Colorado Elk · GMU 481
Colorado GMU 481 covers 180,848 acres and lies 64 miles north-west of Cañon City and 75 miles south-east of Glenwood Springs. 80% of it is public land, mostly national forest (75%) and state land (4%). In 2024, 494 people hunted elk here and took 179, a 36% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM481O1R, put up 65 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 71 nonresident first-choice applicants, 14 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 5 points.
17 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
75% Forest Service
180,848 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.
Every License in GMU 481
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE481O1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 481 | 0% | 2 ▲2 | |
| EE481O1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 481 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF481O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 481 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF481O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 481 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF481O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 481 | 100% | — | |
| EF481O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 481 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF481O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 481 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF481O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 481 | not open | — | |
| EF481P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 481 | 0% | 1 | |
| EM481O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 481 | 0% | 3 ▲2 | |
| EM481O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 481 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EM481O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 481 | 0% | 5 ▲4 | |
| EM481O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 481 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EM481O2R Standard | Elk male rifle season 2 GMU 481 | 0% | 2 ▲2 | |
| EM481O2R Youth | Elk male rifle season 2 GMU 481 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM481O3R Standard | Elk male rifle season 3 GMU 481 | 33% | 0 | |
| EM481O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 481 | 0% (small sample) | 2 ▲2 |
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 | 494 | 179 | 36% |
| 2023 | 493 | 111 | 22% |
| 2022 | 513 | 143 | 28% |
| 2021 | 503 | 100 | 20% |
2024 split: rifle 148 (83%) from 342 hunters, 43%, archery 18 (10%) from 95 hunters, 19%, muzzleloader 13 (7%) from 57 hunters, 23%
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 | 135,538 ac | 75% |
| Private | 36,616 ac | 20% |
| State land | 7,083 ac | 4% |
| BLM | 1,447 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 162 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.
Report an error on this page
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