Unit 301 (North Park)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Elk, Mule Deer, Pronghorn
Unit 301 lies in Moffat County and covers about 369 square miles. Ground runs from 6,017 to 7,511 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 13 and Yampa River among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 8%. Federal land covers about 11% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 301
Unit 301 lies in Moffat County and covers about 369 square miles. Ground runs from 6,017 to 7,511 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 13 and Yampa River among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 8%. Federal land covers about 11% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Unit 301
CPW draws an exact line around unit 301 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 Moffat County. It runs to about 369 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Colo. 13, Yampa River and CR 17
CPW has unit 301 bounded on the north by CRs 5, 3 & 108; on the east by Colo. 13; on the south by Yampa River; on the west by CR 17. 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: Cedar Mountain, Pine Ridge and Sevenmile Hill
Named high points inside the unit include Cedar Mountain at 7,511 feet, Pine Ridge at 7,046 feet, Sevenmile Hill at 6,717 feet, Lay Peak at 6,663 feet and Bell Rock at 6,534 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: Bell Rock Gulch, Post Oak Draw and Round Bottom
Below them sit Bell Rock Gulch at 6,121 feet, Post Oak Draw at 6,120 feet, Round Bottom at 6,105 feet, Fuhr Gulch at 6,068 feet and Sand Spring Gulch at 6,048 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.
Public ground to start from: Fortification STL and Horse Gulch STL
CPW lists Fortification STL and Horse 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 11% of the unit on top of those.
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 301 is one piece of it. The rest of E-2 is unit 3, unit 4, unit 5, unit 14, unit 214 and unit 441. 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
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 6,266 to 7,264 feet, and named ground inside the line runs 6,017 to 7,511 feet — take 6,017 to 7,511 as the spread, because the sample is a grid and misses both ends. With 1,494 feet between the two ends, there is not much relief, so the animals move laterally rather than up and down.
Unit 301 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 6,266–7,264 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 6,680 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 368.9 sq mi inside the boundary.
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
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: Cedar Mountain (7,511 ft), Lay Peak (6,663 ft)
Holding ground: Post Oak Draw (6,120 ft), Fuhr Gulch (6,068 ft), Horse Gulch (6,017 ft), Fortification STL, Horse Gulch 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 301
Elk Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 301 at 8% — 61 animals taken by 752 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 — 8% success, 4 taken by 44 hunters
- Rifle — 8% success, 55 taken by 703 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident) | 7 | 20 | 35.0% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident) | 14 | 73 | 19.2% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident) | 14 | 55 | 25.5% | — |
| Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident) | 18 | 56 | 32.1% | — |
| Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — General cow only (resident) | 26 | 102 | 25.5% | — |
| Rifle — General cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (resident) | 3 | 36 | 8.3% | 3 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season either sex (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident) | 5 | 50 | 10.0% | 1 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident) | 9 | 30 | 30.0% | — |
| Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 6th Season cow only (resident) | 6 | 13 | 46.2% | — |
| Rifle — 6th 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 EngineCPW's 2026 draw recap for elk in unit 301, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- EF301W1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 73 applicants for 14 licences, 19.2% drawn, no preference points needed
- EF301W3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Cow Only, resident: 55 applicants for 14 licences, 25.5% drawn, no preference points needed
- EF301W2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, resident: 50 applicants for 5 licences, 10% drawn, 1 preference point needed
- EE301W2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Either Sex, resident: 36 applicants for 3 licences, 8.3% 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
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit 301?
What is the elk success rate in unit 301?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 301 hunt?
What is the mule deer success rate in unit 301?
What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 301?
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Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & 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 301, 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 301, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
- 2023 Colorado Pronghorn Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for pronghorn in unit 301, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22