Colorado Elk — GMU 691

Colorado GMU 691 covers 161,694 acres and lies 14 miles south-west of Cañon City and 46 miles west of Pueblo. 49% of it is public land, mostly BLM (42%) and county or city land (7%). In 2024, 167 people hunted elk here and took 27 — 16% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 1,315 tags here for 5 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):2,579 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:264 Hunter success (2024):16% Public land:49% Size:161,694 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in GMU 691, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

18 licenses on offer · 2,579 tags · 264 applicants in the 2026 draw

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
  • EE086O1M elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 42 tags · 54 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    27% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE086O1M elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 115 tags · 4 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    50% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE086O1R elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 86 43 tags · 68 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    29% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE086O1R elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 86 1 tags · 5 applicants · needed 1 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE086O4R elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 86 8 tags · 6 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 40% as 2nd choice
  • EE086O4R elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 86 90 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 100% as 2nd choice
  • EE086P1R elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 73 tags · 14 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 50% as 2nd choice
  • EE086P1R elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 18 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 50% as 2nd choice
  • EE086V1A elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 264 tags · 88 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 45% as 2nd choice
  • EE086V1A elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 330 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF086O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 49 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    Undersubscribed
  • EF086O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 80 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 100% as 2nd choice
  • EF086O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 18 tags · 11 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 8% as 2nd choice
  • EF086O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 85 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 50% as 2nd choice
  • EF086O3R elk female rifle season 3 GMU 86 7 tags · 7 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 6% as 2nd choice
  • EF086O4R elk female rifle season 4 GMU 86 31 tags · 0 applicants · Standard
    Undersubscribed
  • EF086P5R elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 1,315 tags · 5 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 25% as 2nd choice
  • EF086V1A elk female archery nonresident-only GMU 86 [86, 691, 861] 10 tags · 1 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 5% as 2nd choice
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.

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.

The country

Cañon City Colorado Springs Alamosa Castle Rock Lakewood
GMU 691 within Colorado
59 591 69 84 86 Cañon City
GMU 691 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

  • Private 82,332 ac · 51%
  • BLM 68,102 ac · 42%
  • County or city land 11,000 ac · 7%
  • National Forest 150 ac · 0%
  • State land 73 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 35 ac · 0%

Source: BLM Colorado Surface Management Agency

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.

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2024 167 27 16%
2023 97 7 7%
2022 101 11 11%
2021 126 5 4%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 21 · 78% · 141 hunters, 15% success
  • Archery 6 · 22% · 21 hunters, 29% success
  • Muzzleloader 0 · 0% · 5 hunters, 0% success

Boundary: CPW GMU Boundary (Big Game)

Harvest: 2024 Statewide Elk Harvest

Harvest: 2023 Statewide Elk Hunting Harvest Estimates

Harvest: 2022 Statewide Elk Harvest

How we compute draw odds · All Colorado elk hunts