Colorado Elk · GMU 40
Colorado GMU 40 covers 475,151 acres and lies 15 miles south of Fruita and 41 miles west of Delta. 62% of it is public land, mostly BLM (56%) and national park (4%). In 2024, 518 people hunted elk here and took 308, a 60% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE040O1A, put up 10 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 120 nonresident first-choice applicants, 10 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 24 points.
27 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
56% BLM
475,151 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
- 60%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 80 / 7
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 60%
- Season
- Oct 7–11
- Tags / Apps
- 20 / 0
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 60%
- Season
- Oct 17–21
- Tags / Apps
- 19 / 0
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 40
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE040O1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 40 | 0% | 24 ▲10 | |
| EE040O1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EE040O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 40 | 0% | 28 ▲6 | |
| EE040O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EE040O1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 29 ▲4 | |
| EE040O1R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EE040O2R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 2 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 27 ▲8 | |
| EE040O2R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 2 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EE040O3R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 3 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 26 ▲10 | |
| EE040O3R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 3 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EE040O4R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 25 ▲9 | |
| EE040O4R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 40 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE040W1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 40 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF040L1R Standard | Elk female rifle late season GMU 40 | 20% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF040O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 40 | not open | — | |
| EF040O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 1 ▲1 | |
| EF040O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF040O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 1 ▲1 | |
| EF040O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 40 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF040O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 40 | 60% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF040O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 40 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF040O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 40 | 100% | — | |
| EF040O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 40 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF040P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 40 | 100% | — | |
| EF040P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 40 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF040W1R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 40 | 100% | — | |
| EF040W2R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 40 | 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.
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 | 518 | 308 | 60% |
| 2023 | 507 | 305 | 60% |
| 2022 | 470 | 248 | 53% |
| 2021 | 465 | 221 | 48% |
2024 split: rifle 248 (81%) from 414 hunters, 60%, archery 44 (14%) from 63 hunters, 70%, muzzleloader 16 (5%) from 41 hunters, 39%
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
| BLM | 265,991 ac | 56% |
| Private | 179,322 ac | 38% |
| National Park Service | 20,428 ac | 4% |
| National Forest | 7,429 ac | 2% |
| State land | 1,063 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 522 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 356 ac | <1% |
| Other public | 24 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