Colorado Elk · GMU 73
Colorado GMU 73 covers 570,198 acres and lies 9 miles south-east of Cortez and 30 miles west of Durango. 37% of it is public land, mostly national forest (20%) and national park (9%). A further 36% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2024, 639 people hunted elk here and took 105, a 16% 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.
28 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
20% Forest Service
570,198 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
- 16%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 100 / 26
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 16%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 800 / 757
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 16%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 550 / 411
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 16%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 75 / 13
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 73
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE071P1A Standard · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 71 | >99% | 0 | |
| EE071P1A Youth · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 71 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF071O1A Standard | Elk female archery season 1 GMU 71 | 43% | 0 | |
| EF071O1A Youth | Elk female archery season 1 GMU 71 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF071O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 71 | 0% | 3 ▲1 | |
| EF071O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 71 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF071O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 71 | 0% | 4 ▲1 | |
| EF071O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 71 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF071P1R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 50% | 0 ▼2 | |
| EF071P1R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF071P4R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 0% | — | |
| EF071P4R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF073O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 73 | 0% (small sample) | 6 | |
| EF073O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 73 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF073O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 73 | not open | — | |
| EF073O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 73 | not open | — | |
| EM071O1A Standard | Elk male archery season 1 GMU 71 | 40% | 0 | |
| EM071O1A Youth | Elk male archery season 1 GMU 71 | 43% | 0 | |
| EM071O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 71 | 0% | 1 ▲1 | |
| EM071O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 71 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM071O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 71 | 14% | 0 | |
| EM071O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 71 | 13% | 0 | |
| EM071O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 71 | 100% | 0 | |
| EM071O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 71 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM071P1R Standard · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 100% | — | |
| EM071P1R Youth · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 100% | 0 | |
| EM071P4R Standard · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 100% | — | |
| EM071P4R Youth · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 71 | 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. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: EF073P5R.
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 | 639 | 105 | 16% |
| 2023 | 605 | 59 | 10% |
| 2022 | 640 | 93 | 15% |
| 2021 | 782 | 78 | 10% |
2024 split: rifle 57 (54%) from 476 hunters, 12%, archery 33 (31%) from 133 hunters, 25%, muzzleloader 15 (14%) from 30 hunters, 50%
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
| Tribal | 205,274 ac | 36% |
| Private | 155,201 ac | 27% |
| National Forest | 111,497 ac | 20% |
| National Park Service | 53,860 ac | 9% |
| BLM | 35,927 ac | 6% |
| State land | 6,721 ac | 1% |
| County or city land | 1,000 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 578 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 123 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