Colorado GMU 99 Pronghorn Hunting
Weld, Morgan and Adams counties, northeast Colorado · 1,654 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 99 is like
GMU 99 is a 1,654-square-mile unit spread across Weld, Morgan and Adams counties in the northeast region. The terrain is gentle and rolling, with elevations ranging from 4,200 feet at the low end to 5,600 feet at the high end, and a typical elevation around 4,800 feet. The country is composed entirely of gentle to rolling ground with no steep or rugged terrain.
Public hunting access is extremely limited. State Wildlife Areas cover approximately 0.3 percent of the unit—about 4 square miles—and are dependably open to public hunting. Colorado State Trust Land makes up roughly 5.1 percent (84 square miles), but access depends on enrollment in CPW's Public Access Program; not all State Trust Land parcels are enrolled. The remaining 95 percent is private land. Legal access, rather than walkability, is the primary constraint for pronghorn hunters here.
Pronghorn range across most of the unit. The Overall Range layer covers 86 percent of the unit's area, while the Winter Range covers 65 percent. A Winter Concentration layer marks 9 percent of the unit where pronghorn cluster during winter. Pronghorn occupy the mapped ranges seasonally; the extent of seasonal-range coverage indicates where hunters should expect to find animals through the fall, though exact timing and movement vary with weather conditions.
The unit offers two seasons available to public applicants. The Muzzleloader season runs September 21 through September 29 and falls during the Primary Rut and Late Rut phases. The Rifle season runs October 3 through October 11 and falls during the Late Rut phase. Both seasons allow either-sex harvest. An over-the-counter archery season (dates and either-sex or buck-only structure not specified in the draw data) may also be available outside the limited-draw system. Draw difficulty for the easiest unit-wide buck or either-sex code is Moderate, requiring 1–2 preference points reliably; applicants with fewer points sometimes draw, and other routes including the secondary draw and leftover list remain open. Overall hunter pressure is Moderate.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,200–5,600 ft, typically around 4,800 ft
- Steepness
- Gentle — mean slope 1.6°
- Slope breakdown
- 100% gentle · 0% moderate · 0% steep · 0% rugged
- Ground you can count on
- ~4 sq mi, plus ~84 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 99.
Across the unit
- Other cover57%
- Grass and meadow42%
- Sagebrush1%
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 99 is public land a hunter can count on — State Wildlife Areas. A further 5% is State Trust Land, which is huntable only where CPW has enrolled it.
- State Wildlife Area<1%
- BLM<1%
- State Trust Land5%
- Unclassified ownership<1%
- Private95%
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 99 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 Range86%the full extent of range CPW maps for pronghorn — near 100% on most units, and not a statement about when pronghorn are present
- Winter Range65%used in winter
- Winter Concentration9%where pronghorn bunch up in winter
Pronghorn seasons & weapons (2026)
| Season | Dates | Tags offered |
|---|---|---|
| Muzzleloader | September 21 – September 29 | Doe, Buck |
| Rifle | October 3 – October 11 | 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 99 pronghorn hunting FAQ
Is there enough public land here for a hunter with no points to get serious hunting time?
No. Only about 4 square miles of State Wildlife Area is dependably open, and approximately 84 square miles of State Trust Land may be accessible if enrolled in the Public Access Program—but the unit is 1,654 square miles total and 95 percent private. A hunter without draw success would be limited to whatever public ground is reachable and enrolled, which is a small fraction of pronghorn habitat here.
When should a hunter apply for this unit if they want to hunt the rut?
The Muzzleloader season (September 21–29) runs squarely through the Primary Rut and into the Late Rut phase, making it the better choice for rut hunting. The Rifle season (October 3–11) occurs during the Late Rut phase, after peak rut activity has passed.
Is the terrain easy to hunt on foot?
Yes—the entire unit is gentle and rolling with no steep or rugged ground, making it walkable for most hunters. Legal access to hunt that terrain is the limiting factor, not the lay of the land.
Do pronghorn stay in this unit year-round or migrate out?
The Overall Range layer covers 86 percent of the unit, and the Winter Range covers 65 percent, indicating that pronghorn occupy mapped range seasonally through fall and winter. The mapping shows seasonal-range extent but does not specify year-round residency for any portion of the unit; pronghorn presence and movement vary with weather and forage conditions.
What does 'Moderate' draw difficulty mean for this unit?
The easiest unit-wide buck or either-sex season requires 1–2 preference points reliably in the primary draw. An applicant with fewer points can still draw via the primary draw, the secondary draw (a separate June random draw open to all residents), or the leftover list, but 1–2 points is the floor for dependable success on the easiest code.
Is this a good unit for someone who wants to maximize time on public ground?
No. With 95 percent private land and only about 4 square miles of open State Wildlife Area, public-land hunting opportunity is minimal. Hunters interested in this unit should have private-land access arranged or focus on the limited public parcels available.
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.