Colorado Elk · GMU 81
Colorado GMU 81 covers 777,197 acres and lies 28 miles south-west of Alamosa. 71% of it is public land, mostly national forest (39%) and BLM (23%). In 2024, 3,726 people hunted elk here and took 882, a 24% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE080O1A, put up 2,000 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 1,706 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1,461 of whom drew.
17 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
39% Forest Service
777,197 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.
Every License in GMU 81
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE080O1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 80 | 83% | 0 | |
| EE080O1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery season 1 GMU 80 | 71% | 0 | |
| EF080O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 80 | 0% | 1 | |
| EF080O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 80 | 80% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF081O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 81 | 0% | 1 ▼2 | |
| EF081O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 81 | 25% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF081O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 81 | 0% | 1 ▼1 | |
| EF081O3R Youth | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 81 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF081O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 81 | 100% | — | |
| EF081O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 81 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF081P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 81 | 0% | 0 ▼1 | |
| EM080O1M Standard | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 80 | 0% | 6 ▲2 | |
| EM080O1M Youth | Elk male muzzleloader season 1 GMU 80 | 0% (small sample) | — | |
| EM080O1R Standard | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 80 | 0% | 3 ▲2 | |
| EM080O1R Youth | Elk male rifle season 1 GMU 80 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EM080O4R Standard | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 80 | 0% | 1 ▲1 | |
| EM080O4R Youth | Elk male rifle season 4 GMU 80 | 0% (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 | 3,726 | 882 | 24% |
| 2023 | 3,780 | 669 | 18% |
| 2022 | 3,462 | 610 | 18% |
| 2021 | 5,074 | 668 | 13% |
2024 split: rifle 630 (71%) from 2,442 hunters, 26%, archery 218 (25%) from 1,182 hunters, 18%, muzzleloader 35 (4%) from 101 hunters, 35%
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 | 304,482 ac | 39% |
| Private | 224,853 ac | 29% |
| BLM | 178,332 ac | 23% |
| State land | 69,343 ac | 9% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 104 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 40 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.
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 · Methodology · All Colorado elk hunts