresident first-choice applicants, 98 of whom drew.
24 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
32% BLM
116,458 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
- 14%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 205 / 31
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 14%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 380 / 137
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 14%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 80 / 5
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 14%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 10 / 2
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 181
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE018O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 18 | 80% | 0 | |
| EE018O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 18 | 60% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE018O1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 18 | 38% | 0 | |
| EE018O1R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 18 | 25% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE018O4R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 18 | 100% | — | |
| EE018O4R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE018P1R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 18 | 100% | — | |
| EE018P1R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE018P4R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 18 | 100% | — | |
| EE018V1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 18 | 100% | — | |
| EE018V1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF018O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 18 | — | — | |
| EF018O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF018O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 18 | 100% | 0 | |
| EF018O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF018V1A Standard | Elk female archery nonresident-only GMU 18 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF181L1R Standard | Elk female rifle late season GMU 181 | 0% (small sample) | 2 ▲2 | |
| EF181L1R Youth | Elk female rifle late season GMU 181 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF181O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 181 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF181O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 181 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF181O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 181 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF181O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 181 | — | — | |
| EF181P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 181 | 0% | 0 | |
| EF181P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 181 | 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 ELK Post Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): Standard $974.27 ($129.11 to apply) · Youth $974.27 ($129.11 to apply). Open Mar 1 – Apr 6, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1,462 | 205 | 14% |
| 2023 | 1,750 | 108 | 6% |
| 2022 | 1,704 | 216 | 13% |
| 2021 | 2,062 | 119 | 6% |
2024 split: rifle 194 (95%) from 1,080 hunters, 18%, archery 10 (5%) from 302 hunters, 3%, muzzleloader 0 (0%) from 80 hunters, 0%
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 Elk Harvest; CPW 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates; CPW 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest.
The Ground
| Private | 44,417 ac | 38% |
| BLM | 36,768 ac | 32% |
| National Forest | 20,183 ac | 17% |
| State land | 12,994 ac | 11% |
| County or city land | 2,094 ac | 2% |
Source: Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency.
▸ Sources 10
- CPW 2026 Primary ELK 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 Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- CPW 2021 Statewide Elk 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.
Report an error on this page
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 elk hunts