Colorado GMU 141 Pronghorn Hunting
Las Animas County, southeast Colorado · 239 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 141 is like
Unit 141 is a 239-square-mile pronghorn unit in the southeastern part of Colorado, centered at roughly 5,500 feet of elevation with a low of 4,800 feet and a high of 5,900 feet. The country is gentle and rolling, with 98 percent of the unit in gentle terrain, 2 percent moderate, and less than 1 percent steep. The landscape is dominated by private land, making legal access the primary constraint for public-land hunters.
Public land in this unit is minimal. The Bureau of Land Management administers roughly 1 square mile of generally open ground, making it the only acreage a public hunter can reliably count on. Colorado State Trust Land covers roughly 18 square miles, but access depends on enrollment in CPW's Public Access Program and cannot be assumed. The remaining 92 percent of the unit is private. This ownership pattern severely limits where a public-land hunter can legally hunt, regardless of how walkable the terrain is.
The Overall Range layer covers 98 percent of the unit, indicating the full extent of pronghorn range CPW has mapped. The unit offers two pronghorn seasons: a Muzzleloader season from September 21 to September 29 that is open to public applicants, and a private-land-only season from October 3 to December 13. The Muzzleloader season falls across the Primary Rut and Late Rut / Post-Rut Recovery phases. Draw difficulty for the public-land season is rated Moderate, with the easiest qualifying hunts drawing reliably in the 1–2 point range for adult Colorado residents. Overall hunter pressure on the unit is Moderate.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,800–5,900 ft, typically around 5,500 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 2°
- Slope breakdown
- 98% gentle · 2% moderate · 1% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~1 sq mi, plus ~18 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 141.
Across the unit
- Grass and meadow86%
- Sagebrush8%
- Other cover5%
- Riparian1%
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 141 is public land a hunter can count on — BLM. A further 8% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- BLM<1%
- State Trust Land8%
- Private92%
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 141 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 Range98%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 |
| Private-land only | October 3 – December 13 | 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 141 pronghorn hunting FAQ
How much ground can a public-land hunter actually hunt in this unit?
Roughly 1 square mile of BLM land is generally open to public hunting. Colorado State Trust Land covers an additional 18 square miles, but access is dependent on enrollment in CPW's Public Access Program and cannot be assumed. The remaining 92 percent is private. Legal access is the primary limiting factor here, regardless of terrain.
Can someone with no preference points draw the Muzzleloader season?
The easiest qualifying hunts for this season draw reliably in the 1–2 point range for adult Colorado residents in the primary draw. Applicants with zero points sometimes draw anyway through the primary draw, and other routes such as the secondary draw and leftover list remain open to any applicant regardless of preference points.
When is the Muzzleloader season and what phase of the rut does it fall in?
The Muzzleloader season runs from September 21 to September 29. It spans both the Primary Rut phase (September 6–25) and the Late Rut / Post-Rut Recovery phase (September 26 – October 15), making most of the hunt coincide with the primary rut.
What hunting seasons does this unit offer to public applicants?
One public-land season is available: Muzzleloader for either-sex pronghorn from September 21 to September 29. A private-land-only season runs October 3 – December 13, but that requires private-land access not provided by the unit itself.
Is this unit realistic for a public-land hunter with limited access options?
Access is the decisive constraint here. Only about 1 square mile of BLM land is reliably open to public hunting across 239 square miles of total unit area. A public hunter must either scout extensively for accessible State Trust Land enrolled in CPW's program or gain private permission; relying on the small BLM acreage alone severely limits hunting options.
What is the typical terrain and elevation in this unit?
Terrain is gentle and rolling across nearly the entire unit, with elevations ranging from 4,800 to 5,900 feet and typical elevation around 5,500 feet. Walking the ground itself is not difficult, but the scarcity of public land remains the primary obstacle to hunting here.
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.