Colorado Elk · GMU 79
Colorado GMU 79 covers 272,698 acres and lies 40 miles north-west of Alamosa. 73% of it is public land, mostly national forest (65%) and BLM (7%). In 2024, 1,034 people hunted elk here and took 163, a 16% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EM079O2R, put up 100 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 36 nonresident first-choice applicants.
19 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
65% Forest Service
272,698 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
- 200 / 27
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 16%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 50 / 9
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 16%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 100 / 11
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 16%
- Season
- Oct 14–18
- Tags / Apps
- 165 / 28
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 79
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE079V1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 79 | 100% | — | |
| EE079V1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 79 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF079O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 79 | — | — | |
| EF079O1R Standard | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 79 | 100% | — | |
| EF079O1R Youth | Elk female rifle season 1 GMU 79 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF079O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 79 | 100% | — | |
| EF079O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 79 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF079O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 79 | 100% | — | |
| EF079O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 79 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF079O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 79 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF079O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 79 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EM079O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 79 | 0% (small sample) | 2 | |
| EM079O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 79 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EM079O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 79 | 100% | — | |
| EM079O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 79 | 100% | — | |
| EM079O2R Standard | Elk male rifle season 2 GMU 79 | 100% | 0 | |
| EM079O2R Youth | Elk male rifle season 2 GMU 79 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EM079O3R Standard | Elk male rifle season 3 GMU 79 | 8% | 0 | |
| EM079O3R Youth | Elk male rifle season 3 GMU 79 | 50% (small sample) | 0 |
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 | 1,034 | 163 | 16% |
| 2023 | 1,136 | 140 | 12% |
| 2022 | 1,159 | 140 | 12% |
| 2021 | 1,089 | 118 | 11% |
2024 split: rifle 128 (79%) from 654 hunters, 20%, archery 33 (20%) from 352 hunters, 9%, muzzleloader 2 (1%) from 28 hunters, 7%
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 | 177,021 ac | 65% |
| Private | 74,521 ac | 27% |
| BLM | 17,934 ac | 7% |
| State land | 3,221 ac | 1% |
| County or city land | 0 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. How we compute these.
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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 · Methodology · All Colorado elk hunts