Colorado Mule Deer Elk Pronghorn

Unit 131 (Holly)

Colorado Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Elk, Pronghorn

Unit 131 lies in Routt and Rio Blanco counties and covers about 194 square miles. Ground runs from 6,853 to 9,002 feet. CPW bounds it by U.S. 40 and Colo. 131 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 29%. Federal land covers about 9% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Colorado Hunting Guide

🏔️

Public Land

⛰️

6,853–8,690 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 131

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Colorado Unit 131 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.

Mule Deer guide Elk guide Pronghorn guide

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 131

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 131

CPW draws an exact line around unit 131 and says nothing about where the mule deer stand inside it. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Routt and Rio Blanco counties. It runs to about 194 square miles.

The lines of the unit: U.S. 40, Colo. 131 and Routt CRs 15

CPW has unit 131 bounded on the north by U.S. 40; on the east by Colo. 131; on the south by Routt CRs 15, 132, 25, 132A & 29; on the west by Fish Creek, Trout Creek and Routt CR 179. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. Its value is practical — those are the features you will navigate by, and the ridges that separate one day's country from another's.

High ground inside the line: Pinnacle Peak, Quarry Mountain and Rattlesnake Butte

Named high points inside the unit include Pinnacle Peak at 9,002 feet, Quarry Mountain at 8,251 feet, Rattlesnake Butte at 8,007 feet, Pinnacle Peak at 7,370 feet and Howelsen Hill at 7,161 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Mule deer on open country use every fold and draw there is, and almost none of the flat.

Holding ground: Mule Gulch, Bear Gulch and Eckman Park

Below them sit Mule Gulch at 7,510 feet, Bear Gulch at 7,439 feet, Eckman Park at 7,060 feet and Fish Creek Canyon at 6,867 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.

Public ground to start from: Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA

CPW lists Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA inside this unit as ground open to public hunting. Each property sets its own restrictions, and the agency's page for it is where they are written down. Federal land covers about 9% of the unit on top of those.

Water: Sulphur Cave Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 97 mapped stream reaches, 16 lakes, 187 stock tanks and 1 springs. Named sources include Sulphur Cave Spring. On ground with that many tanks, knowing which two or three hold water in your season is the most useful thing a scouting trip can tell you.

The herd this unit belongs to: D-7

CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-7, and unit 131 is one piece of it. The rest of D-7 is unit 11, unit 12, unit 13, unit 22, unit 23, unit 24, unit 211 and unit 231. That matters twice over: the population objective and the licence numbers are set for the whole area, and the animals move across unit lines inside it without noticing them.

Unit 131 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

6,853–8,690 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,562 ft ; peaks can run higher.
193.7 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 32%

Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

187 tanks
1 springs
97 stream segments
16 lakes

Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Rattlesnake Butte (8,007 ft), Pinnacle Peak (9,002 ft), Quarry Mountain (8,251 ft)

Holding ground: Mule Gulch (7,510 ft), Bear Gulch (7,439 ft), Chuck Lewis SWA, Emerald Mountain SWA, Sulphur Cave Spring

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Unit 131

CPW's own harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 131 at archery 11% and rifle 29%. That is an ordinary spread for this country, and it rewards whoever scouted. The plan: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

Glassing from Rattlesnake Butte, Pinnacle Peak and Howelsen Hill

Take a position on one of Rattlesnake Butte (8,007 ft), Pinnacle Peak (7,370 ft), Howelsen Hill (7,161 ft) and Saddle Mountain (7,078 ft) and be on it before light. In the dark the air runs downhill. Pick an approach that doesn't send it into the country you want to see, and plan to move once the slope warms. Glass the edges first, then the shaded timber, then the edges again as the light goes. On the rut hunts, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water against feed

There are 97 mapped stream reaches and 187 tanks inside the unit, so water is rarely the limiting factor. Where water is everywhere, feed is what concentrates animals, so hunt the feed and treat water as a convenience. Check the ground around it before you commit an evening to it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Season normals here run Sep 73/37°F, Oct 59/27°F and Nov 43/17°F. By Nov the lows are around 17°F, and the first hard storm after that moves animals off the high ground — a late tag is a bet on that storm arriving. Precipitation runs about 1.9 in. in Sep, 1.8 in. in Oct and 1.6 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: CR 29 and CO 131

CO 131 and US 40 are the paved frame, which is also where everyone else starts. There is little true four-wheel-drive road here, so distance from the gravel is the only thing separating you from the next hunter. 3 mapped public entry points fall inside the unit, so decide which one you take before the morning you take it.

Where unit 131 sits inside D-7

Across D-7, CPW's 2023 mule deer success runs 67% in unit 22, 51% in unit 211, 47% in unit 13, 44% in unit 11 and 30% in unit 12. That puts unit 131 behind 6 of the 7 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 22 carried the better number in the same herd — check its tag count before you read that as an easier hunt.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Rattlesnake Butte, Pinnacle Peak and Quarry Mountain as places to see from, and Mule Gulch, Bear Gulch, Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the unit line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Take the pair you can reach on one road and treat the rest as a second trip.

What we can't tell you

Some of the ground named above carries no land-status flag we trust, so check ownership on a current layer before you hunt it.

Getting in and staying out: unit 131

Named routes and what they need

CR 29 — 11.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CO 131 — 11.2 mi · Paved (all rigs)
US 40 — 6.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
County Road 179 — 4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 35 — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 132 — 2.7 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Oak Creek — 5.7 mi · no services listed
Phippsburg — 8.7 mi · no services listed
Steamboat Springs — 12 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Yampa — 14.3 mi · fuel
Hayden — 17.4 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site
Steamboat Springs KOA
Eagle Soaring RV Park

Season weather and signal

Jan30° / 6° · 1.9" precip
Aug81° / 45° · 1.6" precip
Sep73° / 37° · 1.9" precip
Oct59° / 27° · 1.8" precip
Nov43° / 17° · 1.6" precip
Dec31° / 8° · 1.7" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 15% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Colorado rules that decide your day

Summarised from CPW regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Colorado has no general off-road retrieval allowance. Travel stays on designated routes, so plan to pack every animal out on your back or with stock. Check the forest or BLM travel map for the roads that are actually open in hunting season.

Tagging

Validate and attach your carcass tag before the animal is moved, and keep evidence of sex attached until the carcass reaches your home or a processor.

Leaving meat

Abandoning edible meat is illegal. CPW counts the four quarters and the loins.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No discharging a firearm within 50 yards of a developed campsite, and never toward an occupied building.
Roads — No shooting from or across a public road, and no shooting from a motor vehicle.

Mule Deer: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body.

Shots to refuse

Nothing behind or overlapping the animal you picked.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have shot a three-shot group into a paper plate from the rest you are carrying.
Pass the shot you are talking yourself into.

Plan the carry: roughly 40– 120 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two large coolers. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Mule Deer Success Rates

All manners of take23%

Archery11%

Rifle29%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 131 at 23% — 15 animals taken by 68 hunters. The hunter count is large enough for the percentage to mean something and small enough that a good or bad year still moves it.

Archery — 11% success, 2 taken by 21 hunters
Rifle — 29% success, 11 taken by 39 hunters

These are the agency's own printed figures for this unit, not a modelled estimate and not a state average. They describe one season, so check CPW's current harvest estimates before you read a trend into them.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (resident)	18	33	54.5%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (nonresident)	3	6	50.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season either sex (resident)	5	13	38.5%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season either sex (nonresident)	2	6	33.3%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	41	75	54.7%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	12	24	50.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (resident)	22	44	50.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (nonresident)	8	23	34.8%	—

Data from 2026 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

CPW's 2026 draw recap for mule deer in unit 131, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

DM131O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, resident: 75 applicants for 41 licences, 54.7% drawn, no preference points needed
DM131O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Buck Only, resident: 44 applicants for 22 licences, 50% drawn, no preference points needed
DE131P2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Either Sex, resident: 33 applicants for 18 licences, 54.5% drawn, no preference points needed
DM131O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 24 applicants for 12 licences, 50% drawn, no preference points needed

No preference points were needed for the codes above in that year, which can change the moment applicant numbers do. There are 4 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.

Elk Hunting in Unit 131

Unit 131 lies in Routt and Rio Blanco counties and covers about 194 square miles. Ground runs from 6,853 to 9,002 feet. CPW bounds it by U.S. 40 and Colo. 131 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 35%. Federal land covers about 9% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Elk in Unit 131

CPW's material on unit 131 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its elk live. Every place named below sits inside the unit line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out. The unit lies in Routt and Rio Blanco counties. It runs to about 194 square miles.

The lines of the unit: U.S. 40, Colo. 131 and Routt CRs 15

CPW has unit 131 bounded on the north by U.S. 40; on the east by Colo. 131; on the south by Routt CRs 15, 132, 25, 132A & 29; on the west by Fish Creek, Trout Creek and Routt CR 179. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.

High ground inside the line: Saddle Mountain, Pinnacle Peak and Quarry Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Saddle Mountain at 7,078 feet, Pinnacle Peak at 9,002 feet, Quarry Mountain at 8,251 feet, Rattlesnake Butte at 8,007 feet and Pinnacle Peak at 7,370 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk on low, open country live on distance and visibility, so they see you first.

Holding ground: Mule Gulch, Bear Gulch and Eckman Park

Below them sit Mule Gulch at 7,510 feet, Bear Gulch at 7,439 feet, Eckman Park at 7,060 feet and Fish Creek Canyon at 6,867 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.

Public ground to start from: Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA

Water: Sulphur Cave Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: E-6

CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-6, and unit 131 is one piece of it. The rest of E-6 is unit 11, unit 12, unit 13, unit 23, unit 24, unit 25, unit 26 and unit 33 and 3 more. That matters twice over: the population objective and the licence numbers are set for the whole area, and the animals move across unit lines inside it without noticing them.

Unit 131 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

6,853–8,690 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,562 ft ; peaks can run higher.
193.7 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 32%

Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

187 tanks
1 springs
97 stream segments
16 lakes

Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Rattlesnake Butte (8,007 ft), Pinnacle Peak (9,002 ft), Quarry Mountain (8,251 ft)

Holding ground: Mule Gulch (7,510 ft), Bear Gulch (7,439 ft), Chuck Lewis SWA, Emerald Mountain SWA, Sulphur Cave Spring

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

How to Hunt Elk in Unit 131

CPW's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 131 at archery 10%, muzzleloader 35% and rifle 21%. That is an ordinary spread for this country, and it rewards whoever scouted. The plan: find the feed, find the timber it backs onto, then watch the seam between them at the edges of the day.

Glassing from Pinnacle Peak, Quarry Mountain and Rattlesnake Butte

Take a position on one of Pinnacle Peak (9,002 ft), Quarry Mountain (8,251 ft), Rattlesnake Butte (8,007 ft) and Pinnacle Peak (7,370 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. A tripod is worth more here than another hour of walking. On the rut hunts, September bugling works where you can get above a drainage and let the thermals carry sound downhill.

Water against feed

There are 97 mapped stream reaches and 187 tanks inside the unit, so water is rarely the limiting factor. Where water is everywhere, feed is what concentrates animals, so hunt the feed and treat water as a convenience. A tank with no tracks is a tank with no reason to sit on it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CR 29 and CO 131

Where unit 131 sits inside E-6

Across E-6, CPW's 2023 elk success runs 27% in unit 13, 22% in unit 12, 19% in unit 131, 18% in unit 23 and 17% in unit 211. That puts unit 131 behind 2 of the 10 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 13 carried the better number in the same herd — check its tag count before you read that as an easier hunt.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Rattlesnake Butte, Pinnacle Peak and Quarry Mountain as places to see from, and Mule Gulch, Bear Gulch, Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA as ground to watch. Each pin is a named feature verified to fall inside the unit line, not a spot anyone has hunted. Walk between two of them rather than driving between four, and you will learn more in a day.

What we can't tell you

Some of the ground named above carries no land-status flag we trust, so check ownership on a current layer before you hunt it.

Getting in and staying out: unit 131

Named routes and what they need

CR 29 — 11.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CO 131 — 11.2 mi · Paved (all rigs)
US 40 — 6.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
County Road 179 — 4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 35 — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 132 — 2.7 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Oak Creek — 5.7 mi · no services listed
Phippsburg — 8.7 mi · no services listed
Steamboat Springs — 12 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Yampa — 14.3 mi · fuel
Hayden — 17.4 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site
Steamboat Springs KOA
Eagle Soaring RV Park

Season weather and signal

Jan30° / 6° · 1.9" precip
Aug81° / 45° · 1.6" precip
Sep73° / 37° · 1.9" precip
Oct59° / 27° · 1.8" precip
Nov43° / 17° · 1.6" precip
Dec31° / 8° · 1.7" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 15% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Colorado rules that decide your day

Summarised from CPW regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Tagging

Validate and attach your carcass tag before the animal is moved, and keep evidence of sex attached until the carcass reaches your home or a processor.

Leaving meat

Abandoning edible meat is illegal. CPW counts the four quarters and the loins.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No discharging a firearm within 50 yards of a developed campsite, and never toward an occupied building.
Roads — No shooting from or across a public road, and no shooting from a motor vehicle.

Elk: where to put the shot

Broadside or quartering away, on the back edge of the front leg about a third of the way up the body. That is lungs, and on a quartering-away angle it picks up the far shoulder.

Shots to refuse

No straight-on and no straight-away shots. An elk's chest is deep and the margin is small.
Nothing standing behind or overlapping the animal you picked. A pass-through kills the elk behind it too.
Your maximum range is the farthest you have put three shots in a paper plate off the sticks you are actually carrying. Not the farthest you have ever hit anything.
Scope on 3–4x. A herd fills a 12x field of view and you lose the animal you picked.

Identification:On an antlerless tag, legal means no antler of any kind through the skin. A spike looks exactly like a cow until it turns its head. If you can't see the head, don't shoot.

Plan the carry: roughly 150– 220 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — two to four large coolers, plus bagged ice from town. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

Pro Members Only

Unlock elk hunting tactics for Unit 131

Upgrade to Pro — $49/yr

Elk Success Rates

All manners of take19%

Archery10%

Muzzleloader35%

Rifle21%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 131 at 19% — 190 animals taken by 1,027 hunters. That is a lot of hunters in one unit, and the percentage is what it looks like after all of them have been through it.

Archery — 10% success, 32 taken by 314 hunters
Muzzleloader — 35% success, 15 taken by 44 hunters
Rifle — 21% success, 143 taken by 669 hunters

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident)	15	50	30.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident)	0	2	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident)	18	28	64.3%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident)	3	3	100.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident)	33	55	60.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident)	7	7	100.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (resident)	4	11	36.4%	—
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (nonresident)	9	10	90.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	8	16	50.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident)	9	9	100.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident)	1	5	20.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident)	1	2	50.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	7	21	33.3%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident)	0	3	0.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident)	1	4	25.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—

Data from 2026 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

CPW's 2026 draw recap for elk in unit 131, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

EF131P5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Cow Only, resident: 55 applicants for 33 licences, 60% drawn, no preference points needed
EF131O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, resident: 50 applicants for 15 licences, 30% drawn, no preference points needed
EF131P2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, resident: 28 applicants for 18 licences, 64.3% drawn, no preference points needed
EF131P3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Cow Only, resident: 21 applicants for 7 licences, 33.3% drawn, no preference points needed

No preference points were needed for the codes above in that year, which can change the moment applicant numbers do. There are 10 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 131

Unit 131 lies in Routt and Rio Blanco counties and covers about 194 square miles. Ground runs from 6,853 to 9,002 feet. CPW bounds it by U.S. 40 and Colo. 131 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 22%. Federal land covers about 9% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 131

CPW draws an exact line around unit 131 and says nothing about where the pronghorn stand inside it. Every place named below sits inside the unit line. Which of them holds animals in your season is for you to find out. The unit lies in Routt and Rio Blanco counties. It runs to about 194 square miles.

The lines of the unit: U.S. 40, Colo. 131 and Routt CRs 15

CPW has unit 131 bounded on the north by U.S. 40; on the east by Colo. 131; on the south by Routt CRs 15, 132, 25, 132A & 29; on the west by Fish Creek, Trout Creek and Routt CR 179. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.

High ground inside the line: Howelsen Hill, Saddle Mountain and Pinnacle Peak

Named high points inside the unit include Howelsen Hill at 7,161 feet, Saddle Mountain at 7,078 feet, Pinnacle Peak at 9,002 feet, Quarry Mountain at 8,251 feet and Rattlesnake Butte at 8,007 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Pronghorn live in the open and trust their eyes, which is the whole problem.

Holding ground: Mule Gulch, Bear Gulch and Eckman Park

Below them sit Mule Gulch at 7,510 feet, Bear Gulch at 7,439 feet, Eckman Park at 7,060 feet and Fish Creek Canyon at 6,867 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.

Public ground to start from: Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA

Water: Sulphur Cave Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: A-9

CPW does not manage pronghorn unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit A-9, and unit 131 is one piece of it. The rest of A-9 is unit 3, unit 4, unit 5, unit 13, unit 14, unit 214, unit 301 and unit 441. Read a neighbour in the same herd before you read the state average — the herd, not the unit line, is what the agency is steering.

Unit 131 terrain and land status

Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up

The lay of it

6,853–8,690 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,562 ft ; peaks can run higher.
193.7 sq mi inside the boundary.

Who owns the ground

National Forest — 60%
State Trust — 8%
Private / Other — 32%

Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

187 tanks
1 springs
97 stream segments
16 lakes

Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Rattlesnake Butte (8,007 ft), Pinnacle Peak (9,002 ft), Quarry Mountain (8,251 ft)

Holding ground: Mule Gulch (7,510 ft), Bear Gulch (7,439 ft), Chuck Lewis SWA, Emerald Mountain SWA, Sulphur Cave Spring

Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.

Pro Members Only

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How to Hunt Pronghorn in Unit 131

CPW's own harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 131 at 22% across all manners of take. That is an ordinary spread for this country, and it rewards whoever scouted. The plan: spot from a vehicle or a rise at distance, then plan a stalk that uses the only cover there is — the curve of the ground.

Glassing from Howelsen Hill, Saddle Mountain and Pinnacle Peak

Take a position on one of Howelsen Hill (7,161 ft), Saddle Mountain (7,078 ft), Pinnacle Peak (9,002 ft) and Quarry Mountain (8,251 ft) and be on it before light. Work the morning with the air falling away from you, then accept that by mid-morning the wind has reversed and the plan has to change with it. Work the glass in strips and go back over ground you already covered — animals appear in country you looked at ten minutes ago. On the rut hunts, early-season bucks hold does and can be decoyed where the law allows it.

Water against feed

There are 97 mapped stream reaches and 187 tanks inside the unit, so water is rarely the limiting factor. Where water is everywhere, feed is what concentrates animals, so hunt the feed and treat water as a convenience. Sitting water works where you can see fresh tracks going in, and nowhere else.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CR 29 and CO 131

Where unit 131 sits inside A-9

Across A-9, CPW's 2023 pronghorn success runs 100% in unit 5, 86% in unit 4, 62% in unit 3, 42% in unit 441 and 41% in unit 301. That puts unit 131 behind 5 of the 7 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 5 carried the better number in the same herd — check its tag count before you read that as an easier hunt.

A first plan from the pins on this page

What we can't tell you

Some of the ground named above carries no land-status flag we trust, so check ownership on a current layer before you hunt it.

Getting in and staying out: unit 131

Named routes and what they need

CR 29 — 11.6 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CO 131 — 11.2 mi · Paved (all rigs)
US 40 — 6.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
County Road 179 — 4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 35 — 3.2 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 132 — 2.7 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)

Ratings come from road data, not from a drive this season. Check current conditions with the managing office before you commit a trailer.

Nearest services

Oak Creek — 5.7 mi · no services listed
Phippsburg — 8.7 mi · no services listed
Steamboat Springs — 12 mi · fuel, groceries, lodging, gear
Yampa — 14.3 mi · fuel
Hayden — 17.4 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site
Steamboat Springs KOA
Eagle Soaring RV Park

Season weather and signal

Jan30° / 6° · 1.9" precip
Aug81° / 45° · 1.6" precip
Sep73° / 37° · 1.9" precip
Oct59° / 27° · 1.8" precip
Nov43° / 17° · 1.6" precip
Dec31° / 8° · 1.7" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 15% of the unit. Plan on being out of contact and tell someone your route.

Colorado rules that decide your day

Summarised from CPW regulations. They change — read the current regulations and your permit-tag before you hunt.

Legal shooting hours

Big game may be taken from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.

Motorized retrieval

Tagging

Validate and attach your carcass tag before the animal is moved, and keep evidence of sex attached until the carcass reaches your home or a processor.

Leaving meat

Abandoning edible meat is illegal. CPW counts the four quarters and the loins.

Where you may not shoot

Occupied structures — No discharging a firearm within 50 yards of a developed campsite, and never toward an occupied building.
Roads — No shooting from or across a public road, and no shooting from a motor vehicle.

Pronghorn: where to put the shot

Broadside, straight up the front leg, a third of the way into the body. Pronghorn are shallow-chested and the lungs sit forward.

Shots to refuse

Range it, then range it again. Open country makes 400 yards look like 250.
Wait for the buck to stop. Nobody kills a running pronghorn cleanly on purpose.
Mind the backdrop. A miss carries a long way across a flat.

Plan the carry: roughly 30– 45 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — one large cooler with ice already in it. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Pronghorn Success Rates

All manners of take22%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 131 at 22% — 3 animals taken by 13 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside it.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident)	1	3	33.3%	—
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident)	2	3	66.7%	—
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season buck only (resident)	1	2	50.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	0	1	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season doe only (resident)	1	1	100.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (resident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—

Data from 2021 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.

Open in Draw Odds Engine

CPW's 2026 draw recap for pronghorn in unit 131, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

AM131P1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 3 applicants for 2 licences, 66.7% drawn, no preference points needed
AM131O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 2 applicants for 1 licences, 50% drawn, no preference points needed
AM131O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 1 applicants for 0 licences, 0% drawn, no preference points needed

No preference points were needed for the codes above in that year, which can change the moment applicant numbers do. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

⛺

Camp Sites

4 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Steamboat Springs KOA and Eagle Soaring RV Park.

🛣️

Road Conditions

CR 29, CO 131 and US 40 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 22 mi paved, 30 mi gravel and 0 mi four-wheel-drive.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

6,853–8,690 ft, averaging 7,562. Gentle ground — distance rather than climbing is the day's cost.

👥

Hunting Pressure

Our land-status read for this unit is approximate, so treat any pressure estimate from it with suspicion and check a current ownership layer.

🌦️

Weather

Season normals: Sep 73/37°F, 1.9 in.; Oct 59/27°F, 1.8 in.; Nov 43/17°F, 1.6 in..

📱

Cell Service

Verizon 15%, AT&T 10%, T-Mobile 5% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.

🏘️

Nearest Town

Oak Creek (6 mi), Phippsburg (9 mi), Steamboat Springs (12 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit 131?

Unit 131 lies in Routt and Rio Blanco counties, and CPW has it bounded on the north by U.S. 40; on the east by Colo. 131; on the south by Routt CRs 15, 132, 25, 132A & 29; on the west by Fish Creek, Trout Creek and Routt CR 179. It covers about 194 square miles.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 131?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 131 at 23% across all manners of take, and archery 11% and rifle 29% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 131 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 131 are at Oak Creek, about 6 miles from the unit's centre, with Phippsburg at about 9 miles. There are also 4 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the elk success rate in unit 131?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 131 at 19% across all manners of take, and archery 10%, muzzleloader 35% and rifle 21% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 131?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 131 at 22% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

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Sources & Verification

Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-23.

Colorado Big Game Hunting Brochure — Game Management Unit (GMU) Descriptions (pp. 79-80-81-82) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Data analysis unit (DAU) the unit belongs to · accessed 2026-10-22
2023 Colorado Deer Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for mule deer in unit 131, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
CPW CPWAdminData feature service — GMU and sheep/goat unit boundaries — Colorado Parks and Wildlife GIS Unit · supports: Mapped extent of the unit, Which named ground falls inside the unit line · accessed 2026-10-22
2023 Colorado Elk Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for elk in unit 131, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
2023 Colorado Pronghorn Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for pronghorn in unit 131, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22

Unit 131 (Holly)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 131

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 131

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 131

The lines of the unit: U.S. 40, Colo. 131 and Routt CRs 15

High ground inside the line: Pinnacle Peak, Quarry Mountain and Rattlesnake Butte

Holding ground: Mule Gulch, Bear Gulch and Eckman Park

Public ground to start from: Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA

Water: Sulphur Cave Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: D-7

Unit 131 terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Unit 131

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Elk Hunting in Unit 131

Where to Find Elk in Unit 131

The lines of the unit: U.S. 40, Colo. 131 and Routt CRs 15

High ground inside the line: Saddle Mountain, Pinnacle Peak and Quarry Mountain

Holding ground: Mule Gulch, Bear Gulch and Eckman Park

Public ground to start from: Chuck Lewis SWA and Emerald Mountain SWA

Water: Sulphur Cave Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: E-6

Unit 131 terrain and land status

The lay of it

Who owns the ground

Water on the ground

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Elk in Unit 131

Elk Success Rates

Elk Draw Odds

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 131

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 131

How to Hunt Pronghorn in Unit 131

Pronghorn Success Rates

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Explore Related Units

Unit 135 — Mule Deer

Unit 134 — Pronghorn

Frequently Asked Questions

Free Hunt Planning Tools

Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro

Sources & Verification