Colorado Elk · GMU 85
Colorado GMU 85 covers 751,835 acres and lies 54 miles east of Alamosa and 73 miles south of Cañon City. 18% of it is public land, mostly national forest (9%) and state land (5%). In 2024, 2,875 people hunted elk here and took 614, a 21% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE085V1A, put up 600 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 441 first-choice applicants (one pool for residents and nonresidents).
28 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
9% Forest Service
751,835 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
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 125 / 59
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 600 / 441
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Sep 12–20
- Tags / Apps
- 115 / 2
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 21%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 50 / 4
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 85
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE084W1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 84 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE085O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 85 | 0% | 2 ▲1 | |
| EE085O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 85 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE085O1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 85 | 0% | 1 ▲1 | |
| EE085O1R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 85 | 0% | 0 | |
| EE085O4R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 85 | 70% | 0 | |
| EE085O4R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 85 | 100% | 0 | |
| EE085P1R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 85 | 100% | 0 | |
| EE085P1R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 85 | 100% | 0 | |
| EE085V1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 85 | 100% | — | |
| EE085V1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 85 | 100% | — | |
| EE085W1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 85 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF084W1R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 84 | 100% | — | |
| EF084W3R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 84 | 100% | — | |
| EF084W5R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 84 | 100% | — | |
| EF085L1R Standard | Elk female rifle late season GMU 85 | 0% (small sample) | 1 ▲1 | |
| EF085O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 85 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF085O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 85 | 8% | 0 ▼1 | |
| EF085O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 85 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF085O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 85 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF085O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 85 | 100% | — | |
| EF085O4R Youth | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 85 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF085P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 85 | 79% | 0 | |
| EF085P5R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 85 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF085P6R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 85 | 100% | — | |
| EF085P6R Youth · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 85 | 100% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EF085V1A Standard | Elk female archery nonresident-only GMU 85 | — | — | |
| EF085W1R Standard | Elk female rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 85 | 100% | — |
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: EF085W2R.
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 | 2,875 | 614 | 21% |
| 2023 | 2,931 | 528 | 18% |
| 2022 | 3,317 | 582 | 18% |
| 2021 | 3,112 | 465 | 15% |
2024 split: rifle 409 (67%) from 1,621 hunters, 25%, archery 183 (30%) from 1,086 hunters, 17%, muzzleloader 22 (4%) from 168 hunters, 13%
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
| Private | 617,225 ac | 82% |
| National Forest | 67,644 ac | 9% |
| State land | 37,620 ac | 5% |
| BLM | 29,303 ac | 4% |
| 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