Colorado GMU 93 Pronghorn Hunting
Logan, Segwick and Phillips counties, northeast Colorado · 946 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 93 is like
GMU 93 occupies roughly 946 square miles of northeastern Colorado across Logan, Sedgwick and Phillips counties. The unit's terrain is gentle and rolling throughout, with elevations ranging from 3,400 feet to 4,400 feet and a mean slope of 1.4 degrees. The landscape is characterized by wide-open prairie with minimal relief.
Public hunting access is severely limited. Roughly 0.8% of the unit, about 7 square miles, is open to public hunting on State Wildlife Areas. An additional 10% of the unit, approximately 94 square miles, is Colorado State Trust Land; however, only parcels enrolled in CPW's Public Access Program are huntable there, and enrollment status varies by parcel. The remaining 89% of the unit is private land. Legal access is the primary constraint for a hunter considering this unit.
Pronghorn occupy seasonal range across portions of the unit. Overall range covers 30% of the unit, representing the full extent of mapped pronghorn habitat. Winter range is mapped across 17% of the unit. Pronghorn distribution shifts seasonally in response to weather and forage conditions, and a hunter should expect animals to concentrate in some areas more heavily than others through the fall.
The unit offers two public hunting seasons. Muzzleloader season runs from September 21 to September 29 and targets bucks during the primary rut and early post-rut phase. Rifle season runs from October 3 to October 11, also targeting bucks, with hunting occurring in the late rut and post-rut recovery phase. Draw difficulty for the easiest unit-wide buck code is moderate, with the lowest reliable preference-point tier at 1–2 points. Hunter pressure across the unit is moderate overall.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 3,400–4,400 ft, typically around 3,800 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 1.4°
- Slope breakdown
- 100% gentle · 0% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~7 sq mi, plus ~94 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 93.
Across the unit
- Other cover68%
- Grass and meadow32%
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 93 is public land a hunter can count on — State Wildlife Areas. A further 10% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- State Wildlife Area<1%
- BLM<1%
- State Trust Land10%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private89%
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 93 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 Range30%the full extent of range CPW maps for pronghorn — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when pronghorn are present
- Winter Range17%used in winter
- Winter Concentration<1%where pronghorn bunch up in winter
Pronghorn seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Muzzleloader | September 21 – September 29 | Buck |
| Rifle | October 3 – October 11 | 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 93 pronghorn hunting FAQ
How much public land can a hunter actually access here?
Dependably open public hunting amounts to roughly 7 square miles of State Wildlife Areas. An additional 94 square miles of Colorado State Trust Land exists in the unit, but only tracts enrolled in CPW's Public Access Program are huntable—enrollment varies by parcel and must be verified before planning a hunt. Together these represent about 11% of the unit, leaving 89% in private ownership.
Is this unit realistic for someone with no preference points?
An applicant with no points can draw the easiest buck code in the primary draw, though the lowest reliable tier sits at 1–2 points. Applicants without preference points sometimes draw below that band, but cannot count on it. The secondary draw (a separate June random drawing open to anyone) and the leftover list (first-come, first-served after the primary draw) offer additional routes to a tag.
When are pronghorn most concentrated in this unit?
CPW maps overall pronghorn range across 30% of the unit and winter range across 17%. No winter concentration layer is mapped, so CPW does not identify specific areas where pronghorn cluster heavily in winter. Distribution shifts with weather and forage conditions as the fall progresses, and hunters should scout the enrolled public-access tracts to locate animals.
Which season coincides with the rut?
The muzzleloader season (September 21–29) spans both the primary rut and early post-rut phase, when bucks are actively pursuing does. The rifle season (October 3–11) occurs entirely in the late rut and post-rut recovery phase, after peak breeding activity has peaked. Both seasons offer rut-phase hunting.
Can a hunter on foot cover much ground here?
The terrain is gentle and rolling, making it walkable across most of the unit. However, walkability and legal access are separate constraints—only about 7 square miles of State Wildlife Area is dependably open to public hunting, and access to state trust land parcels depends on individual CPW enrollment. A hunter must verify which public-access parcels are available before committing to the unit.
Does this unit draw a lot of hunters?
Overall hunter pressure is moderate. Draw difficulty for the easiest buck code is also moderate (1–2 points), meaning tags in the primary draw generally require a small preference-point investment. An easy-to-draw unit can still receive moderate pressure, so crowds and legal access limitations remain relevant even though the draw itself is not highly competitive.
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.