Colorado Elk · GMU 42
Colorado GMU 42 covers 387,357 acres and lies 10 miles south of Rifle and 24 miles south-west of Glenwood Springs. 55% of it is public land, mostly national forest (30%) and BLM (22%). In 2024, 3,093 people hunted elk here and took 659, a 21% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM041O1R, put up 950 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 562 nonresident first-choice applicants, 554 of whom drew.
26 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
30% Forest Service
387,357 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
- 21%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 2,000 / 484
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 300 / 42
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 315 / 60
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 250 / 46
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 42
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE041O1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 41 | 100% | — | |
| EE041O1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 41 | 100% | — | |
| EE041P1A Standard · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 41 | 100% | — | |
| EE041P1A Youth · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 41 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE041P1R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 41 | 100% | — | |
| EE041P1R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 41 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE041P4R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 41 | 100% | — | |
| EE041P4R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 41 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF041O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 41 | 95% | — | |
| EF041O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 41 | 100% | — | |
| EF041O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 41 | 72% | 0 | |
| EF041O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 41 | 67% | 0 | |
| EF042O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 42 | 100% | — | |
| EF042O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 42 | 100% | — | |
| EF042O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 42 | 100% | — | |
| EF042O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 42 | 100% | — | |
| EF042O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 42 | — | — | |
| EF042O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 42 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF042P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 42 | 100% | — | |
| EF042P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 42 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM041O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 41 | 42% | 0 | |
| EM041O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 41 | 42% | 0 | |
| EM041O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 41 | 99% | — | |
| EM041O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 41 | 95% | — | |
| EM041O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 41 | 100% | — | |
| EM041O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 41 | 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 | 3,093 | 659 | 21% |
| 2023 | 3,179 | 651 | 20% |
| 2022 | 3,237 | 700 | 22% |
| 2021 | 3,091 | 446 | 14% |
2024 split: rifle 527 (80%) from 2,047 hunters, 26%, archery 102 (15%) from 863 hunters, 12%, muzzleloader 30 (5%) from 182 hunters, 16%
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 | 173,322 ac | 45% |
| National Forest | 115,313 ac | 30% |
| BLM | 85,406 ac | 22% |
| State land | 12,884 ac | 3% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 431 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