Colorado Elk · GMU 6

Colorado GMU 6 covers 226,588 acres and lies 41 miles north-east of Steamboat Springs and 58 miles west of Fort Collins. 68% of it is public land, mostly state land (37%) and BLM (17%). In 2024, 3,161 people hunted elk here and took 321, a 10% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE006V1A, put up 1,240 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 403 first-choice applicants (one pool for residents and nonresidents).

Tags, 2026
12,617

28 licenses · NR capped at 25%

Applicants
1,061

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
10%

2024, all licenses

Public Land
68%

37% State

Size
354 mi²

226,588 acres

Steamboat Springs 6
10%hunter success 2024 · 3,161 hunters, 321 elk

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 6

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
EE006O1M Standard 0% 1 ▲1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
EE006O1R Standard 46% 0
Youth 31% 0
EE006O4R Standard 100% —
Youth 100% (small sample) 0
EE006P1R Standard · private 100% —
Youth · private 100% —
EE006V1A Standard 100% —
Youth 100% —
EE006W1R Standard 100% —
EF006O1M Standard 100% —
Youth 100% (small sample) —
EF006O1R Standard 100% —
Youth 100% (small sample) —
EF006O2R Standard 100% —
Youth 100% —
EF006O3R Standard 100% (small sample) —
Youth 100% (small sample) —
EF006O4R Standard — —
EF006P5R Standard · private 100% —
Youth · private 100% (small sample) —
EF006V1A Standard — —
Youth 100% (small sample) —
EF006W1R Standard 100% —
EF006W2R Standard 100% —
EF006W3R Standard 100% —
EF006W4R Standard 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. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: EE006W2R, EF006P2R, EF006P3R, EF006P4R.

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 3,161 321 10%
2023 3,169 299 9%
2022 3,131 249 8%
2021 3,564 379 11%

2024 split: rifle 273 (85%) from 2,356 hunters, 12%, archery 37 (12%) from 628 hunters, 6%, muzzleloader 11 (3%) from 177 hunters, 6%

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

State land 84,680 ac 37%
Private 71,573 ac 32%
BLM 38,336 ac 17%
National Forest 29,736 ac 13%
National Wildlife Refuge 2,218 ac <1%
County or city land 8 ac <1%

Source: Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office 2026 BLM Surface Management Agency.

▸ Sources 10
  1. CPW 2026 Primary ELK Post Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  2. CPW 2026 2 CCR 406-0 Chapter W-0 General… fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  3. CPW 2026 Big Game Hunting brochure fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  4. CPW 2026 web page fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  5. CPW 2024 Statewide Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  6. CPW 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  7. CPW 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  8. CPW 2021 Statewide Elk Harvest, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  9. CPW 2026 GMU Boundary, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
  10. 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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Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

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