Colorado GMU 79 Pronghorn Hunting
Alamosa, Mineral, Rio Grande and Saguache counties, southwest Colorado · 426 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 79 is like
GMU 79 spans 426 square miles of pronghorn country across the San Luis Valley in Alamosa, Mineral, Rio Grande and Saguache counties. The terrain is rolling, with some steeper breaks, ranging from 7,600 feet at its lowest to 13,000 feet at its highest, with typical elevations around 9,100 feet. About half the unit is gentle terrain, another 39 percent is moderate slope, while steep and rugged ground make up 10 percent of the total area.
National Forest and BLM land form the backbone of public hunting ground, joined by State Wildlife Areas, accounting for roughly 72 percent of the unit. State Trust Land covers an additional 1.1 percent, though access to it depends on enrollment in CPW's Public Access Program and cannot be assumed. Private land comprises about 26 percent of the unit, and a small acreage is unclassified. Hunters should verify access before committing to any particular drainage or parcel, especially where the public and private boundaries interweave.
CPW's seasonal-range mapping shows pronghorn across 52 percent of the unit as overall range, with winter range covering 34 percent and winter concentration marking 19 percent of the unit. The winter concentration layer indicates ground where pronghorn cluster in the colder months, a key guide for hunters planning a late-season approach. The unit does not hold mapped summer range or migration corridors, so pronghorn distribution through the fall is driven primarily by winter range extent and elevation.
The unit offers four seasons total: archery from August 15 to September 20 for bucks, muzzleloader from September 21 to September 29 for bucks, and a rifle season from October 3 to October 11 for bucks, all open to public applicants; a private-land-only doe season runs August 15 to December 31. The archery hunt spans the pre-rut and primary rut phases. The muzzleloader season bridges the primary rut and early post-rut period. The rifle hunt falls entirely in the late rut and post-rut recovery phase, with October temperatures dropping from the mid-50s to the mid-40s and snowfall increasing as the month advances into November. Draw difficulty for the easiest unit-wide buck hunt is rated hard, requiring 3 to 5 preference points. Hunter pressure across the unit remains low.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 7,600–13,000 ft, typically around 9,100 ft
- Steepness
- Moderate — mean slope 11.5°
- Slope breakdown
- 51% gentle · 39% moderate · 9% steep · 1% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~305 sq mi, plus ~5 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 79.
Lower elevations
- Sagebrush58%
- Other cover26%
- Grass and meadow8%
- Riparian6%
- Conifer2%
Mid elevations
- Sagebrush54%
- Conifer39%
- Grass and meadow4%
- Aspen2%
- Riparian1%
Higher elevations
- Conifer64%
- Grass and meadow16%
- Aspen9%
- Sagebrush6%
- Riparian5%
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 72% of GMU 79 is public land a hunter can count on — National Forest, BLM and State Wildlife Areas. A further 1% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- National Forest65%
- BLM7%
- State Wildlife Area<1%
- State Trust Land1%
- Unclassified ownership1%
- Private26%
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 79 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 Range52%the full extent of range CPW maps for pronghorn — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when pronghorn are present
- Winter Range34%used in winter
- Winter Concentration19%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 | August 15 – 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.
Fall weather
- September — highs around 68°F, lows around 37°F (mid-elevation normals)
- October — highs around 57°F, lows around 27°F, about 1.6 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
- November — highs around 44°F, lows around 16°F, about 7.1 in of snow (mid-elevation normals)
GMU 79 pronghorn hunting FAQ
Can a hunter with no preference points draw an archery tag here?
The easiest qualifying unit-wide buck hunt requires 3 to 5 preference points reliably in the primary draw. Applicants with fewer points sometimes draw anyway, and the secondary draw in June offers a separate random opportunity to all applicants regardless of points, but neither path is guaranteed. Checking the leftover list after the draws close is another option.
Is this unit realistic for someone planning to hunt from the ground without extensive scrambling?
About 51 percent of the unit is gentle terrain, and another 39 percent is moderate slope, making foot-travel manageable for most hunters across much of the landscape. The remaining 10 percent of steep and rugged ground can be avoided if necessary. Terrain difficulty is not the limiting factor here; finding and navigating between public and private land parcels requires more planning than raw steepness does.
Which season offers the best chance at a buck still actively working territory?
The archery hunt, running August 15 to September 20, overlaps the pre-rut and primary rut phases when bucks are establishing and defending territory. The muzzleloader season follows immediately into the tail end of the rut, while the rifle hunt from October 3 to October 11 occurs during post-rut recovery, when bucks are less territorial and harder to pattern.
How much of the unit is reliably open to public hunting?
About 72 percent—roughly 305 square miles—is National Forest, BLM and State Wildlife Area ground. State Trust Land comprises another 1.1 percent but requires verification of enrollment in the Public Access Program. The remaining 27 percent is private or unclassified, so hunting strategy should center on the 72 percent figure and confirm access to State Trust parcels before the hunt.
Does pronghorn distribution shift toward winter concentration areas as fall advances?
Winter concentration ground covers 19 percent of the unit and marks where pronghorn cluster in the cold months. As temperatures drop from September into October and November, hunters should expect pronghorn to concentrate more heavily on these mapped areas, though distribution remains influenced by snow, wind and available forage.
Is draw difficulty here driven by many applicants or by few available tags?
Draw difficulty describes the preference-point requirement for the easiest qualifying hunt and does not indicate how many hunters apply or how many tags are available. This unit has low overall hunter pressure, meaning fewer applicants compete for it, but the tags themselves are apparently limited and competitive within the draw. Ease of drawing and crowding on the ground are separate questions.
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.