Colorado Elk Moose

Unit 28

Colorado Hunting Guide — Elk, Moose

Unit 28 lies in Grand County and covers about 662 square miles. Ground runs from 7,761 to 13,529 feet. CPW bounds it by Colorado River and Lake Granby among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 13%. Federal land covers about 67% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Colorado Hunting Guide

🏔️

67%

Public Land

⛰️

7,761–12,121 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 28

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Colorado Unit 28 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.

Elk guide Moose guide

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Elk Hunting in Unit 28

Where to Find Elk in Unit 28

CPW draws an exact line around unit 28 and says nothing about where the elk 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 Grand County. It runs to about 662 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colorado River, Lake Granby and Arapaho Creek

CPW has unit 28 bounded on the north by Colorado River, Lake Granby and Arapaho Creek; on the east by Continental Divide; on the south by Continental Divide an Williams Fork-Straight Creek divide; on the west by Williams Fork-Blue River divide and Barger Gulch. 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: Pettingell Peak, Parry Peak and James Peak

Named high points inside the unit include Pettingell Peak at 13,529 feet, Parry Peak at 13,349 feet, James Peak at 13,255 feet, Hagar Mountain at 13,169 feet and Vasquez Peak at 12,934 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: Bottle Pass, Riflesight Notch and Coyote Park

Below them sit Bottle Pass at 11,323 feet, Riflesight Notch at 11,071 feet, Coyote Park at 10,362 feet, Sawmill Meadow at 9,987 feet and Church Park at 9,969 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.

Public ground to start from: Copper Mountain STL, Granby Ranch (Conservation Easement) and Kemp Breeze SWA

CPW lists Copper Mountain STL, Granby Ranch (Conservation Easement), Kemp Breeze SWA, Ptarmigan STL and Red 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 67% of the unit on top of those.

Water in this unit

The water inside the unit line comes to 3,049 mapped stream reaches, 37 lakes, 690 stock tanks and 2 springs. 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: E-13

CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-13, and unit 28 is one piece of it. The rest of E-13 is unit 37 and unit 371. So the objective behind your tag was written for that whole area, and a neighbouring unit in the same herd is a fairer comparison than the statewide figure.

Unit 28 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

7,761–12,121 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,608 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
662.3 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

690 tanks
2 springs
3,049 stream segments
37 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: Pettingell Peak (13,529 ft), Parry Peak (13,349 ft), James Peak (13,255 ft), Hagar Mountain (13,169 ft)

Holding ground: Jones Pass (12,458 ft), Caribou Pass (11,788 ft), Devils Thumb Pass (11,760 ft), Copper Mountain STL, Granby Ranch (Conservation Easement)

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 28

CPW's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 28 at archery 3%, muzzleloader 13% and rifle 6%. 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 Ptarmigan Peak, Ute Peak and Saint Louis Peak

Take a position on one of Ptarmigan Peak (12,488 ft), Ute Peak (12,288 ft), Saint Louis Peak (12,231 ft) and Twin Cones (12,042 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. Give a basin forty minutes before you decide it is empty. 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 3,049 mapped stream reaches and 690 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 68/31°F, Oct 56/22°F and Nov 41/12°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 1.6 in. in Sep, 1.5 in. in Oct and 1.2 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: CR 6 / FR 125 and CR 381 / FR 200

US 40 is the paved frame, which is also where everyone else starts. CR 6 / FR 125 and CR 381 / FR 200 need clearance, and that is usually where the boot tracks thin out. 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 28 sits inside E-13

Across E-13, CPW's 2023 elk success runs 10% in unit 37, 6% in unit 371 and 5% in unit 28. Unit 28 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 37 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 Pettingell Peak, Parry Peak, James Peak and Hagar Mountain as places to see from, and Jones Pass, Caribou Pass, Devils Thumb Pass and Copper Mountain 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 28

Named routes and what they need

CR 6;FR 125 — 6.5 mi · High-clearance
CR 381;FR 200 — 6.3 mi · High-clearance
CR 3701 — 3.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
US 40 — 1.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)

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

Tabernash — 7.3 mi · no services listed
Fraser — 7.7 mi · fuel, groceries, gear
Winter Park — 9.4 mi · fuel, groceries, gear
Granby — 10.2 mi · fuel, groceries
Hot Sulphur Springs — 12.1 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Robbers Roost
1972 Rainbow Gathering site
Open field
Midland Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan29° / 0° · 1.6" precip
Aug75° / 39° · 1.7" precip
Sep68° / 31° · 1.6" precip
Oct56° / 22° · 1.5" precip
Nov41° / 12° · 1.2" precip
Dec30° / 1° · 1.4" 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.

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 take5%

Archery3%

Muzzleloader13%

Rifle6%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 28 at 5% — 203 animals taken by 3,871 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 — 3% success, 40 taken by 1,266 hunters
Muzzleloader — 13% success, 35 taken by 261 hunters
Rifle — 6% success, 129 taken by 2,345 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.

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (resident)	65	160	40.6%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	22	83	26.5%	1
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (resident)	6	151	4.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	0	29	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	60	604	9.9%	1
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	11	162	6.8%	1
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (resident)	44	341	12.9%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (nonresident)	14	50	28.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	14	34	41.2%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	8	12	66.7%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (resident)	18	26	69.2%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (nonresident)	3	4	75.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	8	304	2.6%	2
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	0	4	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	7	250	2.8%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	1	34	2.9%	1
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident)	8	411	1.9%	1
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident)	0	47	0.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	8	336	2.4%	1
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident)	0	12	0.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident)	10	137	7.3%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident)	0	7	0.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident)	8	203	3.9%	3
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident)	0	23	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	191	382	50.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	8	11	72.7%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	9	12	75.0%	—

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

EE028O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 604 applicants for 60 licences, 9.9% drawn, 1 preference point needed
EF028O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, resident: 411 applicants for 8 licences, 1.9% drawn, 1 preference point needed
EE028V1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 382 applicants for 191 licences, 50% drawn, no preference points needed
EE028O4R — Rifle, 4th Season, Either Sex, resident: 341 applicants for 44 licences, 12.9% 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 21 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.

Moose Hunting in Unit 28

Unit 28 lies in Grand County and covers about 662 square miles. Ground runs from 7,761 to 13,529 feet. CPW bounds it by Colorado River and Lake Granby among others. CPW's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 88%. Federal land covers about 67% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 28

CPW's material on unit 28 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its Shiras moose 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 Grand County. It runs to about 662 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colorado River, Lake Granby and Arapaho Creek

CPW has unit 28 bounded on the north by Colorado River, Lake Granby and Arapaho Creek; on the east by Continental Divide; on the south by Continental Divide an Williams Fork-Straight Creek divide; on the west by Williams Fork-Blue River divide and Barger Gulch. It tells you the shape of the unit and nothing about its inhabitants. Those features are what you will check against the map all week, and the divides among them are the ones that matter.

High ground inside the line: Byers Peak, Bills Peak and Mount Nystrom

Named high points inside the unit include Byers Peak at 12,787 feet, Bills Peak at 12,691 feet, Mount Nystrom at 12,630 feet, Ptarmigan Peak at 12,488 feet and Ute Peak at 12,288 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: Devils Thumb Park, Big Meadows and Cottonwood Pass

Below them sit Devils Thumb Park at 9,647 feet, Big Meadows at 9,639 feet, Cottonwood Pass at 8,912 feet, Ute Park at 8,617 feet and Long Park at 8,581 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.

Public ground to start from: Copper Mountain STL, Granby Ranch (Conservation Easement) and Kemp Breeze SWA

Water in this unit

The herd this unit belongs to: M-3

CPW does not manage Shiras moose unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit M-3, and unit 28 is one piece of it. The rest of M-3 is unit 15, unit 18, unit 27, unit 36, unit 37, unit 181, unit 361 and unit 371. 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 28 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

7,761–12,121 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,608 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
662.3 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

690 tanks
2 springs
3,049 stream segments
37 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: Pettingell Peak (13,529 ft), Parry Peak (13,349 ft), James Peak (13,255 ft), Hagar Mountain (13,169 ft)

Holding ground: Jones Pass (12,458 ft), Caribou Pass (11,788 ft), Devils Thumb Pass (11,760 ft), Copper Mountain STL, Granby Ranch (Conservation Easement)

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 28

CPW's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 28 at 88% 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 Satanta Peak, Old Baldy and Mount Epworth

Take a position on one of Satanta Peak (11,965 ft), Old Baldy (11,828 ft), Mount Epworth (11,824 ft) and Ptarmigan Peak (11,766 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. A tripod is worth more here than another hour of walking. On the rut hunts, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

Water against feed

There are 3,049 mapped stream reaches and 690 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 6 / FR 125 and CR 381 / FR 200

Where unit 28 sits inside M-3

Across M-3, CPW's 2023 Shiras moose success runs 100% in unit 181, 100% in unit 371, 93% in unit 18, 88% in unit 28 and 77% in unit 37. That puts unit 28 behind 3 of the 7 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 181 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 28

Named routes and what they need

CR 6;FR 125 — 6.5 mi · High-clearance
CR 381;FR 200 — 6.3 mi · High-clearance
CR 3701 — 3.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
US 40 — 1.4 mi · Paved (all rigs)

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

Tabernash — 7.3 mi · no services listed
Fraser — 7.7 mi · fuel, groceries, gear
Winter Park — 9.4 mi · fuel, groceries, gear
Granby — 10.2 mi · fuel, groceries
Hot Sulphur Springs — 12.1 mi · fuel

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Robbers Roost
1972 Rainbow Gathering site
Open field
Midland Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan29° / 0° · 1.6" precip
Aug75° / 39° · 1.7" precip
Sep68° / 31° · 1.6" precip
Oct56° / 22° · 1.5" precip
Nov41° / 12° · 1.2" precip
Dec30° / 1° · 1.4" 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.

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 take88%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 28 at 88% — 29 animals taken by 33 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.

Moose Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season cow only (resident)	8	353	2.3%	3
Archery — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	1	22	4.5%	3
Archery — 1st Season cow only (resident)	6	7	85.7%	3
Archery — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (resident)	12	1,141	1.1%	3
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	1	306	0.3%	3
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (resident)	1	1	100.0%	3
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	1	1	100.0%	3
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	8	220	3.6%	3
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	1	8	12.5%	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 28, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

MM028O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, resident: 1,141 applicants for 12 licences, 1.1% drawn, 3 preference points needed
MF028O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 353 applicants for 8 licences, 2.3% drawn, 3 preference points needed
MM028O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, nonresident: 306 applicants for 1 licences, 0.3% drawn, 3 preference points needed
MF028L1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 220 applicants for 8 licences, 3.6% 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. There are 2 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

Planning Notes

⛺

Camp Sites

66 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, including Robbers Roost, 1972 Rainbow Gathering site and Open field.

🛣️

Road Conditions

CR 6 / FR 125, CR 381 / FR 200 and CR 3701 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 2 mi paved, 17 mi gravel and 0 mi four-wheel-drive.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

7,761–12,121 ft, averaging 9,608. More than 4,000 feet of relief, so plan the pack-out before the shot.

👥

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 68/31°F, 1.6 in.; Oct 56/22°F, 1.5 in.; Nov 41/12°F, 1.2 in..

📱

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.

🏘️

Nearest Town

Tabernash (7 mi), Fraser (8 mi), Winter Park (9 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit 28?

Unit 28 lies in Grand County, and CPW has it bounded on the north by Colorado River, Lake Granby and Arapaho Creek; on the east by Continental Divide; on the south by Continental Divide an Williams Fork-Straight Creek divide; on the west by Williams Fork-Blue River divide and Barger Gulch. It covers about 662 square miles.

What is the elk success rate in unit 28?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 28 at 5% across all manners of take, and archery 3%, muzzleloader 13% and rifle 6% 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 28 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 28 are at Tabernash, about 7 miles from the unit's centre, with Fraser at about 8 miles. There are also 66 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 28?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 28 at 88% 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 Elk Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for elk in unit 28, 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 Moose Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for Shiras moose in unit 28, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22