AmmoSight

Colorado Elk — GMU 38

Colorado GMU 38 covers 291,822 acres and lies 10 miles north-west of Golden. 30% of it is public land, mostly national forest (21%) and county or city land (5%). In 2024, 1,096 people hunted elk here and took 88 — 8% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 26 tags here for 5 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):107 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:24 Hunter success (2024):8% Public land:30% Size:291,822 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in GMU 38, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

15 licenses on offer · 107 tags · 24 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
  • EE038V1A elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 38 [38] 26 tags · 5 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 56% as 2nd choice
  • EF038L1R elk female rifle late season GMU 38 [38 Jefferson County ONLY] 21 tags · 1 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 100% as 2nd choice
  • EF038L2R elk female rifle late season GMU 38 [38 Jefferson County Centennial Cone Open Space portion only] 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • EF038O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 38 [38] 1 tags · 1 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard
    0% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF038O1R elk female rifle season 1 GMU 38 2 tags · 2 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF038O1R elk female rifle season 1 GMU 38 20 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF038O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 38 [38] 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • EF038O3R elk female rifle season 3 GMU 38 1 tags · 1 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF038O4R elk female rifle season 4 GMU 38 0 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Not open to nonresidents
  • EF038P5R elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 38 [38] 10 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • EF038V1A elk female archery nonresident-only GMU 38 [38] 10 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    — Cut level
  • EM038O1M elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 38 [38] 2 tags · 2 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 33% as 2nd choice
  • EM038O1R elk male rifle season 1 GMU 38 2 tags · 6 applicants · needed 2 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EM038O1R elk male rifle season 1 GMU 38 10 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    0% Point builder
  • EM038O4R elk male rifle season 4 GMU 38 [38] 2 tags · 5 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
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.

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.

The country

Golden Erie Castle Rock Loveland Monument
GMU 38 within Colorado
104 18 28 29 37 371 39 391 46 461 500 Golden Arvada Superior Boulder Englewood
GMU 38 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 204,808 ac · 70%
  • National Forest 62,692 ac · 21%
  • County or city land 14,884 ac · 5%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 5,382 ac · 2%
  • Other public 2,469 ac · 1%
  • BLM 1,194 ac · 0%
  • State land 390 ac · 0%

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 1,096 88 8%
2023 1,038 105 10%
2022 1,000 123 12%
2021 1,059 74 7%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 52 · 60% · 580 hunters, 9% success
  • Archery 32 · 37% · 478 hunters, 7% success
  • Muzzleloader 3 · 3% · 39 hunters, 8% 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