Colorado Elk · GMU 65
Colorado GMU 65 covers 429,778 acres and lies 21 miles south-east of Montrose and 45 miles south-east of Delta. 53% of it is public land, mostly national forest (40%) and BLM (10%). In 2024, 3,000 people hunted elk here and took 755, a 25% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE064O1R, put up 450 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 265 nonresident first-choice applicants, 223 of whom drew.
27 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
40% Forest Service
429,778 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
- 25%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 100 / 29
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 25%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 540 / 165
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 25%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 130 / 3
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 25%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 150 / 23
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 65
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE064O1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 64 | 81% | 0 | |
| EE064O1R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 64 | 76% | 0 | |
| EE064O4R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EE064O4R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE064P1A Standard · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EE064P1A Youth · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE064P1R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EE064P1R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE064P4R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EE064V1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EE064V1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EF064O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 64 | 89% | — | |
| EF064O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF064O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF064O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF064O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EF064O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF064O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EF064O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF064O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF064P1R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 0% | — | |
| EF064P2R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EF064P2R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF064P3R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EF064P4R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 64 | 100% | — | |
| EM064O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 64 | 51% | 0 | |
| EM064O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 64 | 100% (small sample) | 0 |
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 | 3,000 | 755 | 25% |
| 2023 | 3,410 | 607 | 18% |
| 2022 | 3,255 | 660 | 20% |
| 2021 | 3,308 | 586 | 18% |
2024 split: rifle 594 (79%) from 1,901 hunters, 31%, archery 141 (19%) from 968 hunters, 15%, muzzleloader 20 (3%) from 131 hunters, 15%
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 | 202,506 ac | 47% |
| National Forest | 171,924 ac | 40% |
| BLM | 43,112 ac | 10% |
| State land | 11,081 ac | 3% |
| County or city land | 687 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 466 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