Colorado GMU 104 Pronghorn Hunting
Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas and Elbert counties, central Colorado · 1,454 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 104 is like
GMU 104 covers 1,454 square miles across five counties in the Denver region and consists of gentle, rolling terrain ranging from 5,000 feet at its low point to 7,900 feet at its high. The unit is 97 percent gentle slope and 3 percent moderate slope, with no steep or rugged ground. Pronghorn occupy portions of the unit across its seasonal ranges, with the species' overall range covering 57 percent of the unit's area.
Public hunting access is extremely limited. Only about 0.1 percent of the unit—roughly 1 square mile—consists of State Wildlife Areas that are generally open to public hunting. An additional 3.5 percent is Colorado State Trust Land, where hunting access depends on CPW's Public Access Program enrollment; not all State Trust Land parcels in the unit are necessarily open. The remaining land splits between 9.6 percent with unclassified ownership and 87 percent private land. Legal access, not terrain difficulty, is the controlling constraint on hunting opportunity here.
Winter Range covers 16 percent of the unit, with 12 percent designated as Winter Concentration—ground where pronghorn cluster during the cold months. This concentrated use signals that pronghorn are not evenly distributed through the mapped range but rather gather on specific ground as the season advances and conditions shift. Hunters should expect to focus effort on these concentration areas if pursuing pronghorn in the late fall and winter.
The unit offers three pronghorn seasons for 2026: a Muzzleloader season September 21–29 for either-sex or doe; a Rifle season October 3–11 for either-sex or doe; and a Ranching for Wildlife hunt August 15–21 for either-sex or doe. The Muzzleloader season spans the primary rut and early post-rut period, while the Rifle season falls in the late rut and post-rut recovery phase. The draw difficulty for the most accessible unit-wide buck or either-sex code is moderate, with 1–2 preference points drawing reliably in the primary draw, though the band represents a floor rather than a target. Hunter pressure across the unit is extreme.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,000–7,900 ft, typically around 5,800 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 3.1°
- Slope breakdown
- 97% gentle · 3% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~1 sq mi, plus ~50 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 104.
Lower elevations
- Other cover83%
- Grass and meadow15%
- Riparian2%
Mid elevations
- Other cover64%
- Grass and meadow32%
- Sagebrush2%
- Riparian2%
Higher elevations
- Grass and meadow66%
- Other cover15%
- Sagebrush11%
- Conifer7%
- Riparian2%
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 104 is public land a hunter can count on — State Wildlife Areas. A further 3% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- State Wildlife Area<1%
- State Trust Land3%
- Unclassified ownership10%
- Private87%
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.
“Ownership unclassified” means the source dataset does not record an owner for that acreage. It is not known to be public or private.
Where pronghorn live in the unit
Colorado Parks & Wildlife maps pronghorn seasonal ranges statewide. This is how much of GMU 104 each range covers — the single best clue to whether pronghorn are here in September, in November, or only passing through. The layers overlap, so they do not add to 100%.
- Overall Range57%the full extent of range CPW maps for pronghorn — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when pronghorn are present
- Winter Range16%used in winter
- Winter Concentration12%where pronghorn bunch up in winter
Pronghorn seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Muzzleloader | September 21 – September 29 | Doe, Buck |
| Rifle | October 3 – October 11 | Doe, Buck |
| Ranching for Wildlife | August 15 – August 21 | Either-sex, Doe |
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.
Fall weather
- September — highs around 79°F, lows around 48°F (mid-elevation normals)
- October — highs around 66°F, lows around 36°F, about 1.1 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
- November — highs around 54°F, lows around 26°F, about 1.7 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
GMU 104 pronghorn hunting FAQ
Is there enough public land here to hunt without connections to private ground?
No. Only about 0.1 percent of the unit—roughly 1 square mile of State Wildlife Areas—is generally open to public hunting. An additional 3.5 percent is State Trust Land where access depends on CPW enrollment, but most of the unit is private. Hunters without private-land permission will have very limited legal access.
Which pronghorn season here falls during the rut?
The Muzzleloader season from September 21–29 spans the primary rut and the beginning of post-rut recovery, making it the prime rut hunt. The Rifle season October 3–11 falls entirely in late rut and post-rut recovery but after peak rut activity. The Ranching for Wildlife season August 15–21 occurs in the pre-rut territory-formation phase.
Does terrain make this a realistic walk-in unit?
The terrain itself is gentle and rolling—97 percent of the unit is gentle slope—which is walkable. However, legal access is the real constraint: only 0.1 percent of the unit is dependably open to public hunting, so terrain walkability does not translate into huntable ground.
How much of the unit do pronghorn actually occupy?
Pronghorn occupy portions of the unit mapped by CPW, with overall range covering 57 percent. Winter Range covers 16 percent, and 12 percent is mapped as Winter Concentration, where pronghorn cluster during the winter months. Pronghorn are not evenly distributed but concentrate on specific ground, particularly as winter approaches.
What are the chances of drawing the easiest hunt here with zero or one preference point?
An applicant with 1–2 preference points draws the easiest unit-wide buck or either-sex code reliably in the primary draw. Applicants with zero or one point sometimes draw anyway, but 1–2 points is the dependable threshold. Separate routes—the secondary draw in June (pure random, no points) and the leftover list (first-come, first-served)—also exist.
How crowded is this unit during the seasons?
Hunter pressure across the unit is extreme. Despite the extreme pressure, the moderate draw difficulty for the easiest code reflects the extreme demand and limited allocation of tags, not the scarcity of pronghorn.
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 — Pronghorn 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) — pronghorn 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.