AmmoSight

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 — 9% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 500 tags here for 1 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2026):2,766 Nonresident share:capped at 25% Applicants:974 Hunter success (2024):9% Public land:87% Size:155,767 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in GMU 7, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

24 licenses on offer · 2,766 tags · 974 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
  • EE007O1A elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 293 tags · 413 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    32% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EE007O1A elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 31 tags · 12 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    29% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007L1R elk female rifle late season GMU 7 [7, 8] 3 tags · 2 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    50% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007L1R elk female rifle late season GMU 7 [7, 8] 120 tags · 2 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed
  • EF007O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 35 tags · 27 applicants · Standard
    100% Likely draw 48% as 2nd choice
  • EF007O1M elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 8 tags · 1 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed
  • EF007O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 7 18 tags · 28 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    20% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007O2R elk female rifle season 2 GMU 7 2 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007O3R elk female rifle season 3 GMU 7 20 tags · 33 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    11% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007O3R elk female rifle season 3 GMU 7 170 tags · 5 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    50% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007O4R elk female rifle season 4 GMU 7 4 tags · 8 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    50% Real chance 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007O4R elk female rifle season 4 GMU 7 75 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 0% as 2nd choice
  • EF007P5R elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 7 [7, 8] 310 tags · 5 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 40% as 2nd choice
  • EF007P5R elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 7 [7, 8] 275 tags · 0 applicants · Youth
    100% No first-choice applicants 100% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O1M elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 92 tags · 166 applicants · needed 1 pts · Standard
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O1M elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8, 9, 19, 191] 9 tags · 9 applicants · needed 1 pts · Youth
    0% Point builder 0% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O1R elk male rifle season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8] 83 tags · 129 applicants · needed 0 pts · Standard
    32% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O1R elk male rifle season 1 GMU 7 [7, 8] 10 tags · 8 applicants · needed 0 pts · Youth
    20% Long shot 0% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O2R elk male rifle season 2 GMU 7 [7, 8] 75 tags · 59 applicants · Standard
    98% Likely draw 22% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O2R elk male rifle season 2 GMU 7 [7, 8] 15 tags · 6 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 20% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O3R elk male rifle season 3 GMU 7 54 tags · 47 applicants · Standard
    92% Likely draw 40% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O3R elk male rifle season 3 GMU 7 500 tags · 1 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 44% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O4R elk male rifle season 4 GMU 7 189 tags · 10 applicants · Standard
    100% Undersubscribed 40% as 2nd choice
  • EM007O4R elk male rifle season 4 GMU 7 375 tags · 3 applicants · Youth
    100% Undersubscribed 17% 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

Steamboat Springs Fort Collins Longmont Arvada Gypsum
GMU 7 within Colorado
131 14 16 161 17 171 19 191 20 6 8 9 Steamboat Springs
GMU 7 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

  • National Forest 122,288 ac · 79%
  • Private 19,705 ac · 13%
  • BLM 10,179 ac · 7%
  • County or city land 3,590 ac · 2%

Source: BLM Colorado Surface Management Agency

Nearby areas

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 1,630 149 9%
2023 1,823 166 9%
2022 2,081 177 8%
2021 1,780 204 11%

What people carried (2024 harvest)

  • Rifle 83 · 56% · 986 hunters, 8% success
  • Archery 44 · 30% · 396 hunters, 11% success
  • Muzzleloader 22 · 15% · 248 hunters, 9% 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