Colorado GMU 13 Pronghorn Hunting
Moffat and Routt counties, northwest Colorado · 362 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 13 is like
Unit 13 is a 362-square-mile pronghorn unit in Moffat and Routt counties in northwestern Colorado, spanning elevations from 6,100 feet to 8,500 feet with a typical elevation around 6,900 feet. The terrain is rolling, with some steeper breaks: 53 percent of the unit is gentle slope, 38 percent moderate, and 9 percent steep. The landscape is suitable for foot hunting across most areas, though legal access is the limiting factor rather than terrain difficulty.
Public land makes up a small share of the unit. Roughly 7.1 percent of the unit (approximately 26 square miles) is generally open to public hunting, administered by the Bureau of Land Management and State Wildlife Areas. An additional 15 percent (approximately 55 square miles) is Colorado State Trust Land, where hunting access depends on enrollment in the Public Access Program; hunters should verify which parcels are open before planning a hunt. The remaining 77 percent is private land. With less than 8 percent of the unit reliably open to public hunting, access is the dominant constraint on how much ground a hunter can hunt.
Pronghorn range mapped by Colorado Parks and Wildlife covers 54 percent of the unit's overall extent. The mapped Winter Range covers 9 percent of the unit, with no Winter Concentration layer marked. This distribution means pronghorn occupy portions of the unit seasonally, though the mapping does not establish uniform distribution or the specific timing of movements. Fall conditions cool substantially from September highs near 73 degrees Fahrenheit to November highs in the low 40s, with October averaging 1.3 inches of snowfall at mid-elevation.
The unit offers three public pronghorn seasons. Archery runs August 15 to September 20 and falls in the Pre-Rut and Primary Rut phases. Muzzleloader seasons runs September 21 to September 29, spanning the Primary Rut and early Late Rut phases. The rifle season runs October 3 to October 11, occurring in the Late Rut and post-rut recovery phase. A fourth season, September 19 to October 4, is limited to private land only and is not a public-land opportunity. The draw for pronghorn buck tags in this unit is easy, often requiring zero preference points for the most accessible hunt codes.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 6,100–8,500 ft, typically around 6,900 ft
- Steepness
- Moderate — mean slope 11.6°
- Slope breakdown
- 53% gentle · 38% moderate · 9% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~26 sq mi, plus ~55 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 13.
Lower elevations
- Sagebrush59%
- Other cover37%
- Riparian2%
- Aspen2%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush71%
- Aspen22%
- Other cover4%
- Grass and meadow2%
- Conifer1%
Higher elevations
- Aspen62%
- Sagebrush34%
- Other cover2%
- Conifer2%
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 7% of GMU 13 is public land a hunter can count on — BLM and State Wildlife Areas. A further 15% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- BLM7%
- State Wildlife Area<1%
- State Trust Land15%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private77%
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 13 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 Range54%the full extent of range CPW maps for pronghorn — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when pronghorn are present
- Winter Range9%used in winter
- Winter Concentration<1%where pronghorn bunch up in winter
Pronghorn seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Archery | August 15 – September 20 | Buck |
| Muzzleloader | September 21 – September 29 | Buck |
| Rifle | October 3 – October 11 | Buck |
| Private-land only | September 19 – October 4 | 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.
Fall weather
- September — highs around 73°F, lows around 40°F (mid-elevation normals)
- October — highs around 59°F, lows around 30°F, about 1.3 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
- November — highs around 44°F, lows around 20°F, about 7.4 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
GMU 13 pronghorn hunting FAQ
Is there enough public land here for a hunter to realistically hunt without special access?
Only about 7 percent of the unit is reliably open to public hunting through BLM and State Wildlife Areas. The rest is private or State Trust Land requiring verified enrollment in the Public Access Program. Hunters should identify accessible public parcels in advance, as legal access rather than terrain will determine how much ground they can actually cover.
How does draw difficulty compare to other pronghorn units?
The easiest buck hunt codes in Unit 13 draw reliably at zero preference points, making this a straightforward draw for Colorado resident applicants. Even applicants with no preference points have realistic access to tags through the primary draw, secondary draw, or leftover list systems.
Which season is best for a first-time pronghorn hunter?
The archery season (August 15–September 20) spans warm early-season conditions and the Pre-Rut and Primary Rut phases, when bucks are establishing territories and more active. The rifle season (October 3–11) occurs later in the rut recovery phase and in cooler conditions, with early October snowfall possible.
What elevation band should a hunter focus on?
The mapped Winter Range covers 9 percent of the unit but does not specify elevation bands. Pronghorn in this unit use terrain from low to mid-elevation areas across the 6,100- to 8,500-foot span. Hunters should focus efforts on the public-land parcels they can legally access and glass those areas for pronghorn sign and movement.
Does pronghorn presence shift through the fall season?
The mapped range coverage does not establish specific movement timing through the season. Fall conditions cool steadily from September highs near 73 degrees Fahrenheit to November highs in the low 40s, with increasing snowfall in October and November that may influence where pronghorn concentrate, though exact timing and extent vary with weather.
Is this unit as crowded as other nearby pronghorn units?
Hunter pressure in Unit 13 is low overall. The small share of public land and easy draw difficulty do not necessarily mean many hunters; low pressure and an easy draw are separate factors. A hunter accessing this unit should expect few people on the limited public ground, though the constraint remains the availability of open land rather than crowding.
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.