Colorado Elk · GMU 421
Colorado GMU 421 covers 346,012 acres and lies 24 miles south of Rifle and 33 miles north of Delta. 66% of it is public land, mostly national forest (54%) and BLM (10%). In 2024, 3,432 people hunted elk here and took 657, a 19% 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.
25 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
55% Forest Service
346,012 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
- 19%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 2,000 / 484
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 19%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 345 / 44
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 19%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 115 / 19
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 19%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 250 / 46
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 421
| 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 | |
| EF421O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 421 | 100% | — | |
| EF421O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 421 | 100% | — | |
| EF421O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 421 | 100% | — | |
| EF421O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 421 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF421O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 421 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF421P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 421 | 100% | — | |
| EF421P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 421 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| 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 | 3,432 | 657 | 19% |
| 2023 | 3,165 | 540 | 17% |
| 2022 | 3,502 | 515 | 15% |
| 2021 | 3,663 | 541 | 15% |
2024 split: rifle 455 (69%) from 1,988 hunters, 23%, archery 156 (24%) from 1,165 hunters, 13%, muzzleloader 45 (7%) from 279 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
| National Forest | 188,463 ac | 54% |
| Private | 117,394 ac | 34% |
| BLM | 34,934 ac | 10% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 3,004 ac | <1% |
| State land | 2,153 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 63 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