Colorado Elk — GMU 45

Colorado GMU 45 covers 214,927 acres and lies 31 miles east of Gypsum and 50 miles east of Glenwood Springs. 89% of it is public land, mostly national forest (88%). In 2024, 867 people hunted elk here and took 134 — 15% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 498 tags here for 461 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):932 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:841 Hunter success (2024):15% Public land:89% Size:214,927 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in GMU 45, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

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

EE044O1A elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 498 tags · 461 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 10% as 2nd choice
EE044O1A elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 25 tags · 12 applicants · Youth

100% Undersubscribed 20% as 2nd choice
EF044O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 12 tags · 8 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 29% as 2nd choice
EF044O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 125 tags · 3 applicants · Youth

100% Undersubscribed 33% as 2nd choice
EF044O1R elk female rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 29 tags · 27 applicants · Standard

100% Likely draw 4% as 2nd choice
EF044O1R elk female rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 3 tags · 3 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth

100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
EF045O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 45 [45] 16 tags · 3 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 37% as 2nd choice
EF045O3R elk female rifle season 3 GMU 45 [45] 27 tags · 1 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 0% as 2nd choice
EF045O4R elk female rifle season 4 GMU 45 7 tags · 0 applicants · Standard

— Cut level
EM044O1M elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 131 tags · 153 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard

48% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
EM044O1M elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 6 tags · 7 applicants · needed 1 pts · Youth

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
EM044O1R elk male rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 29 tags · 156 applicants · needed 4 pts · Standard

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
EM044O1R elk male rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] 4 tags · 5 applicants · Youth

0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
EM045O4R elk male rifle season 4 GMU 45 20 tags · 2 applicants · Standard

100% Undersubscribed 71% as 2nd choice

Hunt	Your odds (0 pts)	As 2nd choice	Points needed	Tags / applicants	License	Season
EE044O1A ↗ elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Archery	100% Undersubscribed	10%	—	498 / 461 undersubscribed	Standard	Sep 2–30, 2026
EE044O1A ↗ elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Archery	100% Undersubscribed	20%	—	25 / 12 undersubscribed	Youth	Sep 2–30, 2026
EF044O1M ↗ elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Muzzleloader	100% Undersubscribed	29%	— −1 since 2021	12 / 8 undersubscribed	Standard	Sep 12–20, 2026
EF044O1M ↗ elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Muzzleloader	100% Undersubscribed	33%	—	125 / 3 undersubscribed	Youth	Sep 12–20, 2026
EF044O1R ↗ elk female rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Rifle	100% Likely draw	4%	—	29 / 27	Standard	Oct 14–18, 2026
EF044O1R ↗ elk female rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	0%	0	3 / 3 undersubscribed	Youth	Oct 14–18, 2026
EF045O2R ↗ elk female rifle season 2 GMU 45 [45] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	37%	—	16 / 3 undersubscribed	Standard	Oct 24 – Nov 1, 2026
EF045O3R ↗ elk female rifle season 3 GMU 45 [45] Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	0%	—	27 / 1 undersubscribed	Standard	Nov 7–15, 2026
EF045O4R ↗ elk female rifle season 4 GMU 45 Rifle	— Cut level	—	—	7 / 0	Standard	Nov 18–22, 2026
EM044O1M ↗ elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Muzzleloader	48% Real chance	0%	0 steady since 2021	131 / 153	Standard	Sep 12–20, 2026
EM044O1M ↗ elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Muzzleloader	0% Point builder	0%	1 +1 since 2021	6 / 7	Youth	Sep 12–20, 2026
EM044O1R ↗ elk male rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	4 +4 since 2021	29 / 156	Standard	Oct 14–18, 2026
EM044O1R ↗ elk male rifle season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Rifle	0% Point builder	0%	— +2 since 2022	4 / 5	Youth	Oct 14–18, 2026
EM045O4R ↗ elk male rifle season 4 GMU 45 Rifle	100% Undersubscribed	71%	—	20 / 2 undersubscribed	Standard	Nov 18–22, 2026

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.

1 hunt not offered in 2026 is 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 45

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

EM044O1A — elk male archery season 1 GMU 44 [44, 45, 47, 444] Youth

The country

GMU 45 within Colorado

GMU 45 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

National Forest 189,711 ac · 88%
Private 24,087 ac · 11%
State land 757 ac · 0%
County or city land 371 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.