Colorado GMU 3 Mule Deer Hunting
Moffat County, northwest Colorado · 848 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 3 is like
Unit 3 covers 848 square miles in Moffat County in the northwest region. The unit is gentle and rolling, with elevations ranging from 5,700 feet to 7,400 feet and a typical elevation around 6,500 feet. The terrain is predominantly gentle, with 90 percent of the unit in gentle terrain, 10 percent moderate, and only 1 percent steep. This topography makes the unit accessible for foot travel across most of the area.
Roughly 46 percent of the unit, approximately 387 square miles, is generally open to public hunting on BLM and State Wildlife Areas. An additional 8.5 percent, about 72 square miles, is Colorado State Trust Land where access depends on CPW enrollment in the Public Access Program. The remaining 46 percent is private land. Public ownership totals roughly 54 percent of the unit, though only the open and access-dependent parcels are huntable.
Mule deer occupy the unit across all seasonal ranges. Summer Range, Winter Range, and Overall Range each cover 100 percent of the unit. Winter Concentration covers 57 percent, indicating areas where mule deer cluster during the winter season. Migration Corridors cover 38 percent of the unit, reflecting movement patterns as deer shift between seasonal ranges. A hunter should expect mule deer to concentrate during winter and to move through migration corridors during transitional periods as weather and snow conditions shift the distribution across the fall and winter.
The unit offers seven seasons, five open to the general public: Archery from September 2 to September 30 for either-sex; Muzzleloader from September 12 to September 20 for doe or buck; three rifle seasons—the 2nd Rifle from October 24 to November 1, the 3rd Rifle from November 7 to November 15, and the 4th Rifle from November 18 to November 22—with the 4th Rifle restricted to buck and the first two offering doe or buck. A private-land-only season and a Ranching for Wildlife opportunity are also available. The draw difficulty is easy, with the most accessible unit-wide hunts often requiring zero preference points for adult Colorado residents. Hunter pressure is moderate overall.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,700–7,400 ft, typically around 6,500 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 5.5°
- Slope breakdown
- 90% gentle · 10% moderate · 1% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~387 sq mi, plus ~72 sq mi of State Trust Land where access depends on enrollment
Land & access
About 46% of GMU 3 is public land a hunter can count on — BLM and State Wildlife Areas. A further 9% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- BLM45%
- State Wildlife Area1%
- State Trust Land9%
- Private46%
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 3 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%.
- Summer Range100%used in summer
- Winter Range100%used in winter
- 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 Concentration57%where mule deer bunch up in winter
- Migration Corridors38%movement between ranges, not residence
Mule Deer seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Archery | September 2 – September 30 | Either-sex |
| Muzzleloader | September 12 – September 20 | Doe, Buck |
| 2nd Rifle | October 24 – November 1 | Doe, Buck |
| 3rd Rifle | November 7 – November 15 | Doe, Buck |
| 4th Rifle | November 18 – November 22 | Buck |
| Private-land only | October 24 – November 22 | Either-sex |
| Ranching for Wildlife | Dates vary by hunt code | 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 3 mule deer hunting FAQ
How much public land can a hunter actually plan to access here?
Approximately 387 square miles of BLM and State Wildlife Areas are generally open to public hunting, representing 46 percent of the unit. An additional 72 square miles of Colorado State Trust Land may be huntable where CPW has enrolled parcels in the Public Access Program, though specific enrolled parcels vary. The remaining land is private. A hunter should verify access routes and public-land boundaries before applying.
Is this realistic for someone with few or no preference points?
Yes. The draw difficulty is easy, with the most accessible unit-wide buck and either-sex hunts often available to applicants at zero preference points. Other weapons, seasons, and nonresident applicants can require substantially more points, but an adult Colorado resident on the easiest qualifying public-land hunt has a straightforward path to drawing.
When should a hunter expect mule deer to concentrate and when to spread out?
Winter Concentration covers 57 percent of the unit, meaning mule deer cluster substantially during the winter season. Outside the concentration layer, mule deer are distributed across the unit's 100 percent Summer and Winter Range coverage. As the season progresses from fall into winter, hunters should expect mule deer to shift toward concentration areas as snow and weather intensify, though the timing and extent of that movement vary year to year.
Which rifle seasons fall during the Primary Rut?
The 3rd Rifle (November 7–November 15) overlaps the Primary Rut and Early Pre-Rut phases, and the 4th Rifle (November 18–November 22) sits entirely within the Primary Rut. The 2nd Rifle (October 24–November 1) occurs before the rut begins, during the Early Fall Migration and Nocturnal Buck Phase.
What do the archery and muzzleloader seasons encounter in terms of rut timing?
Both the Archery season (September 2–September 30) and the Muzzleloader season (September 12–September 20) fall in the Velvet Shed and Early Fall Transition phase, before the rut begins. Hunters in these seasons are not targeting rutting behavior.
What is the terrain like for a hunter planning to hunt on foot?
The unit is gentle and rolling across 90 percent of its area, with only 1 percent steep terrain. This topography is manageable for foot travel, and a mobile hunter should find the landscape accessible across most of the open public land, though individual canyons, drainages and terrain features will vary.
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
- 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
- Federal and state land-ownership datasets — land ownership and access
- NOAA climate normals — 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 August 31, 2026.