Colorado Moose Mule Deer Elk

Unit 171

Colorado Hunting Guide — Moose, Mule Deer, Elk

Unit 171 lies in Jackson County and covers about 256 square miles. Ground runs from 8,286 to 12,716 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 14 and Jackson-Larimer Co. line among others. CPW's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 67%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Colorado Hunting Guide

🏔️

52%

Public Land

⛰️

8,286–11,248 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 171

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Colorado Unit 171 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.

Moose guide Mule Deer guide Elk guide

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Moose Hunting in Unit 171

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 171

CPW's material on unit 171 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its Shiras moose 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 Jackson County. It runs to about 256 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 14, Jackson-Larimer Co. line and Jackson-Grand Co. line

CPW has unit 171 bounded on the north and east by Colo. 14 and Jackson-Larimer Co. line; on the south by Jackson-Grand Co. line; on the west by Colo. 125. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. 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: Mount Cumulus, Lead Mountain and Mount Mahler

Named high points inside the unit include Mount Cumulus at 12,716 feet, Lead Mountain at 12,485 feet, Mount Mahler at 12,450 feet, Parika Peak at 12,382 feet and Nokhu Crags at 12,324 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Moose want willow, water and shade, and they rarely leave the drainage that has all three.

Holding ground: Whiskey Draw, Haney Draw and Riddle Draw

Below them sit Whiskey Draw at 8,859 feet, Haney Draw at 8,787 feet, Riddle Draw at 8,750 feet, Faulkner Draw at 8,568 feet and Alderdice Draw at 8,561 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.

Public ground to start from: Cohagen STL, Indian Creek STL and Kemp Draw STL

CPW lists Cohagen STL, Indian Creek STL, Kemp Draw STL, Owl Creek STL and Owl Mountain STL 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 52% of the unit on top of those.

Water in this unit

The water inside the unit line comes to 84 mapped stream reaches, 9 lakes, 49 stock tanks and 2 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: M-1

CPW does not manage Shiras moose unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit M-1, and unit 171 is one piece of it. The rest of M-1 is unit 6, unit 16, unit 17 and unit 161. 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.

Reading the land status

Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as National Forest 60%, Private / Other 32% and State Trust 8%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. A grid sample of the unit reads 8,286 to 11,248 feet, and named ground inside the line runs 8,347 to 12,716 feet — take 8,286 to 12,716 as the spread, because the sample is a grid and walks past summits. With 4,430 feet between the two ends, that is a lot of vertical to cover, and it means the season you draw decides which half of the unit you hunt.

Unit 171 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

8,286–11,248 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,364 ft ; peaks can run higher.
256 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

49 tanks
2 springs
84 stream segments
9 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: Mount Cumulus (12,716 ft), Lead Mountain (12,485 ft), Mount Mahler (12,450 ft), Parika Peak (12,382 ft)

Holding ground: Jack Park (10,656 ft), Illinois Pass (10,020 ft), Calamity Pass (9,702 ft), Cohagen STL, Indian Creek STL

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 Shiras Moose in Unit 171

CPW's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 171 at 67% across all manners of take. A number like that comes from few tags and a short season, not from easy hunting. The plan: walk the willow bottoms slowly at first and last light and look for fresh browse before you look for the animal.

Glassing from Braddock Peak, Never Summer Mountains and Bearpaws Peaks

Take a position on one of Braddock Peak (11,993 ft), Never Summer Mountains (11,954 ft), Bearpaws Peaks (11,695 ft) and Seven Utes Mountain (11,419 ft) and be on it before light. Cold air slides downhill in the dark, so keep your scent out of the bowl you mean to watch; expect the thermals to turn uphill an hour after the sun reaches the slope. Give a basin forty minutes before you decide it is empty. On the rut hunts, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

Water against feed

There are 84 mapped stream reaches and 49 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

Season normals here run Sep 65/31°F, Oct 51/22°F and Nov 38/12°F. By Nov the lows are around 12°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 1.8 in. in Sep, 1.9 in. in Oct and 1.6 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: CO 125 and CO 14

CO 125 and CO 14 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.

Where unit 171 sits inside M-1

Across M-1, CPW's 2023 Shiras moose success runs 77% in unit 17, 77% in unit 161, 76% in unit 16, 69% in unit 6 and 67% in unit 171. Unit 171 is the lowest of them, so whatever drives success in this herd is happening somewhere else in it. If the draw lets you choose, unit 17 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 Mount Cumulus, Lead Mountain, Mount Mahler and Parika Peak as places to see from, and Jack Park, Illinois Pass, Calamity Pass and Cohagen STL 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 171

Named routes and what they need

CO 125 — 16.2 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CO 14 — 12.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 31 — 5.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 125E — 1.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 125D — 1.3 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

Walden — 17.7 mi · groceries
Grand Lake — 23.2 mi · groceries
Rustic — 30.1 mi · no services listed
Hot Sulphur Springs — 30.4 mi · fuel
Granby — 30.7 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Crags Campground
North Park / Walden / Gould KOA
Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan29° / 3° · 1.6" precip
Aug72° / 38° · 2" precip
Sep65° / 31° · 1.8" precip
Oct51° / 22° · 1.9" precip
Nov38° / 12° · 1.6" precip
Dec30° / 4° · 1.5" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 9% 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.

Moose: where to put the shot

Broadside, behind the shoulder and a third up. Moose look slow to react — the first shot has to count.

Shots to refuse

Where it falls decides your next two days. Avoid shots that drop a moose in water or a bog.
A .30-06 class cartridge minimum, with a bullet built for heavy bone.

Plan the carry: roughly 350– 500 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — four or more large coolers, or a processor. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Moose Success Rates

All manners of take67%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 171 at 67% — 24 animals taken by 36 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.

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.

Moose Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season cow only (resident)	21	278	7.6%	3
Archery — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	4	45	8.9%	3
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (resident)	8	1,019	0.8%	3
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	2	513	0.4%	3

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 Shiras moose in unit 171, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

MM171O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, resident: 1,019 applicants for 8 licences, 0.8% drawn, 3 preference points needed
MM171O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, nonresident: 513 applicants for 2 licences, 0.4% drawn, 3 preference points needed
MF171O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 278 applicants for 21 licences, 7.6% drawn, 3 preference points needed
MF171O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Cow Only, nonresident: 45 applicants for 4 licences, 8.9% drawn, 3 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. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 171

Unit 171 lies in Jackson County and covers about 256 square miles. Ground runs from 8,286 to 12,716 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 14 and Jackson-Larimer Co. line among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 16%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 171

What CPW publishes for unit 171 is a boundary, not a mule deer map. 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 Jackson County. It runs to about 256 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 14, Jackson-Larimer Co. line and Jackson-Grand Co. line

CPW has unit 171 bounded on the north and east by Colo. 14 and Jackson-Larimer Co. line; on the south by Jackson-Grand Co. line; on the west by Colo. 125. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. 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: Iron Mountain, Farview Mountain and Mount Cindy

Named high points inside the unit include Iron Mountain at 12,246 feet, Farview Mountain at 12,223 feet, Mount Cindy at 12,035 feet, Braddock Peak at 11,993 feet and Never Summer Mountains at 11,954 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Mule deer bed on broken ground with a view and feed on the brush below it.

Holding ground: Jack Park, Illinois Pass and Calamity Pass

Below them sit Jack Park at 10,656 feet, Illinois Pass at 10,020 feet, Calamity Pass at 9,702 feet, Horse Park at 9,574 feet and Taylor Draw at 8,875 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: Owl Mountain SWA, Taylor Draw STL and Yarmony Ranch SWA

CPW lists Owl Mountain SWA, Taylor Draw STL, Yarmony Ranch SWA, Cohagen STL and Indian Creek STL 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 52% of the unit on top of those.

Water in this unit

The water inside the unit line comes to 84 mapped stream reaches, 9 lakes, 49 stock tanks and 2 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-3

CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-3, and unit 171 is one piece of it. The rest of D-3 is unit 6, unit 16, unit 17 and unit 161. 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.

Reading the land status

Unit 171 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

8,286–11,248 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,364 ft ; peaks can run higher.
256 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

49 tanks
2 springs
84 stream segments
9 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: Mount Cumulus (12,716 ft), Lead Mountain (12,485 ft), Mount Mahler (12,450 ft), Parika Peak (12,382 ft)

Holding ground: Jack Park (10,656 ft), Illinois Pass (10,020 ft), Calamity Pass (9,702 ft), Cohagen STL, Indian Creek STL

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 171

CPW's own harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 171 at archery 9% and rifle 16%. A number that low means most hunters here go home empty, and the ones who don't put the days in first. The plan: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

Glassing from Radial Mountain, Owl Mountain and La Fevre Ridge

Take a position on one of Radial Mountain (11,244 ft), Owl Mountain (10,934 ft), La Fevre Ridge (10,142 ft) and Owl Ridge (8,929 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. 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 84 mapped stream reaches and 49 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

Getting past the roads: CO 125 and CO 14

Where unit 171 sits inside D-3

Across D-3, CPW's 2023 mule deer success runs 41% in unit 6, 34% in unit 161, 19% in unit 16, 15% in unit 171 and 9% in unit 17. That puts unit 171 behind 3 of the 4 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 6 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 171

Named routes and what they need

CO 125 — 16.2 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CO 14 — 12.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 31 — 5.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 125E — 1.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 125D — 1.3 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

Walden — 17.7 mi · groceries
Grand Lake — 23.2 mi · groceries
Rustic — 30.1 mi · no services listed
Hot Sulphur Springs — 30.4 mi · fuel
Granby — 30.7 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Crags Campground
North Park / Walden / Gould KOA
Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan29° / 3° · 1.6" precip
Aug72° / 38° · 2" precip
Sep65° / 31° · 1.8" precip
Oct51° / 22° · 1.9" precip
Nov38° / 12° · 1.6" precip
Dec30° / 4° · 1.5" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 9% 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.

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 take15%

Archery9%

Rifle16%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 171 at 15% — 18 animals taken by 124 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 — 9% success, 2 taken by 22 hunters
Rifle — 16% success, 16 taken by 102 hunters

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident)	33	53	62.3%	—
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	4	17	23.5%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	21	58	36.2%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	3	11	27.3%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (resident)	20	71	28.2%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (nonresident)	6	17	35.3%	—
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident)	10	46	21.7%	—
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	2	13	15.4%	1

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 171, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

DM171O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Buck Only, resident: 71 applicants for 20 licences, 28.2% drawn, no preference points needed
DM171O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, resident: 58 applicants for 21 licences, 36.2% drawn, no preference points needed
DM171E1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 53 applicants for 33 licences, 62.3% drawn, no preference points needed
DM171O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 46 applicants for 10 licences, 21.7% 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 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 171

Unit 171 lies in Jackson County and covers about 256 square miles. Ground runs from 8,286 to 12,716 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 14 and Jackson-Larimer Co. line among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 4%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Elk in Unit 171

CPW's material on unit 171 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its elk live. 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 Jackson County. It runs to about 256 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 14, Jackson-Larimer Co. line and Jackson-Grand Co. line

CPW has unit 171 bounded on the north and east by Colo. 14 and Jackson-Larimer Co. line; on the south by Jackson-Grand Co. line; on the west by Colo. 125. 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: Bearpaws Peaks, Seven Utes Mountain and Radial Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Bearpaws Peaks at 11,695 feet, Seven Utes Mountain at 11,419 feet, Radial Mountain at 11,244 feet, Owl Mountain at 10,934 feet and La Fevre Ridge at 10,142 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Elk want timber to bed in and open ground to feed on, within a short walk of each other.

Holding ground: Whiskey Draw, Haney Draw and Riddle Draw

Below them sit Whiskey Draw at 8,859 feet, Haney Draw at 8,787 feet, Riddle Draw at 8,750 feet, Faulkner Draw at 8,568 feet and Alderdice Draw at 8,561 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: Kemp Draw STL, Owl Creek STL and Owl Mountain STL

CPW lists Kemp Draw STL, Owl Creek STL, Owl Mountain STL, Owl Mountain SWA and Taylor Draw STL 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 52% of the unit on top of those.

Water in this unit

The water inside the unit line comes to 84 mapped stream reaches, 9 lakes, 49 stock tanks and 2 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: E-3

CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-3, and unit 171 is one piece of it. The rest of E-3 is unit 6, unit 16, unit 17 and unit 161. 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.

Reading the land status

Unit 171 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

8,286–11,248 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,364 ft ; peaks can run higher.
256 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

49 tanks
2 springs
84 stream segments
9 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: Mount Cumulus (12,716 ft), Lead Mountain (12,485 ft), Mount Mahler (12,450 ft), Parika Peak (12,382 ft)

Holding ground: Jack Park (10,656 ft), Illinois Pass (10,020 ft), Calamity Pass (9,702 ft), Cohagen STL, Indian Creek STL

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

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How to Hunt Elk in Unit 171

CPW's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 171 at archery 4%, muzzleloader 0% and rifle 3%. A number that low means most hunters here go home empty, and the ones who don't put the days in first. 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 Cape Horn, Mount Cumulus and Lead Mountain

Take a position on one of Cape Horn (8,347 ft), Mount Cumulus (12,716 ft), Lead Mountain (12,485 ft) and Mount Mahler (12,450 ft) and be on it before light. Cold air slides downhill in the dark, so keep your scent out of the bowl you mean to watch; expect the thermals to turn uphill an hour after the sun reaches the slope. 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

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CO 125 and CO 14

Where unit 171 sits inside E-3

Across E-3, CPW's 2023 elk success runs 12% in unit 16, 9% in unit 6, 7% in unit 17, 5% in unit 161 and 3% in unit 171. Unit 171 is the lowest of them, so whatever drives success in this herd is happening somewhere else in it. If the draw lets you choose, unit 16 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 Mount Cumulus, Lead Mountain, Mount Mahler and Parika Peak as places to see from, and Jack Park, Illinois Pass, Calamity Pass and Cohagen STL 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 171

Named routes and what they need

CO 125 — 16.2 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CO 14 — 12.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 31 — 5.9 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 125E — 1.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 125D — 1.3 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

Walden — 17.7 mi · groceries
Grand Lake — 23.2 mi · groceries
Rustic — 30.1 mi · no services listed
Hot Sulphur Springs — 30.4 mi · fuel
Granby — 30.7 mi · fuel, groceries

Developed camps

Crags Campground
North Park / Walden / Gould KOA
Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan29° / 3° · 1.6" precip
Aug72° / 38° · 2" precip
Sep65° / 31° · 1.8" precip
Oct51° / 22° · 1.9" precip
Nov38° / 12° · 1.6" precip
Dec30° / 4° · 1.5" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 9% 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.

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Elk Success Rates

All manners of take3%

Archery4%

Muzzleloader0%

Rifle3%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 171 at 3% — 65 animals taken by 1,895 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 — 4% success, 23 taken by 611 hunters
Muzzleloader — 0% success, 0 taken by 64 hunters
Rifle — 3% success, 42 taken by 1,220 hunters

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (resident)	23	42	54.8%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (nonresident)	8	12	66.7%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	1	2	50.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd 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 171, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

EE171O4R — Rifle, 4th Season, Either Sex, resident: 42 applicants for 23 licences, 54.8% drawn, no preference points needed
EE171O4R — Rifle, 4th Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 12 applicants for 8 licences, 66.7% 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

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Camp Sites

4 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Crags Campground and North Park / Walden / Gould KOA.

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Road Conditions

CO 125, CO 14 and CR 31 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 29 mi paved, 10 mi gravel and 2 mi four-wheel-drive.

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Terrain Difficulty

8,286–11,248 ft, averaging 9,364. Enough relief to separate summer from winter range.

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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.

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Weather

Season normals: Sep 65/31°F, 1.8 in.; Oct 51/22°F, 1.9 in.; Nov 38/12°F, 1.6 in..

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Cell Service

Verizon 9%, AT&T 6%, T-Mobile 3% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.

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Nearest Town

Walden (18 mi), Grand Lake (23 mi), Rustic (30 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit 171?

Unit 171 lies in Jackson County, and CPW has it bounded on the north and east by Colo. 14 and Jackson-Larimer Co. line; on the south by Jackson-Grand Co. line; on the west by Colo. 125. It covers about 256 square miles.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 171?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 171 at 67% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 171 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 171 are at Walden, about 18 miles from the unit's centre, with Grand Lake at about 23 miles. There are also 4 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 171?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 171 at 15% across all manners of take, and archery 9% and rifle 16% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the elk success rate in unit 171?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 171 at 3% across all manners of take, and archery 4%, muzzleloader 0% and rifle 3% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

Free Hunt Planning Tools

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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 Moose Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for Shiras moose in unit 171, 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 Deer Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for mule deer in unit 171, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
2023 Colorado Elk Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for elk in unit 171, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22