Colorado Elk · GMU 771

Colorado GMU 771 covers 233,992 acres and lies 34 miles east of Durango and 73 miles east of Cortez. 21% of it is public land, mostly national forest (18%) and Bureau of Reclamation (2%). A further 45% is tribal land rather than public land. In 2024, 570 people hunted elk here and took 93, a 16% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM077O1R, put up 800 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 740 nonresident first-choice applicants, 474 of whom drew.

Tags, 2026
5,873

28 licenses · NR capped at 25%

Applicants
2,670

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
16%

2024, all licenses

Public Land
21%

18% Forest Service

Size
366 mi²

233,992 acres

771
16%hunter success 2024 · 570 hunters, 93 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 771

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
EE077P1A Standard · private 100% —
Youth · private 100% (small sample) —
EF077O1A Standard 100% —
Youth 100% —
EF077O1M Standard 0% 4 ▲3
Youth 100% (small sample) 0
EF077O1R Standard 0% 3
Youth 50% (small sample) 0 ▼1
EF077O2R Standard 0% 6 ▲3
Youth 14% (small sample) 0
EF077O3R Standard 0% 7 ▲2
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
EF077O4R Standard 0% (small sample) 6 ▲3
Youth 0% (small sample) —
EF077P1R Standard · private 100% 0
EF077P4R Standard · private 0% 1
EM077O1A Standard 100% —
Youth 100% —
EM077O1M Standard 23% 0
Youth 33% 0
EM077O1R Standard 44% 0
Youth 50% 0
EM077O4R Standard 0% 2 ▲2
Youth 0% (small sample) 0
EM077P1R Standard · private 100% —
Youth · private 0% (small sample) 0
EM077P4R 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. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: EF077P5R.

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 570 93 16%
2023 621 91 15%
2022 548 81 15%
2021 641 95 15%

2024 split: rifle 85 (90%) from 482 hunters, 18%, archery 5 (5%) from 75 hunters, 7%, muzzleloader 4 (4%) from 14 hunters, 29%

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 105,436 ac 45%
Private 79,722 ac 34%
National Forest 42,442 ac 18%
Bureau of Reclamation 5,026 ac 2%
State land 732 ac <1%
BLM 413 ac <1%
County or city land 118 ac <1%
Other public 23 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. How we compute these.

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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 · Methodology · All Colorado elk hunts