Colorado Elk · GMU 74
Colorado GMU 74 covers 380,672 acres and lies 22 miles north of Durango and 42 miles east of Cortez. 86% of it is public land, mostly national forest (77%) and BLM (7%). In 2024, 1,537 people hunted elk here and took 329, a 21% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM074O1A, put up 450 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 337 nonresident first-choice applicants, 330 of whom drew.
26 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
77% Forest Service
380,672 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
- 21%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 450 / 337
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 180 / 188
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 275 / 195
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 40 / 8
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 74
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE074P1A Standard · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 74 | 100% | — | |
| EE074P1A Youth · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 74 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF074O1A Standard | Elk female archery season 1 GMU 74 | 100% | 0 | |
| EF074O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 74 | 50% (small sample) | 0 ▼1 | |
| EF074O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 74 | 0% (small sample) | 3 ▲2 | |
| EF074O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 74 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF074O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 74 | 0% (small sample) | 4 ▲2 | |
| EF074O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 74 | 33% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF074O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 74 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF074O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 74 | 67% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF074O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 74 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF074P1R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 74 | 50% | — | |
| EF074P4R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 74 | 0% | — | |
| EF074P4R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 74 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EM074O1A Standard | Elk male archery season 1 GMU 74 | 97% | 0 | |
| EM074O1A Youth | Elk male archery season 1 GMU 74 | 100% | 0 | |
| EM074O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 74 | 35% | 0 | |
| EM074O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 74 | 60% | 0 | |
| EM074O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 74 | 59% | 0 | |
| EM074O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 74 | 80% | 0 | |
| EM074O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 74 | 100% | — | |
| EM074O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 74 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EM074P1R Standard · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 74 | 32% | 0 | |
| EM074P1R Youth · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 74 | 67% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM074P4R Standard · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 74 | 50% | 0 | |
| EM074P4R Youth · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 74 | 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 | 1,537 | 329 | 21% |
| 2023 | 1,635 | 276 | 17% |
| 2022 | 1,559 | 329 | 21% |
| 2021 | 1,833 | 275 | 15% |
2024 split: rifle 188 (57%) from 873 hunters, 22%, archery 89 (27%) from 501 hunters, 18%, muzzleloader 52 (16%) from 162 hunters, 32%
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 | 291,303 ac | 77% |
| Private | 52,126 ac | 14% |
| BLM | 27,087 ac | 7% |
| State land | 8,714 ac | 2% |
| County or city land | 1,389 ac | <1% |
| Other public | 51 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