Colorado GMU 119 Pronghorn Hunting
El Paso and Lincoln counties, southeast Colorado · 588 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 119 is like
Unit 119 is a 588-square-mile pronghorn unit in the Colorado plains of El Paso and Lincoln counties, ranging from 4,700 feet to 6,300 feet in elevation and characterized by gentle, rolling terrain. The unit is almost entirely flat by area, with 100 percent classified as gentle slopes. The country is open and expansive, typical of the region's low-elevation rangeland.
Public hunting opportunity on this unit is limited to approximately 0.1 percent of the total area, all of it BLM-managed land. An additional 15 percent of the unit is Colorado State Trust Land, though access to hunt that ground depends on whether individual parcels are enrolled in CPW's Public Access Program; not all may be available. The remaining 85 percent is private land. Legal access is the primary constraint for hunting here, far more limiting than the terrain itself.
Pronghorn are mapped across the unit's Overall Range. The unit offers three rifle and muzzleloader seasons. The muzzleloader season runs September 21–29 during the Primary Rut and early Late Rut phases, when bucks are establishing territory and receptive does. The rifle season spans October 3–11, falling in the Late Rut and early Fall Grouping phases as animals shift toward winter grouping behavior. The late rifle season runs December 1–31 through the Fall Grouping and Winter Transition phases, after the rut and as pronghorn band together for winter. Both the muzzleloader and first rifle seasons allow either-sex and buck harvest; the late rifle season is doe-only. The unit draws at an easy level on its most accessible tags and receives moderate hunter pressure overall.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,700–6,300 ft, typically around 5,400 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 1.5°
- Slope breakdown
- 100% gentle · 0% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~1 sq mi, plus ~89 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 119.
Across the unit
- Grass and meadow87%
- Sagebrush9%
- Other cover4%
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 119 is public land a hunter can count on — BLM. A further 15% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- BLM<1%
- State Trust Land15%
- Private85%
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 pronghorn live in the unit
Colorado Parks & Wildlife maps pronghorn seasonal ranges statewide. This is how much of GMU 119 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 Range100%the full extent of range CPW maps for pronghorn — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when pronghorn are present
Pronghorn seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Muzzleloader | September 21 – September 29 | Doe, Buck |
| Rifle | October 3 – October 11 | Doe, Buck |
| Late Rifle | December 1 – December 31 | 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.
GMU 119 pronghorn hunting FAQ
How much public ground can a hunter actually use here?
Approximately 0.1 percent of the unit—roughly 1 square mile—is BLM land open to hunting. An additional 15 percent is State Trust Land, but access depends on CPW's Public Access Program enrollment, which varies by parcel. The majority of the unit is private land, so legal access rather than terrain is the practical barrier to hunting here.
Is the muzzleloader season better for bucks or does?
The muzzleloader season (September 21–29) falls during the Primary Rut and early Late Rut phases, when bucks are most active and visible establishing territories and pursuing does. It allows either-sex and buck harvest, so hunters seeking bucks have better odds of encountering them during this window than in the later seasons.
What is the late rifle season like?
The late rifle season (December 1–31) is doe-only, falling during Fall Grouping and Winter Transition phases after the rut has ended and pronghorn are banding together for winter. This timing and sex restriction make it fundamentally different from the earlier seasons and unsuitable for hunters seeking bucks.
Can someone with no preference points draw this unit?
The unit draws at an easy level on its most accessible tags, often at zero points in the primary draw. An applicant with no preference points has a realistic chance at the easier hunts here, though other seasons and weapon types may require more points, and the secondary draw and leftover list are always available routes to a tag.
Is this unit walkable if a hunter finds public ground?
The terrain is gentle and rolling across the entire unit, making it easy to walk once a hunter has legal access. The real limitation is finding huntable ground: only about 0.1 percent is reliably open BLM land, so a hunter may need to secure permission on State Trust Land parcels or negotiate private-land access to make a trip worthwhile.
How does the draw difficulty compare to hunter pressure?
This unit draws easily but receives moderate hunter pressure—these are separate factors. An easy draw means the tags are not hard to win; moderate pressure means that hunters are present on the ground. A high volume of low-point applicants can make an easy-draw unit crowded despite how simply the tags are obtained.
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.