Unit 42 (Vail / Tenmile)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 42 lies in Mesa and Garfield counties and covers about 604 square miles. Ground runs from 4,842 to 11,117 feet. CPW bounds it by Colorado River and South Canyon Creek among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 24%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 42
Unit 42 lies in Mesa and Garfield counties and covers about 604 square miles. Ground runs from 4,842 to 11,117 feet. CPW bounds it by Colorado River and South Canyon Creek among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 24%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Unit 42
CPW's material on unit 42 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its elk 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 Mesa and Garfield counties. It runs to about 604 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Colorado River, South Canyon Creek and Baldy Creek- Divide Creek drainages
CPW has unit 42 bounded on the north by Colorado River; on the east by South Canyon Creek, divide between Roaring Fork-Crystal River and Baldy Creek- Divide Creek drainages and common point of Mesa-Pitkin- Gunnison Co. lines; on the south by Divide Creek-Muddy Creek divide, Divide Creek-Plateau Creek divide and Plateau Creek-Colorado River divide; on the west by Colorado 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: North Mamm Peak, Haystack Mountain and Flagpole Mountain
Named high points inside the unit include North Mamm Peak at 11,117 feet, Haystack Mountain at 10,976 feet, Flagpole Mountain at 10,607 feet, Mosquito Mountain at 10,516 feet and Bald Mountain at 10,367 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: Log Gulch, Trail Gulch and Road Gulch
Below them sit Log Gulch at 8,250 feet, Trail Gulch at 8,225 feet, Road Gulch at 8,105 feet, East Fork Little Muddy Gulch at 7,659 feet and Lake Fork Little Muddy Gulch at 7,578 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.
Public ground to start from: Garfield Creek SWA
CPW lists Garfield Creek 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 52% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Uncle Bob Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 10,309 mapped stream reaches, 20 lakes and 588 stock tanks. Named sources include Uncle Bob 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: E-14
CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-14, and unit 42 is one piece of it. The rest of E-14 is unit 41, unit 52, unit 411, unit 421 and unit 521. 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 42 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 5,055–9,252 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 7,149 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
- 604.1 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- BLM — 15%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 17%
Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 588 tanks
- 10,309 stream segments
- 20 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: North Mamm Peak (11,117 ft), Haystack Mountain (10,976 ft), Flagpole Mountain (10,607 ft), Bald Mountain (10,367 ft)
Holding ground: Miner Basin (9,742 ft), Horse Park (9,711 ft), Elk Park (9,161 ft), Garfield Creek SWA, Uncle Bob Spring
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 42
Elk Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 42 at 20% — 651 animals taken by 3,179 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 — 12% success, 107 taken by 860 hunters
- Muzzleloader — 10% success, 14 taken by 147 hunters
- Rifle — 24% success, 530 taken by 2,172 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 — 2nd Season cow only (resident) | 119 | 255 | 46.7% | — |
| Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident) | 56 | 74 | 75.7% | — |
| Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident) | 125 | 263 | 47.5% | — |
| Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident) | 67 | 80 | 83.8% | — |
| Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident) | 219 | 322 | 68.0% | — |
| Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident) | 36 | 39 | 92.3% | — |
| Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident) | 58 | 150 | 38.7% | — |
| Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident) | 3 | 15 | 20.0% | — |
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 42, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- EF042P5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Cow Only, resident: 322 applicants for 219 licences, 68% drawn, no preference points needed
- EF042O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Cow Only, resident: 263 applicants for 125 licences, 47.5% drawn, no preference points needed
- EF042O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, resident: 255 applicants for 119 licences, 46.7% drawn, no preference points needed
- EF042O4R — Rifle, 4th Season, Cow Only, resident: 150 applicants for 58 licences, 38.7% drawn, no preference points needed
No preference points were needed for the codes above in that year, which can change the moment applicant numbers do. 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
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit 42?
What is the elk success rate in unit 42?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 42 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 Elk Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for elk in unit 42, 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