AmmoSight

Colorado Elk — GMU 3

Colorado GMU 3 covers 542,835 acres and lies 26 miles north-west of Craig and 61 miles west of Steamboat Springs. 54% of it is public land, mostly BLM (45%) and county or city land (8%). In 2024, 1,038 people hunted elk here and took 162 — 16% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 1,051 tags here for 192 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):5,980 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:1,787 Hunter success (2024):16% Public land:54% Size:542,835 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in GMU 3, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

51 licenses on offer · 5,980 tags · 1,787 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • EE003O1M elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 3 [3, 301] 11 tags · 10 applicants · needed 4 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE003O1M elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 3 [3, 301] 6 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    0% Point builder
  • EE003O1R elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 3 [-Sex 3, 4, 5, 301, 441] 214 tags · 755 applicants · needed 3 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE003O1R elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 3 [-Sex 3, 4, 5, 301, 441] 14 tags · 46 applicants · needed 3 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE003O4R elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 3 [-Sex] 127 tags · 113 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 41% as 2nd choice
  • EE003O4R elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 3 [-Sex] 11 tags · 3 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 33% as 2nd choice
  • EE003P1A elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 14, 214, 301, 441] 1,051 tags · 192 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 45% as 2nd choice
  • EE003P1A elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 14, 214, 301, 441] 660 tags · 3 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 100% as 2nd choice
  • EE003P1R elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 214, 301, 441] 553 tags · 117 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 62% as 2nd choice
  • EE003P1R elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 214, 301, 441] 153 tags · 2 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 100% as 2nd choice
  • EE003V1A elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 3 [3, 301] 95 tags · 11 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 26% as 2nd choice
  • EE003V1A elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 3 [3, 301] 84 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE003W1R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 7 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE003W3R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 4 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE004W1R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 2 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE004W2R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 12 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE004W3R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 7 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE005W2R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 13 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE214W2R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 214 14 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE301W2R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 301 3 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EE441W1R elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 441 12 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF003L1R elk female rifle late season GMU 3 [3, 301] 7 tags · 60 applicants · needed 5 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF003L1R elk female rifle late season GMU 3 [3, 301] 100 tags · 6 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    25% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 3 [3, 301] 8 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Cut level
  • EF003O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 3 [3, 301] 20 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O1R elk female rifle season 1 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 214, 301, 441] 58 tags · 46 applicants · Standard
    85% Likely draw 32% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O1R elk female rifle season 1 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 214, 301, 441] 12 tags · 9 applicants · Youth
    83% Likely draw 15% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 3 [3, 301] 263 tags · 16 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 33% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 3 [3, 301] 243 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 43% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O3R elk female rifle season 3 GMU 3 117 tags · 88 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 19% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O3R elk female rifle season 3 GMU 3 17 tags · 11 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 6% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O4R elk female rifle season 4 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 301, 441] 482 tags · 10 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 27% as 2nd choice
  • EF003O4R elk female rifle season 4 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 301, 441] 463 tags · 8 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 33% as 2nd choice
  • EF003P5R elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 301, 441] 733 tags · 267 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 21% as 2nd choice
  • EF003P5R elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 301, 441] 33 tags · 13 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 29% as 2nd choice
  • EF003W1R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 20 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF003W3R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 20 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF003W5R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 22 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF004W1R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 20 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF004W2R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 26 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF004W3R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 25 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF004W5R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 5 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF005W2R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 36 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF005W4R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 5 37 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF214W2R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 214 39 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF214W4R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 214 39 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF301W2R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 301 6 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF301W4R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 301 9 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF441W1R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 441 22 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF441W2R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 441 22 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF441W3R elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 441 23 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
What these columns mean
Your odds
—
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
—
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
As 2nd choice
—
Colorado lets you name more than one hunt on the application. Miss on your first choice and you go into the pot for whatever tags are left, alongside everyone else's second choices. Points never help a lower choice, so this number is the same whatever you have banked — it is usually worth naming a hunt that goes undersubscribed.
Points needed
—
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
—
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
14 hunts not offered in 2026 are hidden — show discontinued hunts.

What it costs to apply (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Standard license $129.11 $129.11 $974.27
Youth license $129.11 $129.11 $974.27

Application window: opens Mar 1, closes Apr 7, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Other licenses valid in GMU 3

Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.

EE003W2R — elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 Standard EE004W4R — elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 Standard EF003E1R — elk female rifle early season GMU 3 Youth EF003W2R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 Standard EF003W4R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 Standard EF003W6R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 3 Standard EF004W4R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 Standard EF004W6R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 4 Standard EF214W6R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 214 Standard EF301W6R — elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 301 Standard EM003O1R — elk male rifle season 1 GMU 3 [Antlered 3, 4, 5, 301, 441] Youth EM003O2R — elk male rifle season 2 GMU 3 [Antlered 3, 4, 5, 14, 214, 301, 441] Youth EM003O3R — elk male rifle season 3 GMU 3 [3, 4, 5, 14, 214, 301, 441 Antlered] Youth EM003O4R — elk male rifle season 4 GMU 3 [Antlered] Youth

The country

Craig Rifle Fruita Delta Boulder
GMU 3 within Colorado
1 10 11 12 13 131 14 2 201 211 214 231 301 4 441 5 Craig
GMU 3 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • Private 248,909 ac · 46%
  • BLM 242,027 ac · 45%
  • County or city land 41,360 ac · 8%
  • State land 10,533 ac · 2%

Source: BLM Colorado Surface Management Agency

Nearby areas

How the hunting has gone

What Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. 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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2024 1,038 162 16%
2023 1,629 152 9%
2022 3,783 1,027 27%
2021 3,727 880 24%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 144 · 89% · 917 hunters, 16% success
  • Archery 16 · 10% · 109 hunters, 15% success
  • Muzzleloader 2 · 1% · 11 hunters, 18% success

Boundary: CPW GMU Boundary (Big Game)

Harvest: 2024 Statewide Elk Harvest

Harvest: 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates

Harvest: 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest

How we compute draw odds · All Colorado elk hunts