Colorado GMU 138 Mule Deer Hunting
Baca County, southeast Colorado · 312 sq mi
Based on the EASIEST unit-wide buck or either-sex hunt code available to adult Colorado residents in the 2026 primary draw — the lowest preference-point tier that drew reliably. Private-land-only and Ranching for Wildlife hunts are excluded because neither is a unit-wide public-land opportunity — NOT because the public cannot draw them. A private-land-only license requires the hunter's own permission to hunt private ground; a Ranching for Wildlife license is valid on the participating ranches enrolled in that program. They are separate systems. Other weapons, seasons and nonresident applicants can require substantially more points. The band is a floor, not a target: even the easiest qualifying hunt here sits in that range.
What hunting GMU 138 is like
Unit 138 is a 312-square-mile area in Baca County in the southeast region of Colorado. The terrain is gentle and rolling throughout, with elevations ranging from 4,300 feet to 4,900 feet and a mean slope of 1.3 degrees. This is plains country—open, accessible, and straightforward to traverse on foot, but access to hunting ground is the real constraint here rather than terrain difficulty.
The unit is almost entirely private land, comprising approximately 98% of the total acreage. Public hunting is severely limited: only about 0.2 square miles of State Wildlife Area is generally open to public hunting. An additional 2% of the unit is Colorado State Trust Land, but hunting is permitted only on parcels enrolled in the Public Access Program, and enrollment varies. Private land dominates, and a hunter seeking to hunt here will almost certainly need permission on private ground or must work entirely within the tiny State Wildlife Area.
Mule deer occupy the unit across its overall mapped range, though a Winter Range layer covers only about 1% of the unit's acreage. This small mapped winter range does not indicate that deer leave the unit; rather, the mapping reflects where CPW has identified concentrated winter use. A hunter should expect to find mule deer distributed across much of the unit through the fall, with distribution patterns influenced by hunting pressure and weather.
The unit offers four seasons open to public applicants: Archery from September 2 to September 30 (either-sex); Muzzleloader from September 12 to September 20 (doe/buck); Plains Early Rifle from October 24 to November 3 (doe/buck); and Plains Late Rifle from December 1 to December 14 (doe/buck). Two of these are rifle seasons. A fifth season, from October 24 to November 3, is private-land only and is not available to hunters without their own permission to hunt private ground. The archery and muzzleloader seasons fall during the Velvet Shed and Early Fall Transition phase. The Plains Early Rifle season spans the Early Fall Migration and Nocturnal Buck Phase plus the Early Pre-Rut and Migration Corridor Staging phases. The Plains Late Rifle season falls in the Late Rut and Winter Consolidation phase. Overall hunter pressure on the unit is high. The draw for the easiest qualifying unit-wide buck or either-sex hunt code draws reliably at zero preference points, making this an easy unit to draw for Colorado residents entering the primary draw.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,300–4,900 ft, typically around 4,600 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 1.3°
- Slope breakdown
- 100% gentle · 0% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~0 sq mi, plus ~6 sq mi of State Trust Land where access depends on enrollment
Habitat & cover
What actually grows here, by elevation. Each band adds to 100% on its own — these are shares of that band, not of GMU 138.
Across the unit
- Grass and meadow78%
- Other cover15%
- Sagebrush7%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database, split into elevation bands. “Other cover” is the remainder of the classification — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land — and is left unnamed rather than guessed at.
Land & access
About <1% of GMU 138 is public land a hunter can count on — State Wildlife Areas. A further 2% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- State Wildlife Area<1%
- State Trust Land2%
- Private98%
Colorado State Trust Land is open to public hunting only where it is enrolled in CPW's Public Access Program. Check current enrollment before planning around it.
Where mule deer live in the unit
Colorado Parks & Wildlife maps mule deer seasonal ranges statewide. This is how much of GMU 138 each range covers — the single best clue to whether mule deer are here in September, in November, or only passing through. The layers overlap, so they do not add to 100%.
- Overall Range100%the full extent of range CPW maps for mule deer — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when mule deer are present
- Winter Range<1%used in winter
Mule Deer seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Archery | September 2 – September 30 | Either-sex |
| Muzzleloader | September 12 – September 20 | Doe, Buck |
| Plains Early Rifle | October 24 – November 3 | Doe, Buck |
| Plains Late Rifle | December 1 – December 14 | Doe, Buck |
| Private-land only | October 24 – November 3 | Doe, Buck |
Dates span every hunt code of that type in this unit and can differ by code. Confirm the current brochure with Colorado Parks & Wildlife before applying.
GMU 138 mule deer hunting FAQ
Can a hunter actually hunt across most of this unit, or is access the main problem?
Access is the limiting factor. Only about 0.2 square miles of State Wildlife Area is open to public hunting—less than 0.2% of the unit. The remaining 98% is private land, and an additional 2% of State Trust Land is only huntable where CPW has enrolled it in the Public Access Program. A hunter without private permission will be confined to the tiny State Wildlife Area and cannot roam widely across the unit despite the terrain being easy to walk.
Does the small Winter Range mapped here mean mule deer leave the unit later in the fall?
No. The Winter Range layer shows only where CPW has mapped concentrated winter use, not whether deer remain across the broader unit. Mule deer should be expected across the unit's overall mapped range through the fall, though specific locations will shift in response to hunting pressure and weather. The small winter range polygon does not establish that animals have migrated out.
Which season is best for hunting the Primary Rut?
The Plains Late Rifle season, running December 1 to December 14, falls entirely within the Late Rut and Winter Consolidation phase. This is after the Primary Rut (November 11–25) but still within the rut complex and the period of winter consolidation. The archery and muzzleloader seasons earlier in the fall fall in velvet-shed and early fall transition phases, not the rut.
Is it realistic to draw this unit with zero preference points?
Yes—the easiest qualifying unit-wide buck or either-sex hunt code for Colorado residents draws reliably at zero points in the primary draw. This does not mean every hunt code draws at zero points, and nonresident applicants or hunts with different specifications can require substantially more. But an adult resident with no points has a reliable path into at least one hunt here through the regular primary draw.
Is there an alternative if a hunter does not draw in the primary?
Yes. Colorado offers a secondary draw in June that is open to anyone with no preference points used or awarded, and a leftover list thereafter that operates first-come, first-served. These are separate systems from the primary draw and from each other, giving hunters multiple shots at obtaining a license to hunt the unit.
How much ground can a public-land-only hunter realistically cover here?
Realistically, very little beyond the tiny State Wildlife Area comprising less than 0.2% of the unit. The terrain is easy to walk, but without private permission, legal access confines a hunter to that small open area. The 2% State Trust Land is off-limits unless CPW has enrolled the specific parcel in its Public Access Program—and enrollment is not guaranteed. Ground access at this unit is severely restricted compared to terrain difficulty.
Data sources & methodology
- Colorado Parks & Wildlife — Big Game hunting — seasons, weapons, hunt codes and license types
- CPW — Primary Draw rules — how preference points and the hybrid draw work
- CPW — Deer statistics, draw recap and Drawn Out At reports — the point levels behind the draw-difficulty bands
- CPW — Secondary Draw — licenses remaining after the primary draw
- USGS / MRLC — National Land Cover Database — habitat and cover classes by elevation band
- CPW — Maps and GIS (Species Activity Mapping) — mule deer seasonal range
- CPW — State Trust Land Finder — which State Trust acreage is enrolled and open to public hunting
- USGS PAD-US — Protected Areas Database of the United States — land ownership and access
- Daymet daily climate, 1991–2020 (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) — fall weather
Draw difficulty is a qualitative band, not published odds — the note under the summary above states exactly which hunt code it describes. Land shares are separate, non-overlapping categories: publicly owned is not the same as open to hunting, and State Trust Land is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it. Unit data last updated September 24, 2026.