Colorado Elk · GMU 7
Colorado GMU 7 covers 155,767 acres and lies 50 miles north-east of Steamboat Springs. 87% of it is public land, mostly national forest (79%) and BLM (7%). In 2024, 1,630 people hunted elk here and took 149, a 9% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE007O1A, put up 1,110 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 413 nonresident first-choice applicants, 256 of whom drew.
24 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
79% Forest Service
155,767 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
- 9%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 375 / 27
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 9%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 180 / 28
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 9%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 550 / 59
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 9%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 375 / 10
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 7
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE007O1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 7 | 32% | 0 | |
| EE007O1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 7 | 29% | 0 | |
| EF007L1R Standard | Elk female rifle late season GMU 7 | 50% (small sample) | 0 ▼1 | |
| EF007L1R Youth | Elk female rifle late season GMU 7 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF007O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 | 100% | — | |
| EF007O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF007O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 7 | 20% | 0 ▼1 | |
| EF007O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 7 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF007O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 7 | 11% | 0 | |
| EF007O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 7 | 50% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF007O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 7 | 50% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF007O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 7 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF007P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 7 | 100% | — | |
| EF007P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 7 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EM007O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 | 0% | 1 | |
| EM007O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 | 0% | 0 | |
| EM007O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 7 | 32% | 0 | |
| EM007O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 7 | 20% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM007O2R Standard | Elk male rifle season 2 GMU 7 | 98% | — | |
| EM007O2R Youth | Elk male rifle season 2 GMU 7 | 100% | — | |
| EM007O3R Standard | Elk male rifle season 3 GMU 7 | 92% | — | |
| EM007O3R Youth | Elk male rifle season 3 GMU 7 | 100% | — | |
| EM007O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 7 | 100% | — | |
| EM007O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 7 | 100% (small sample) | — |
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 | 1,630 | 149 | 9% |
| 2023 | 1,823 | 166 | 9% |
| 2022 | 2,081 | 177 | 8% |
| 2021 | 1,780 | 204 | 11% |
2024 split: rifle 83 (56%) from 986 hunters, 8%, archery 44 (30%) from 396 hunters, 11%, muzzleloader 22 (15%) from 248 hunters, 9%
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 | 122,288 ac | 79% |
| Private | 19,921 ac | 13% |
| BLM | 10,179 ac | 7% |
| State land | 3,373 ac | 2% |
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