Colorado Pronghorn Elk Mule Deer Black Bear

Unit 3 (Little Snake)

Colorado Hunting Guide — Pronghorn, Elk, Mule Deer, Black Bear

Unit 3 lies in Moffat County and covers about 845 square miles. Ground runs from 5,769 to 7,226 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 13 and CR 108 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 62%. Federal land covers about 45% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Colorado Hunting Guide

🏔️

45%

Public Land

⛰️

5,891–7,118 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 3

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Colorado Unit 3 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.

Pronghorn guide Elk guide Mule Deer guide Black Bear guide

Free accounts get one report a year with the top spot unlocked. ProHunt Pro includes unlimited reports, all three spots, the full camp plan, and GPX/KML downloads for onX and Google Earth. Prefer to see one first? Open the builder and pick any unit.

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 3

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 3

CPW's material on unit 3 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its pronghorn 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 Moffat County. It runs to about 845 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 13, CR 108 and Yampa River

CPW has unit 3 bounded on the north by WY; on the east by Colo. 13 and CRs 108, 3, 5 & 17; on the south by Yampa River, U.S. 40 and Colo. 318; on the west by Little Snake River. 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: Bald Mountain, Godiva Rim and Great Divide

Named high points inside the unit include Bald Mountain at 7,226 feet, Godiva Rim at 7,079 feet, Great Divide at 6,831 feet, Bighole Butte at 6,771 feet and Fortification Rocks at 6,725 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: Lucas Hill, Eagle Park and Pole Gulch

Below them sit Lucas Hill at 6,335 feet, Eagle Park at 6,311 feet, Pole Gulch at 6,262 feet, Gledhill Draw at 6,252 feet and Thornburgh Gulch at 6,195 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.

Public ground to start from: Bald Mountain STL, Big Hole Butte STL and Big Hole Gulch STL

CPW lists Bald Mountain STL, Big Hole Butte STL, Big Hole Gulch STL, Boston Flats STL and Godiva Rim 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 45% of the unit on top of those.

Water: Kelly Spring, Mayberry Spring and Thornburgh Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 6 mapped stream reaches, 16 lakes and 36 stock tanks. Named sources include Kelly Spring, Mayberry Spring, Thornburgh Spring, Cutshaw Spring, Clayton Spring and Monasco Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

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 3 is one piece of it. The rest of A-9 is unit 4, unit 5, unit 13, unit 14, unit 131, 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 3 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,891–7,118 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,552 ft ; peaks can run higher.
844.7 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

Private / Other — 100%

Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

36 tanks
6 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: Bald Mountain (7,226 ft), Godiva Rim (7,079 ft), Great Divide (6,831 ft), Bighole Butte (6,771 ft)

Holding ground: Housel Gulch (6,756 ft), Suttles Basin (6,616 ft), East Pole Gulch (6,350 ft), Bald Mountain STL, Big Hole Butte 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 Pronghorn in Unit 3

CPW's own harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 3 at 62% across all manners of take. A number like that comes from few tags and a short season, not from easy hunting. 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 Sugarloaf Peak, Eagle Rock and Red Wash Butte

Take a position on one of Sugarloaf Peak (6,616 ft), Eagle Rock (6,533 ft), Red Wash Butte (6,272 ft) and Indian Rock (6,182 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. Give a basin forty minutes before you decide it is empty. On the rut hunts, early-season bucks hold does and can be decoyed where the law allows it.

Water decides where you sit

With 36 tanks and only 6 mapped stream reaches, this is ground where standing water is made rather than found. Find the two or three holding water near a glassing position and you have found the only appointment the animals keep. A tank with no tracks is a tank with no reason to sit on it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Season normals here run Sep 75/38°F, Oct 60/27°F and Nov 45/16°F. By Nov the lows are around 16°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 1.3 in. in Sep, 1.4 in. in Oct and 1.1 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: CR 7 and CR 17

CO 13 and CO 318 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 3 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 3 behind 2 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

The map above marks Bald Mountain, Godiva Rim, Great Divide and Bighole Butte as places to see from, and Housel Gulch, Suttles Basin, East Pole Gulch and Bald 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. 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 3

Named routes and what they need

CR 7 — 16.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 17 — 11.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CO 13 — 10.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CO 318 — 10.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 21 — 8.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
County Road 5 — 6.8 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

Baggs — 23.7 mi · no services listed
Craig — 26.2 mi · fuel, groceries
Dixon — 27.9 mi · no services listed
Hayden — 39.6 mi · fuel
Meeker — 49.9 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan31° / 4° · 0.9" precip
Aug84° / 47° · 1" precip
Sep75° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Oct60° / 27° · 1.4" precip
Nov45° / 16° · 1.1" precip
Dec33° / 6° · 1" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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.

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 take62%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 3 at 62% — 66 animals taken by 108 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.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season doe only (resident)	5	90	5.6%	1
Archery — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season buck only (resident)	22	261	8.4%	7
Archery — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	2	56	3.6%	7
Muzzleloader — 1st Season doe only (resident)	6	79	7.6%	1
Muzzleloader — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	2	2	100.0%	2
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (resident)	17	123	13.8%	7
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	4	57	7.0%	8
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident)	6	998	0.6%	6
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	0	34	0.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season doe only (resident)	6	325	1.8%	1
Rifle — 5th Season doe only (nonresident)	0	11	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident)	1	82	1.2%	4
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (resident)	16	144	11.1%	1
Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident)	32	2,072	1.5%	16
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	8	484	1.7%	17
Rifle — 5th Season buck only (resident)	81	255	31.8%	3
Rifle — 5th Season buck only (nonresident)	16	45	35.6%	3
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident)	3	93	3.2%	19
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	6	122	4.9%	18
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—

Data from 2023 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 3, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

AM003O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 2,072 applicants for 32 licences, 1.5% drawn, 16 preference points needed
AM003O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 484 applicants for 8 licences, 1.7% drawn, 17 preference points needed
AM003O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 261 applicants for 22 licences, 8.4% drawn, 7 preference points needed
AM003P5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Buck Only, resident: 255 applicants for 81 licences, 31.8% 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 5 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 3

Unit 3 lies in Moffat County and covers about 845 square miles. Ground runs from 5,769 to 7,226 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 13 and CR 108 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 50%. Federal land covers about 45% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Elk in Unit 3

What CPW publishes for unit 3 is a boundary, not a elk map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Moffat County. It runs to about 845 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 13, CR 108 and Yampa River

CPW has unit 3 bounded on the north by WY; on the east by Colo. 13 and CRs 108, 3, 5 & 17; on the south by Yampa River, U.S. 40 and Colo. 318; on the west by Little Snake River. 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: Hardgrove Rim, Little Juniper Mountain and Hat Hill

Named high points inside the unit include Hardgrove Rim at 6,675 feet, Little Juniper Mountain at 6,648 feet, Hat Hill at 6,621 feet, Sugarloaf Peak at 6,616 feet and Eagle Rock at 6,533 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: Sugarloaf Basin, Bald Mountain Basin and Woodbury Gulch

Below them sit Sugarloaf Basin at 6,195 feet, Bald Mountain Basin at 6,177 feet, Woodbury Gulch at 6,161 feet, Tommys Gulch at 6,160 feet and Mud Spring Gulch at 6,131 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: Greasewood STL, Great Divide STL and Juniper Hot Springs STL

CPW lists Greasewood STL, Great Divide STL, Juniper Hot Springs STL, Little Snake SWA and Maybell 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 45% of the unit on top of those.

Water: Barber Spring, Conway Spring and Kelly Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 6 mapped stream reaches, 16 lakes and 36 stock tanks. Named sources include Barber Spring, Conway Spring, Kelly Spring, Mayberry Spring, Thornburgh Spring and Cutshaw Spring. 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-2

CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-2, and unit 3 is one piece of it. The rest of E-2 is unit 4, unit 5, unit 14, unit 214, unit 301 and unit 441. 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.

Reading the land status

Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as Private / Other 100%, 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 5,891 to 7,118 feet, and named ground inside the line runs 5,769 to 7,226 feet — take 5,769 to 7,226 as the spread, because the sample is a grid and misses both ends. With 1,457 feet between the two ends, there is not much relief, so the animals move laterally rather than up and down.

Unit 3 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,891–7,118 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,552 ft ; peaks can run higher.
844.7 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

Private / Other — 100%

Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

36 tanks
6 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: Bald Mountain (7,226 ft), Godiva Rim (7,079 ft), Great Divide (6,831 ft), Bighole Butte (6,771 ft)

Holding ground: Housel Gulch (6,756 ft), Suttles Basin (6,616 ft), East Pole Gulch (6,350 ft), Bald Mountain STL, Big Hole Butte 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 Elk in Unit 3

CPW's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 3 at archery 8%, muzzleloader 50% and rifle 9%. A number like that comes from few tags and a short season, not from easy hunting. 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 Ninemile Hill, Boston Hill and Bald Mountain

Take a position on one of Ninemile Hill (6,168 ft), Boston Hill (5,930 ft), Bald Mountain (7,226 ft) and Godiva Rim (7,079 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, September bugling works where you can get above a drainage and let the thermals carry sound downhill.

Water decides where you sit

With 36 tanks and only 6 mapped stream reaches, this is ground where standing water is made rather than found. Find the two or three holding water near a glassing position and you have found the only appointment the animals keep. Check the ground around it before you commit an evening to it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CR 7 and CR 17

Where unit 3 sits inside E-2

Across E-2, CPW's 2023 elk success runs 32% in unit 5, 32% in unit 441, 26% in unit 214, 21% in unit 4 and 9% in unit 3. That puts unit 3 behind 4 of the 6 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

The map above marks Bald Mountain, Godiva Rim, Great Divide and Bighole Butte as places to see from, and Housel Gulch, Suttles Basin, East Pole Gulch and Bald 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 3

Named routes and what they need

CR 7 — 16.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 17 — 11.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CO 13 — 10.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CO 318 — 10.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 21 — 8.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
County Road 5 — 6.8 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

Baggs — 23.7 mi · no services listed
Craig — 26.2 mi · fuel, groceries
Dixon — 27.9 mi · no services listed
Hayden — 39.6 mi · fuel
Meeker — 49.9 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan31° / 4° · 0.9" precip
Aug84° / 47° · 1" precip
Sep75° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Oct60° / 27° · 1.4" precip
Nov45° / 16° · 1.1" precip
Dec33° / 6° · 1" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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 take9%

Archery8%

Muzzleloader50%

Rifle9%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 3 at 9% — 152 animals taken by 1,629 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 — 8% success, 13 taken by 160 hunters
Muzzleloader — 50% success, 2 taken by 4 hunters
Rifle — 9% success, 137 taken by 1,465 hunters

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (resident)	13	35	37.1%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	5	14	35.7%	4
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (resident)	2	16	12.5%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	0	3	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	557	1,850	30.1%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	189	1,150	16.4%	3
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (resident)	297	572	51.9%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (nonresident)	146	202	72.3%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	86	146	58.9%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	158	186	84.9%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	7	54	13.0%	6
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (resident)	6	102	5.9%	3
Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season either sex (resident)	4	31	12.9%	5
Rifle — 3rd Season either sex (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	8	311	2.6%	3
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	0	20	0.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	81	837	9.7%	5
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	4	124	3.2%	5
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	247	968	25.5%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	101	281	35.9%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident)	102	213	47.9%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident)	24	54	44.4%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident)	98	321	30.5%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident)	22	66	33.3%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident)	355	492	72.2%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident)	289	392	73.7%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	18	61	29.5%	1
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident)	8	76	10.5%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	16	19	84.2%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident)	9	121	7.4%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident)	20	53	37.7%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 6th Season cow only (resident)	8	86	9.3%	—
Rifle — 6th Season cow only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	268	563	47.6%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident)	101	182	55.5%	—
Rifle — 1st Season bull only (resident)	278	1,165	23.9%	—
Rifle — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	100	737	13.6%	2
Rifle — 2nd Season bull only (resident)	410	819	50.1%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season bull only (nonresident)	422	597	70.7%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season bull only (resident)	259	566	45.8%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season bull only (nonresident)	207	305	67.9%	—
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (resident)	41	217	18.9%	—
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (nonresident)	46	112	41.1%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	48	72	66.7%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	217	263	82.5%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	23	58	39.7%	—

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

EE003O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 1,850 applicants for 557 licences, 30.1% drawn, no preference points needed
EE003O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 1,150 applicants for 189 licences, 16.4% drawn, 3 preference points needed
EF003O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 968 applicants for 247 licences, 25.5% drawn, no preference points needed
EF003L1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 837 applicants for 81 licences, 9.7% drawn, 5 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 24 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 3

Unit 3 lies in Moffat County and covers about 845 square miles. Ground runs from 5,769 to 7,226 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 13 and CR 108 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 40%. Federal land covers about 45% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 3

CPW draws an exact line around unit 3 and says nothing about where the mule deer 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 Moffat County. It runs to about 845 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 13, CR 108 and Yampa River

CPW has unit 3 bounded on the north by WY; on the east by Colo. 13 and CRs 108, 3, 5 & 17; on the south by Yampa River, U.S. 40 and Colo. 318; on the west by Little Snake River. 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: Red Wash Butte, Indian Rock and Ninemile Hill

Named high points inside the unit include Red Wash Butte at 6,272 feet, Indian Rock at 6,182 feet, Ninemile Hill at 6,168 feet, Boston Hill at 5,930 feet and Bald Mountain at 7,226 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: Bald Mountain Draw, Wet Gulch and Scandinavian Gulch

Below them sit Bald Mountain Draw at 6,128 feet, Wet Gulch at 6,116 feet, Scandinavian Gulch at 6,106 feet, Alkali Draw at 6,074 feet and Bighole Gulch at 6,065 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: North Scandinavian Gulch STL, Pole Gulch STL and Powder Wash STL

CPW lists North Scandinavian Gulch STL, Pole Gulch STL, Powder Wash STL, Scandinavian Gulch STL and Simsberry 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 45% of the unit on top of those.

Water: Clayton Spring, Monasco Spring and Barber Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 6 mapped stream reaches, 16 lakes and 36 stock tanks. Named sources include Clayton Spring, Monasco Spring, Barber Spring, Conway Spring, Kelly Spring and Mayberry Spring. 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-2

CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-2, and unit 3 is one piece of it. The rest of D-2 is unit 4, unit 5, unit 14, unit 214, unit 301 and unit 441. 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 3 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,891–7,118 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,552 ft ; peaks can run higher.
844.7 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

Private / Other — 100%

Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

36 tanks
6 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: Bald Mountain (7,226 ft), Godiva Rim (7,079 ft), Great Divide (6,831 ft), Bighole Butte (6,771 ft)

Holding ground: Housel Gulch (6,756 ft), Suttles Basin (6,616 ft), East Pole Gulch (6,350 ft), Bald Mountain STL, Big Hole Butte 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 3

CPW's own harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 3 at archery 16% and rifle 40%. 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 Great Divide, Bighole Butte and Fortification Rocks

Take a position on one of Great Divide (6,831 ft), Bighole Butte (6,771 ft), Fortification Rocks (6,725 ft) and Hardgrove Rim (6,675 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, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water decides where you sit

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CR 7 and CR 17

Where unit 3 sits inside D-2

Across D-2, CPW's 2023 mule deer success runs 47% in unit 4, 45% in unit 301, 39% in unit 3, 38% in unit 5 and 36% in unit 441. That puts unit 3 behind 2 of the 6 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 4 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 Bald Mountain, Godiva Rim, Great Divide and Bighole Butte as places to see from, and Housel Gulch, Suttles Basin, East Pole Gulch and Bald 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. Join two of them into a morning: be on the first before light, move to the second once the thermals turn.

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 3

Named routes and what they need

CR 7 — 16.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 17 — 11.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CO 13 — 10.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CO 318 — 10.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 21 — 8.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
County Road 5 — 6.8 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

Baggs — 23.7 mi · no services listed
Craig — 26.2 mi · fuel, groceries
Dixon — 27.9 mi · no services listed
Hayden — 39.6 mi · fuel
Meeker — 49.9 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan31° / 4° · 0.9" precip
Aug84° / 47° · 1" precip
Sep75° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Oct60° / 27° · 1.4" precip
Nov45° / 16° · 1.1" precip
Dec33° / 6° · 1" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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 take39%

Archery16%

Rifle40%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 3 at 39% — 380 animals taken by 981 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 — 16% success, 11 taken by 67 hunters
Rifle — 40% success, 365 taken by 901 hunters

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	334	649	51.5%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	108	362	29.8%	1
Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (resident)	158	366	43.2%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (nonresident)	287	401	71.6%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season either sex (resident)	155	158	98.1%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season either sex (nonresident)	333	483	68.9%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (resident)	27	153	17.6%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (nonresident)	40	95	42.1%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (resident)	6	424	1.4%	3
Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (nonresident)	0	25	0.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season doe only (resident)	5	516	1.0%	3
Rifle — 3rd Season doe only (nonresident)	1	25	4.0%	16
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident)	1	37	2.7%	5
Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (resident)	6	121	5.0%	2
Rifle — 2nd Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	317	762	41.6%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	148	371	39.9%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (resident)	449	1,120	40.1%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (nonresident)	152	680	22.4%	2
Rifle — 4th Season buck only (resident)	42	464	9.1%	2
Rifle — 4th Season buck only (nonresident)	14	161	8.7%	4
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident)	6	62	9.7%	7
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	5	54	9.3%	6
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season doe only (resident)	5	173	2.9%	3
Muzzleloader — 1st Season doe only (nonresident)	1	9	11.1%	3
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (resident)	56	325	17.2%	1
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	20	135	14.8%	4

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

DM003O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Buck Only, resident: 1,120 applicants for 449 licences, 40.1% drawn, no preference points needed
DM003O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, resident: 762 applicants for 317 licences, 41.6% drawn, no preference points needed
DM003O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 680 applicants for 152 licences, 22.4% drawn, 2 preference points needed
DE003O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 649 applicants for 334 licences, 51.5% 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 19 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.

Black Bear Hunting in Unit 3

Unit 3 lies in Moffat County and covers about 845 square miles. Ground runs from 5,769 to 7,226 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 13 and CR 108 among others. CPW publishes no per-unit black bear success figure we can verify for this unit. Federal land covers about 45% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Black Bear in Unit 3

What CPW publishes for unit 3 is a boundary, not a black bear 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 Moffat County. It runs to about 845 square miles.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 13, CR 108 and Yampa River

CPW has unit 3 bounded on the north by WY; on the east by Colo. 13 and CRs 108, 3, 5 & 17; on the south by Yampa River, U.S. 40 and Colo. 318; on the west by Little Snake River. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. 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: Godiva Rim, Great Divide and Bighole Butte

Named high points inside the unit include Godiva Rim at 7,079 feet, Great Divide at 6,831 feet, Bighole Butte at 6,771 feet, Fortification Rocks at 6,725 feet and Hardgrove Rim at 6,675 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Bears on dry country work the drainages with fruit in them and little else.

Holding ground: Wildcat Draw, Ninemile Basin and Overholt Draw

Below them sit Wildcat Draw at 6,064 feet, Ninemile Basin at 6,020 feet, Overholt Draw at 5,930 feet, Greasewood Gulch at 5,914 feet and Boston Flat at 5,907 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: South 80 STL, Trowel STL and Bald Mountain STL

CPW lists South 80 STL, Trowel STL, Bald Mountain STL, Big Hole Butte STL and Big Hole Gulch 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 45% of the unit on top of those.

Water: Thornburgh Spring, Cutshaw Spring and Clayton Spring

The water inside the unit line comes to 6 mapped stream reaches, 16 lakes and 36 stock tanks. Named sources include Thornburgh Spring, Cutshaw Spring, Clayton Spring, Monasco Spring, Barber Spring and Conway Spring. Nothing in the data says which of them run in autumn, so a scouting trip earns its fuel.

The herd this unit belongs to: B-15

CPW does not manage black bear unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit B-15, and unit 3 is one piece of it. The rest of B-15 is unit 1, unit 2, unit 10, unit 11, unit 201, unit 211 and unit 301. 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 3 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,891–7,118 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,552 ft ; peaks can run higher.
844.7 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.

Who owns the ground

Private / Other — 100%

Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.

Water on the ground

36 tanks
6 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: Bald Mountain (7,226 ft), Godiva Rim (7,079 ft), Great Divide (6,831 ft), Bighole Butte (6,771 ft)

Holding ground: Housel Gulch (6,756 ft), Suttles Basin (6,616 ft), East Pole Gulch (6,350 ft), Bald Mountain STL, Big Hole Butte 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 Black Bear in Unit 3

CPW publishes no black bear success figure for unit 3 that we can tie to this unit alone, so we won't quote one. The plan: find the berry crop first, then glass it morning and evening until something is in it.

Glassing from Little Juniper Mountain, Hat Hill and Sugarloaf Peak

Take a position on one of Little Juniper Mountain (6,648 ft), Hat Hill (6,621 ft), Sugarloaf Peak (6,616 ft) and Eagle Rock (6,533 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, September hunts coincide with the feeding push before denning.

Water decides where you sit

With 36 tanks and only 6 mapped stream reaches, this is ground where standing water is made rather than found. Find the two or three holding water near a glassing position and you have found the only appointment the animals keep. 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 7 and CR 17

A first plan from the pins on this page

What a day here costs you

845 square miles is more country than a week will cover, so pick one drainage and learn it rather than driving the unit. The nearest services are at Baggs, about 24 miles out, which is an hour of your morning each way if you sleep there. The ground is gentle enough that the pack-out is a distance problem rather than a climbing one. Decide the night before where you will be at first light, and go there in the dark.

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. We have no black bear success figure for this unit that survives checking against CPW's own harvest and hunter counts, and we would rather say so than print a statewide average as though it were measured here.

Getting in and staying out: unit 3

Named routes and what they need

CR 7 — 16.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CR 17 — 11.1 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
CO 13 — 10.7 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CO 318 — 10.3 mi · Paved (all rigs)
CR 21 — 8.4 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
County Road 5 — 6.8 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

Baggs — 23.7 mi · no services listed
Craig — 26.2 mi · fuel, groceries
Dixon — 27.9 mi · no services listed
Hayden — 39.6 mi · fuel
Meeker — 49.9 mi · no services listed

Developed camps

Unnamed camp site
Unnamed camp site

Season weather and signal

Jan31° / 4° · 0.9" precip
Aug84° / 47° · 1" precip
Sep75° / 38° · 1.3" precip
Oct60° / 27° · 1.4" precip
Nov45° / 16° · 1.1" precip
Dec33° / 6° · 1" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 21% 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.

Black Bear: 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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Black Bear Success Rates

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates carry no black bear row for unit 3 that we can read back to this unit on its own. Where the agency reports a unit inside a grouping, or prints a table our parser cannot resolve to a single column, we leave the number out rather than publish a statewide average as though it had been measured here. CPW's current harvest estimates are the place to check before you apply.

Black Bear Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	6	7	85.7%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	6	11	54.5%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (resident)	5	5	100.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	1	2	50.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	26	47	55.3%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	7	8	87.5%	—
Rifle — 5th Season either sex (resident)	46	68	67.6%	—
Rifle — 5th Season either sex (nonresident)	15	18	83.3%	—
Rifle — 5th Season either sex (resident)	6	17	35.3%	—
Rifle — 5th Season either sex (nonresident)	2	4	50.0%	—

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 black bear in unit 3, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

BE003O5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Either Sex, resident: 68 applicants for 46 licences, 67.6% drawn, no preference points needed
BE003O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 47 applicants for 26 licences, 55.3% drawn, no preference points needed
BE003O5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 18 applicants for 15 licences, 83.3% drawn, no preference points needed
BE003P5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Either Sex, resident: 17 applicants for 6 licences, 35.3% 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 4 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

2 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit, none of them named in the mapping data we hold — find them on a current forest map before you plan a camp.

🛣️

Road Conditions

CR 7, CR 17 and CO 13 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 24 mi paved, 60 mi gravel and 0 mi four-wheel-drive.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

5,891–7,118 ft, averaging 6,552. 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 75/38°F, 1.3 in.; Oct 60/27°F, 1.4 in.; Nov 45/16°F, 1.1 in..

📱

Cell Service

Verizon 21%, AT&T 14%, T-Mobile 7% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.

🏘️

Nearest Town

Baggs (24 mi), Craig (26 mi), Dixon (28 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit 3?

Unit 3 lies in Moffat County, and CPW has it bounded on the north by WY; on the east by Colo. 13 and CRs 108, 3, 5 & 17; on the south by Yampa River, U.S. 40 and Colo. 318; on the west by Little Snake River. It covers about 845 square miles.

What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 3?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 3 at 62% 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 3 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 3 are at Baggs, about 24 miles from the unit's centre, with Craig at about 26 miles. There are also 2 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the elk success rate in unit 3?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 3 at 9% across all manners of take, and archery 8%, muzzleloader 50% and rifle 9% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 3?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 3 at 39% across all manners of take, and archery 16% and rifle 40% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the black bear success rate in unit 3?

CPW publishes no black bear success figure we can tie to unit 3 on its own — the 2023 harvest tables either omit the unit or report it in a grouping we could not read back to it reliably. Rather than quote a statewide average as though it were measured here, we say so. Check CPW's current harvest estimates before you apply.

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 Pronghorn Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for pronghorn in unit 3, 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 3, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
2023 Colorado Deer Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for mule deer in unit 3, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22