AmmoSight

Colorado Elk · GMU 711

Colorado GMU 711 covers 524,122 acres and lies 29 miles north of Cortez and 56 miles north-west of Durango. 62% of it is public land, mostly national forest (34%) and BLM (22%). In 2024, 1,764 people hunted elk here and took 366, a 21% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM071O1A, put up 800 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 757 nonresident first-choice applicants, 451 of whom drew.

Tags, 2026
4,808

31 licenses · NR capped at 25%

Applicants
1,992

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
21%

2024, all licenses

Public Land
62%

34% Forest Service

Size
819 mi²

524,122 acres

Cortez 711
21%hunter success 2024 · 1,764 hunters, 366 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 711

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
EE071P1A Standard · private >99% 0
Youth · private 100% (small sample) 0
EF071O1A Standard 43% 0
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
EF071O1M Standard 0% 3 ▲1
Youth 0% (small sample) —
EF071O1R Standard 0% 4 ▲1
Youth 0% (small sample) —
EF071P1R Standard · private 50% 0 ▼2
Youth · private 100% (small sample) —
EF071P4R Standard · private 0% —
Youth · private 0% (small sample) —
EF072P5R Standard · private 100% —
Youth · private 100% (small sample) —
EF711O2R Standard 0% (small sample) 7 ▲1
Youth 0% (small sample) —
EF711O3R Standard 0% (small sample) 8 ▲2
Youth 0% (small sample) —
EF711O4R Standard 0% (small sample) 6 ▲2
EM071O1A Standard 40% 0
Youth 43% 0
EM071O1M Standard 0% 1 ▲1
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
EM071O1R Standard 14% 0
Youth 13% 0
EM071O4R Standard 100% 0
Youth 100% (small sample) 0
EM071P1R Standard · private 100% —
Youth · private 100% 0
EM071P4R Standard · private 100% —
Youth · private 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 1,764 366 21%
2023 1,773 255 14%
2022 1,768 330 19%
2021 1,744 251 14%

2024 split: rifle 302 (83%) from 1,488 hunters, 20%, archery 47 (13%) from 221 hunters, 21%, muzzleloader 17 (5%) from 55 hunters, 31%

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 199,228 ac 38%
National Forest 179,859 ac 34%
BLM 116,755 ac 22%
State land 18,628 ac 4%
Bureau of Reclamation 9,299 ac 2%
Other public 350 ac <1%
County or city land 0 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.

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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 · All Colorado elk hunts