Unit research · Colorado · GMU 96
GMU 96 — Colorado
4% public hunting land across 157,974 ac. Road access is easy — only 0% of the public land is more than a mile from a road. Almost none of the public land is landlocked.
Computed from primary government data by the AGPL pipeline. See the code →
Tags & season
Draw hunts on this ground.
10 limited-entry deer hunts are drawn on GMU 96: apply in the Colorado draw, by the agency's deadline below.
Season dates: see Colorado Parks & Wildlife's regulations
Fees and draw dates from Colorado Parks & Wildlife, 2026, verified 2026-08-05 — past its verify-by date, confirm with the agency. Tag type from the agency's published draw statistics: a gmu that appears in none of them has no limited-entry hunt we know of. Source: 2026 Colorado Big Game brochure (rev. 2026-03-18) · CPW primary draw · CPW refunds, reversals and exchanges · Chapter W-2 (2 CCR 406-2), approved 2025-05-07.
Land & access
Backcountry
Where the ground sits
Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band
Slope mix
Which way the slopes face
Share of ground steeper than 5° — flat ground has no facing
North slopes hold shade, cover and snow; south slopes open first.
USGS 3DEP 1 arc-second (30 m), slope at native resolution in a local metric projection, sampled on a 200 m grid. See the code →
Unit intelligence report · Pro, $5 a month or $49 a year
Burn history, migration coverage, and terrain for this gmu — The full report assembles it into one printable document and keeps it current as the facts change.
Season conditions — measured, not vibes
Historical temperatures · 2000–2025
Normals for 2000–2025 — tap or hover for a month
Measured at COLORADO PLAINS RGNL ARPT, 32 km from the unit’s center. NOAA ISD-Lite hourly observations.
Harvest — agency survey estimates
Elk · 2024
17% success
3 taken by 15 hunters · 116 days afield
3 bulls (bulls only) · 0 calves
Elk hunter success · 2019–2024 · 0% → 17%
Season breakdown · 2024
| Season | Success | Harvest | Hunters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | 0% | 0 | 3 |
Which season is the value play here — same ground, different odds.
Deer · 2024
29% success
191 taken by 656 hunters · 3,272 days afield
100 bucks · 78 does · 14 fawns
Deer hunter success · 2019–2024 · 44% → 29%
Season breakdown · 2024
| Season | Success | Harvest | Hunters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | 22% | 22 | 100 |
| Muzzleloader | 11% | 5 | 47 |
Which season is the value play here — same ground, different odds.
Pronghorn · 2024
0% success
0 taken by 5 hunters · 23 days afield
0 bucks · 0 does · 0 fawns
Pronghorn hunter success · 2019–2024 · 0% → 0%
Season breakdown · 2024
| Season | Success | Harvest | Hunters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | 0% | 0 | 5 |
Which season is the value play here — same ground, different odds.
Herd-level estimates · 95% CI
deer · DAU D-44 · 2025: 630 harvested (CI 579–686) · 33% success
elk · DAU E-99 · 2025: 384 harvested (CI 341–432) · 23% success
pronghorn · DAU A-99 · 2025: 6 harvested (CI 3–12) · 21% success
CPW’s stratified-survey estimates for the whole herd unit (DAU) this GMU belongs to — published with the uncertainty the per-GMU tables can’t carry.
CPW estimates harvest, hunters, success and recreation days from its Big Game Harvest Survey. Unit tables run 2019-2024; the 2025 report switched to per-hunt-code tables without unit totals, so unit series end at 2024 and 2025 success rates appear on the draw-odds tables instead. Source: CPW Statewide Harvest Estimates (per species-year PDFs on the species statistics pages).
How these numbers are made
Computed, not curated: no paid research team, no opinions dressed as data. If a number looks wrong, tell us at support@openhuntmaps.com — the fix ships for everyone.
Ready to scout it?
Everything on this page, live on the map — ownership, boundaries, roads, and your own waypoints.
Take GMU 96 into the field
Download Colorado’s pack and this unit works with no signal — boundaries, ownership, roads, elevation. Record your hunt with the screen off. Check what’s visible from any ridge.
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