Colorado Elk · GMU 26
Colorado GMU 26 covers 153,724 acres and lies 25 miles north of Gypsum and 34 miles south of Steamboat Springs. 49% of it is public land, mostly national forest (30%) and BLM (19%). In 2024, 1,174 people hunted elk here and took 142, a 12% 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.
29 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
30% Forest Service
153,724 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
- 12%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 1,030 / 382
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 12%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 150 / 2
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 12%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 200 / 26
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 12%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 3,000 / 1,485
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 26
| 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% | — | |
| EE025O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 0% | 1 | |
| EE025O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE025V1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EE025V1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EE025W1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF025O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 25 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF025O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 25 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF025O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 25 | 82% | 0 | |
| EF025O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 25 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| EF025O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 25 | 50% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF025O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 25 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF025P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025W1R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF025W2R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 25 | 100% | — | |
| EF026L1R Standard | Elk female rifle late season GMU 26 | 0% (small sample) | 2 ▲1 | |
| EF026L1R Youth | Elk female rifle late season GMU 26 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM011O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EM011O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 11 | 100% | — | |
| EM026O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 26 | 100% | — | |
| EM026O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 26 | 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 | 1,174 | 142 | 12% |
| 2023 | 1,233 | 92 | 7% |
| 2022 | 1,306 | 192 | 15% |
| 2021 | 1,396 | 162 | 12% |
2024 split: rifle 113 (80%) from 706 hunters, 16%, archery 23 (16%) from 413 hunters, 6%, muzzleloader 6 (4%) from 55 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 Elk Harvest; CPW 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates; CPW 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest.
The Ground
| Private | 78,366 ac | 51% |
| National Forest | 45,682 ac | 30% |
| BLM | 28,923 ac | 19% |
| State land | 752 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.
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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 · All Colorado elk hunts