Unit 139
Colorado Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Unit 139 lies in Baca County. CPW bounds it by Prowers CRs D and Baca CR M among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 44%. Federal land covers about 2% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 139
Unit 139 lies in Baca County. CPW bounds it by Prowers CRs D and Baca CR M among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 44%. Federal land covers about 2% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 139
What CPW publishes for unit 139 is a boundary, not a mule deer map. So the ground below is the unit's own and the read on where to start is ours, labelled as such. The unit lies in Baca County.
The lines of the unit: Prowers CRs D, Baca CR M and U.S. 287
CPW has unit 139 bounded on the north by Prowers CRs D & F; on the east by KS; on the south by Baca CR M; on the west by U.S. 287. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. 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: Two Buttes, Black Butte and Buffalo Point
Named high points inside the unit include Two Buttes at 4,665 feet, Black Butte at 4,049 feet and Buffalo Point at 3,996 feet. None carries a public-land flag we trust, so settle the ownership question before you plan to stand on one. Mule deer on open country use every fold and draw there is, and almost none of the flat.
Holding ground: Wild Horse Canyon, Lone Rock Draw and Fern Canyon
Below them sit Wild Horse Canyon at 4,240 feet, Lone Rock Draw at 4,225 feet and Fern Canyon at 4,214 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.
Public ground to start from: Burchfield STL, Burchfield SWA and Sand Arroyo STL
CPW lists Burchfield STL, Burchfield SWA, Sand Arroyo STL, Turk's Pond SWA and Two Buttes Reservoir 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 2% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Horse Creek Springs
Named sources include Horse Creek Springs. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.
The herd this unit belongs to: D-28
CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-28, and unit 139 is one piece of it. The rest of D-28 is unit 122, unit 125, unit 126, unit 127, unit 129, unit 130, unit 132 and unit 145 and 1 more. 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 139 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Two Buttes (4,665 ft), Black Butte (4,049 ft), Buffalo Point (3,996 ft)
Holding ground: Wild Horse Canyon (4,240 ft), Lone Rock Draw (4,225 ft), Burchfield STL, Burchfield SWA, Sand Arroyo STL, Turk's Pond SWA
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 139
Mule Deer Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 139 at 42% — 90 animals taken by 216 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 — 32% success, 11 taken by 35 hunters
- Rifle — 44% success, 78 taken by 176 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 — 1st Season doe only (resident) | 13 | 62 | 21.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident) | 1 | 4 | 25.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident) | 6 | 43 | 14.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 1 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 24 | 161 | 14.9% | 1 |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident) | 9 | 41 | 22.0% | 2 |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 29 | 102 | 28.4% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident) | 9 | 20 | 45.0% | 1 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (resident) | 31 | 78 | 39.7% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (nonresident) | 10 | 15 | 66.7% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (resident) | 16 | 39 | 41.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (nonresident) | 2 | 12 | 16.7% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (resident) | 7 | 30 | 23.3% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 1 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (resident) | 0 | 18 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season doe 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 EngineCPW's 2026 draw recap for mule deer in unit 139, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- DM139L1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 161 applicants for 24 licences, 14.9% drawn, 1 preference point needed
- DM139O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 102 applicants for 29 licences, 28.4% drawn, no preference points needed
- DE139L2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Either Sex, resident: 78 applicants for 31 licences, 39.7% drawn, no preference points needed
- DF139L1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Doe Only, resident: 62 applicants for 13 licences, 21% drawn, no preference points needed
Colorado runs a pure preference-point draw, so the point figure above is the requirement the agency published for that code in that year, not a forecast for the next one. There are 11 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit 139?
What is the mule deer success rate in unit 139?
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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 139, 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