Colorado Elk · GMU 78
Colorado GMU 78 covers 488,682 acres and lies 56 miles east of Durango. 62% of it is public land, mostly national forest (61%) and BLM (1%). In 2024, 2,754 people hunted elk here and took 731, a 27% 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.
28 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
61% Forest Service
488,682 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
- 27%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 150 / 57
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 27%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 1,100 / 694
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 27%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 300 / 278
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 27%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 800 / 740
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 78
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE077P1A Standard · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 77 | 100% | — | |
| EE077P1A Youth · private | Elk either-sex archery private-land-only GMU 77 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF077O1A Standard | Elk female archery season 1 GMU 77 | 100% | — | |
| EF077O1A Youth | Elk female archery season 1 GMU 77 | 100% | — | |
| EF077O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 77 | 0% | 4 ▲3 | |
| EF077O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 77 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF077O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 77 | 0% | 3 | |
| EF077O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 77 | 50% (small sample) | 0 ▼1 | |
| EF077O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 77 | 0% | 6 ▲3 | |
| EF077O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 77 | 14% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF077O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 77 | 0% | 7 ▲2 | |
| EF077O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 77 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF077O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 77 | 0% (small sample) | 6 ▲3 | |
| EF077O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 77 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EF077P1R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 77 | 100% | 0 | |
| EF077P4R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 77 | 0% | 1 | |
| EM077O1A Standard | Elk male archery season 1 GMU 77 | 100% | — | |
| EM077O1A Youth | Elk male archery season 1 GMU 77 | 100% | — | |
| EM077O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 77 | 23% | 0 | |
| EM077O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 77 | 33% | 0 | |
| EM077O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 77 | 44% | 0 | |
| EM077O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 77 | 50% | 0 | |
| EM077O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 77 | 0% | 2 ▲2 | |
| EM077O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 77 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM077P1R Standard · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 77 | 100% | — | |
| EM077P1R Youth · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 77 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM077P4R Standard · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 77 | 100% | — | |
| EM077P4R Youth · private | Elk male rifle private-land-only GMU 77 | 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 | 2,754 | 731 | 27% |
| 2023 | 2,879 | 402 | 14% |
| 2022 | 2,955 | 522 | 18% |
| 2021 | 3,116 | 537 | 17% |
2024 split: rifle 543 (74%) from 1,874 hunters, 29%, archery 147 (20%) from 737 hunters, 20%, muzzleloader 41 (6%) from 143 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
| National Forest | 298,816 ac | 61% |
| Private | 156,305 ac | 32% |
| Tribal | 27,097 ac | 6% |
| BLM | 5,186 ac | 1% |
| State land | 1,078 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 192 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.
Report an error on this page
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