Colorado Elk · GMU 861
Colorado GMU 861 covers 132,449 acres and lies 34 miles north-east of Alamosa and 49 miles south of Cañon City. 37% of it is public land, mostly national forest (22%) and BLM (12%). In 2024, 608 people hunted elk here and took 133, a 22% success rate. Its most applied-for hunt, EE086V1A, put up 330 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 88 first-choice applicants (one pool for residents and nonresidents).
22 licenses · NR capped at 25%
first choice, NR
2024, all licenses
22% Forest Service
132,449 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
- 22%
- Season
- Nov 18–22
- Tags / Apps
- 90 / 6
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 22%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 330 / 88
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 22%
- Season
- Oct 24 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 85 / 11
- If Drawn
- $974.27
- Success
- 22%
- Season
- Sep 2–30
- Tags / Apps
- 10 / 1
- If Drawn
- $974.27
Every License in GMU 861
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EE084W1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle Ranching for Wildlife GMU 84 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE086O1M Standard | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 | 27% | 0 | |
| EE086O1M Youth | Elk either-sex muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 | 50% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE086O1R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 86 | 29% | 0 | |
| EE086O1R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 1 GMU 86 | 0% (small sample) | 0 | |
| EE086O4R Standard | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 86 | 100% | — | |
| EE086O4R Youth | Elk either-sex rifle season 4 GMU 86 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE086P1R Standard · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 86 | 100% | — | |
| EE086P1R Youth · private | Elk either-sex rifle private-land-only GMU 86 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EE086V1A Standard | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 86 | 100% | — | |
| EE086V1A Youth | Elk either-sex archery nonresident-only GMU 86 | 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% | — | |
| EF086O1M Standard | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 | — | — | |
| EF086O1M Youth | Elk female muzzleloader season 1 GMU 86 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF086O2R Standard | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 86 | 100% | — | |
| EF086O2R Youth | Elk female rifle season 2 GMU 86 | 100% (small sample) | — | |
| EF086O3R Standard | Elk female rifle season 3 GMU 86 | 100% | — | |
| EF086O4R Standard | Elk female rifle season 4 GMU 86 | — | — | |
| EF086P5R Standard · private | Elk female rifle private-land-only GMU 86 | 100% | — | |
| EF086V1A Standard | Elk female archery nonresident-only GMU 86 | 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.
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 | 608 | 133 | 22% |
| 2023 | 660 | 86 | 13% |
| 2022 | 754 | 126 | 17% |
| 2021 | 638 | 97 | 15% |
2024 split: rifle 105 (79%) from 309 hunters, 34%, archery 17 (13%) from 260 hunters, 7%, muzzleloader 11 (8%) from 40 hunters, 28%
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 | 83,245 ac | 63% |
| National Forest | 29,487 ac | 22% |
| BLM | 15,862 ac | 12% |
| State land | 3,850 ac | 3% |
| National Park Service | 3 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