Colorado Elk · GMU 23
Colorado GMU 23 covers 271,005 acres and lies 9 miles south-east of Meeker and 28 miles north of Rifle. 45% of it is public land, mostly national forest (32%) and BLM (8%). In 2024, 1,870 people hunted elk here and took 423, a 23% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM011O1R, put up 3,000 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 1,485 nonresident first-choice applicants.
39 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
32% Forest Service
271,005 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
- 23%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 1,500 / 230
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 23%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 2,000 / 70
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 23%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 3,000 / 1,485
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 23%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 500 / 119
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 23
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE011P1A Standard · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE011P1A Youth · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE011P1R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE011P1R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EE012O1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 | 0% | 4 ▲2 | |
| EE012O1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EE012O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 0% | 8 ▲2 | |
| EE012O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EE012P1M Standard · private | Elk either-sex muzzleloader private-land-only GMU 12 | 69% | 0 | |
| EE012P1M Youth · private | Elk either-sex muzzleloader private-land-only GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE023W1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE033O1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 33 | 0% | 3 ▲2 | |
| EE033O1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 33 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE033O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 33 | 0% | 6 ▲1 | |
| EE033O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 33 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF011O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF011O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF011O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF011O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF011P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF011P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EF012O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| EF012O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF012O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| EF012O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| EF012O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| EF012O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| EF012P1M Standard · private | Elk female muzzleloader private-land-only GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| EF012P1M Youth · private | Elk female muzzleloader private-land-only GMU 12 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF023P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 23 | 100% | — | |
| EF023W1R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 | 100% | — | |
| EF023W2R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 | 100% | — | |
| EF023W3R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 23 | 100% | — | |
| EF033O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 33 | 100% | — | |
| EF033O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 33 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM011O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EM011O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EM012O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 12 | 100% | — | |
| EM012O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 12 | 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. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: EM011O2R, EM011O3R.
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 | 1,870 | 423 | 23% |
| 2023 | 2,436 | 433 | 18% |
| 2022 | 3,883 | 739 | 19% |
| 2021 | 4,481 | 717 | 16% |
2024 split: rifle 294 (70%) from 1,352 hunters, 22%, archery 112 (26%) from 431 hunters, 26%, muzzleloader 17 (4%) from 88 hunters, 19%
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 | 150,305 ac | 55% |
| National Forest | 85,481 ac | 32% |
| BLM | 20,901 ac | 8% |
| State land | 14,275 ac | 5% |
| County or city land | 41 ac | <1% |
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.
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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 elk hunts