Colorado GMU 128 Pronghorn Hunting
Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero and Pueblo counties, southeast Colorado · 1,210 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 128 is like
GMU 128 spans 1,210 square miles across the southeastern Colorado counties of Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero and Pueblo. The unit is gentle and rolling, with terrain that is 96 percent gentle, 3 percent moderate and 1 percent steep. Elevations range from 4,300 feet to 6,400 feet, with a typical elevation around 5,100 feet. This is low country suitable for hunting on foot, though public-land access is the limiting factor.
The unit is approximately 85 percent privately owned. Of the public ground, about 3 percent of the unit—roughly 37 square miles—is generally open to public hunting on BLM land and State Wildlife Areas. An additional 12 percent, around 141 square miles, is Colorado State Trust Land where access depends on enrollment in CPW's Public Access Program; not all State Trust parcels are enrolled, so a hunter must verify access before planning a hunt here. The remaining 15 percent of public ownership is either inaccessible or off-limits to pronghorn hunting, leaving legal access as the primary constraint for public-land hunters.
CPW maps pronghorn Overall Range across 96 percent of the unit, indicating the full extent of potential pronghorn habitat. Winter Range is mapped on only 3 percent of the unit. Pronghorn are present through the fall as the calendar advances from September through October and into November. The archery season runs over the counter from mid-August through mid-September, though this season is not included in the limited-draw data; the two draw seasons here are muzzleloader and rifle.
The unit offers one rifle season and one muzzleloader season open to public drawing, plus a private-land-only doe season. The muzzleloader season runs September 21–29 for doe and buck. The rifle season runs October 3–11 for doe and buck. A private-land-only season runs December 5–13 for doe only. September highs average 82°F and cool to November highs around 57°F, with October averaging 69°F. September snow is negligible; October and November average roughly 1.1 inches and 0.7 inches respectively. The draw for this unit rates as moderate difficulty, with the easiest unit-wide public-land buck or either-sex code reliably drawing at 1–2 preference points.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,300–6,400 ft, typically around 5,100 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 2.6°
- Slope breakdown
- 96% gentle · 3% moderate · 1% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~37 sq mi, plus ~141 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 128.
Lower elevations
- Grass and meadow86%
- Other cover9%
- Sagebrush4%
- Riparian1%
Mid elevations
- Grass and meadow83%
- Sagebrush15%
- Conifer2%
Higher elevations
- Grass and meadow79%
- Sagebrush17%
- Conifer2%
- Other cover2%
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 3% of GMU 128 is public land a hunter can count on — BLM and State Wildlife Areas. A further 12% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- BLM2%
- State Wildlife Area<1%
- State Trust Land12%
- 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 128 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 Range96%the full extent of range CPW maps for pronghorn — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when pronghorn are present
- Winter Range3%used in winter
Pronghorn seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Muzzleloader | September 21 – September 29 | Doe, Buck |
| Rifle | October 3 – October 11 | Doe, Buck |
| Private-land only | December 5 – December 13 | 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 82°F, lows around 50°F (mid-elevation normals)
- October — highs around 70°F, lows around 37°F, about 1.1 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
- November — highs around 57°F, lows around 27°F, about 0.7 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
GMU 128 pronghorn hunting FAQ
How much ground can a public-land pronghorn hunter actually access in this unit?
Only about 3 percent of the unit—roughly 37 square miles of BLM and State Wildlife Areas—is generally open to public hunting. An additional 12 percent is State Trust Land where access depends on CPW Public Access Program enrollment; a hunter must check which parcels are enrolled before planning to hunt there. With 85 percent private ownership and legal access as the primary bottleneck, public-land opportunity is severely limited.
Is this unit realistic for someone with zero preference points?
Applicants with no points can draw the muzzleloader and rifle seasons through the secondary draw (a separate June draw, pure random, open to anyone with no points used or awarded) or occasionally through the leftover list after the primary draw concludes. In the primary draw itself, the easiest qualifying unit-wide public-land code reliably draws at 1–2 points, though zero-point applicants sometimes draw anyway. The unit also offers over-the-counter archery (August and September, bucks only in August and either-sex in September), though this data does not specify whether that archery season here is limited or unlimited.
Is this unit better suited to early or late season hunting?
The muzzleloader season (September 21–29) falls in the primary rut and early post-rut phase, when pronghorn are most active and concentrated. The rifle season (October 3–11) falls in the late post-rut phase as pronghorn begin grouping for fall. Both seasons offer distinct timing within the pronghorn phenology cycle, so the choice depends on which phase appeals to the hunter.
What does the small Winter Range mapping mean for this unit?
Winter Range covers only 3 percent of the unit's mapped pronghorn range. This reflects CPW's seasonal-range mapping and does not characterize overall pronghorn distribution or concentration through the fall; hunters should not interpret it as indicating where animals will or will not be found during the fall hunting seasons.
Is the terrain walkable for a hunter on foot?
Yes. The unit is 96 percent gentle terrain with only 1 percent steep ground, making it negotiable on foot without technical difficulty. However, walkability and legal access are separate issues; the lack of difficult terrain does not overcome the fact that only about 3 percent of the unit is dependably open to public hunting.
What is the overall hunter pressure in this unit?
Hunter pressure is rated as moderate. This reflects the actual use of the unit across all seasons and does not describe any single season in isolation; an individual hunter's experience will depend on which season and which accessible parcel the hunt falls on.
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.