Unit 37
Colorado Hunting Guide — Moose
Unit 37 lies in Summit and Grand counties and covers about 529 square miles. Ground runs from 7,311 to 14,263 feet. CPW bounds it by Colorado River and Barger Gulch among others. CPW's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 77%. Federal land covers about 77% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Moose Hunting in Unit 37
Unit 37 lies in Summit and Grand counties and covers about 529 square miles. Ground runs from 7,311 to 14,263 feet. CPW bounds it by Colorado River and Barger Gulch among others. CPW's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 77%. Federal land covers about 77% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 37
CPW draws an exact line around unit 37 and says nothing about where the Shiras moose 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 Summit and Grand counties. It runs to about 529 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Colorado River, Barger Gulch and Williams Fork River-Blue River divide
CPW has unit 37 bounded on the north by Colorado River; on the east by Barger Gulch, Williams Fork River-Blue River divide, Williams Fork River-Straight Creek divide and Continental Divide; on the south by Continental Divide; on the west by Eagle River-Tenmile Creek divide, I-70, Blue River, Cataract Creek and Gore Range divide. 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: Tenmile Range, Front Range and Grays Peak
Named high points inside the unit include Tenmile Range at 14,263 feet, Front Range at 14,258 feet, Grays Peak at 14,247 feet, Quandary Peak at 14,243 feet and Fletcher Mountain at 13,936 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: Ptarmigan Pass, Horseshoe Basin and Clinton Amphitheatre
Below them sit Ptarmigan Pass at 11,747 feet, Horseshoe Basin at 11,744 feet, Clinton Amphitheatre at 11,705 feet, Falls Gulch at 11,607 feet and Boreas Pass at 11,495 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.
Public ground to start from: Blue River SWA - Blue River Unit, Blue River SWA - Sutton Unit and Junction Butte SWA
CPW lists Blue River SWA - Blue River Unit, Blue River SWA - Sutton Unit and Junction Butte 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 77% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Blue Rock Spring, Iron Springs and Soda Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 6,230 mapped stream reaches, 50 lakes and 845 stock tanks. Named sources include Blue Rock Spring, Iron Springs, Soda Spring, Snake River Falls and Cold Spring. 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: M-3
CPW does not manage Shiras moose unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit M-3, and unit 37 is one piece of it. The rest of M-3 is unit 15, unit 18, unit 27, unit 28, unit 36, unit 181, unit 361 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 37 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 7,931–12,246 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 10,075 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 528.6 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
- 845 tanks
- 6,230 stream segments
- 50 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: Tenmile Range (14,263 ft), Front Range (14,258 ft), Pacific Peak (13,930 ft), Bald Mountain (13,685 ft)
Holding ground: French Pass (12,055 ft), Horseshoe Basin (12,047 ft), Searle Pass (12,045 ft), Blue River SWA - Sutton Unit, Junction Butte SWA
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Shiras Moose in Unit 37
Moose Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 37 at 77% — 27 animals taken by 35 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) | 11 | 261 | 4.2% | 3 |
| Archery — 1st Season cow only (nonresident) | 2 | 23 | 8.7% | 3 |
| Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (resident) | 15 | 951 | 1.6% | 3 |
| Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (nonresident) | 2 | 882 | 0.2% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident) | 12 | 149 | 8.1% | 3 |
| Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident) | 1 | 5 | 20.0% | 3 |
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 Shiras moose in unit 37, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- MM037O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, resident: 951 applicants for 15 licences, 1.6% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- MM037O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, nonresident: 882 applicants for 2 licences, 0.2% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- MF037O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 261 applicants for 11 licences, 4.2% drawn, 3 preference points needed
- MF037L1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Cow Only, resident: 149 applicants for 12 licences, 8.1% 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 37?
What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 37?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 37 hunt?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-23.
- Colorado Big Game Hunting Brochure — Game Management Unit (GMU) Descriptions (pp. 79-80-81-82) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Data analysis unit (DAU) the unit belongs to · accessed 2026-10-22
- 2023 Colorado Moose Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for Shiras moose in unit 37, 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