Colorado Mule Deer Elk Bear Moose

Unit 53

Colorado Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Elk, Bear, Moose

Unit 53 lies in Delta and Gunnison counties and covers about 396 square miles. Ground runs from 5,403 to 12,702 feet. CPW bounds it by North Fork of Gunnison River and Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 79%. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Colorado Hunting Guide

🏔️

79%

Public Land

⛰️

5,722–11,289 ft

Sampled elevation

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 53

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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 53

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 53

CPW's material on unit 53 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its mule deer live. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Delta and Gunnison counties. It runs to about 396 square miles.

The lines of the unit: North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) and Kebler Pass

CPW has unit 53 bounded on the north by North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.), Kebler Pass and Ohio Pass; on the east and south by Gunnison River-North Fork of Gunnison River divide and Curecanti Pass, Smith Fork-Curecanti Creek divide, Smith Fork-Dyer Creek divide and Delta-Montrose Co. line; on the west by Colo. 92. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. 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: Mount Gunnison, East Beckwith Mountain and West Beckwith Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Mount Gunnison at 12,702 feet, East Beckwith Mountain at 12,418 feet, West Beckwith Mountain at 12,140 feet, Mount Guero at 12,041 feet and Sheep Mountain at 11,848 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Mule deer bed on broken ground with a view and feed on the brush below it.

Holding ground: Minnesota Pass, Beckwith Pass and Inter-Ocean Pass

Below them sit Minnesota Pass at 9,991 feet, Beckwith Pass at 9,935 feet, Inter-Ocean Pass at 9,769 feet, Elk Basin at 9,324 feet and Coal Basin at 8,608 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: McCluskey SWA and Roeber SWA

CPW lists McCluskey SWA and Roeber 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 79% of the unit on top of those.

Water: German Creek Springs, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 1 and Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 2

The water inside the unit line comes to 4,212 mapped stream reaches, 15 lakes, 420 stock tanks and 28 springs. Named sources include German Creek Springs, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 1, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 2, Kauer Spring, Stephens Spring and Corral Spring Number 1. 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: D-20

CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-20, and unit 53 is one piece of it. The rest of D-20 is unit 63. 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.

Unit 53 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,722–11,289 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 8,269 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
396 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

420 tanks
28 springs
4,212 stream segments
15 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: Mount Gunnison (12,702 ft), East Beckwith Mountain (12,418 ft), West Beckwith Mountain (12,140 ft), Mount Guero (12,041 ft)

Holding ground: Curecanti Pass (10,496 ft), Hoodoo Gap (10,399 ft), Swampy Pass (10,252 ft), McCluskey SWA, Roeber 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 Mule Deer in Unit 53

CPW's own harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 53 at rifle 79%. A number like that comes from few tags and a short season, not from easy hunting. The plan: glass the broken edges at first light, then sit still and keep glassing the same ground.

Glassing from Mount Lamborn, Smith Fork Mountain and Browning Ridge

Take a position on one of Mount Lamborn (11,401 ft), Smith Fork Mountain (11,314 ft), Browning Ridge (11,205 ft) and Chain Mountains (11,026 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. Work the glass in strips and go back over ground you already covered — animals appear in country you looked at ten minutes ago. On the rut hunts, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Water against feed

There are 4,212 mapped stream reaches and 420 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 76/47°F, Oct 64/36°F and Nov 50/26°F. Warm afternoons compress the hunting into the first and last hour, and make meat care the day's real problem rather than the shot. Precipitation runs about 1.7 in. in Sep, 1.6 in. in Oct and 1.2 in. in Nov, and the graded gravel in this unit turns greasy wet.

Getting past the roads: CR 12 and FR 709

CO 92 is the paved frame, which is also where everyone else starts. FR 709 and FR 814 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 53 sits inside D-20

Across D-20, CPW's 2023 mule deer success runs 73% in unit 53 and 72% in unit 63. Unit 53 is the best of them on that measure, which usually means fewer tags rather than more animals. Success inside one herd moves with tag numbers and season length as much as with animals, so read the licence count alongside it.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Mount Gunnison, East Beckwith Mountain, West Beckwith Mountain and Mount Guero as places to see from, and Curecanti Pass, Hoodoo Gap, Swampy Pass and McCluskey SWA 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 53

Named routes and what they need

CR 12 — 8.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 709 — 8.6 mi · High-clearance
CO 92 — 7.1 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 814 — 6 mi · High-clearance
Linman Road — 1.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
D Road — 1.3 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

Paonia — 10.1 mi · groceries, lodging
Crawford — 12.4 mi · fuel, groceries
Hotchkiss — 16.1 mi · no services listed
Marble — 22.2 mi · no services listed
Crested Butte — 23.9 mi · fuel, groceries, gear

Developed camps

Clear Fork Campground
Lost Lake Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan38° / 15° · 1.4" precip
Aug84° / 55° · 1.5" precip
Sep76° / 47° · 1.7" precip
Oct64° / 36° · 1.6" precip
Nov50° / 26° · 1.2" precip
Dec38° / 16° · 1.4" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 15% 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.

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 take73%

Rifle79%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 53 at 73% — 272 animals taken by 374 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.

Rifle — 79% success, 250 taken by 318 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.

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Rifle — 5th Season doe only (resident)	47	127	37.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season doe only (nonresident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	70	248	28.2%	1
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	26	230	11.3%	9
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (resident)	50	315	15.9%	4
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (nonresident)	18	229	7.9%	19
Rifle — 4th Season buck only (resident)	11	127	8.7%	15
Rifle — 4th Season buck only (nonresident)	2	166	1.2%	28
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	37	60	61.7%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	17	25	68.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (resident)	20	59	33.9%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (nonresident)	16	27	59.3%	—
Archery — 1st Season buck only (resident)	34	86	39.5%	—
Archery — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	11	97	11.3%	4
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (resident)	17	51	33.3%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	5	52	9.6%	5

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

DM053O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Buck Only, resident: 315 applicants for 50 licences, 15.9% drawn, 4 preference points needed
DM053O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, resident: 248 applicants for 70 licences, 28.2% drawn, 1 preference point needed
DM053O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 230 applicants for 26 licences, 11.3% drawn, 9 preference points needed
DM053O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 229 applicants for 18 licences, 7.9% drawn, 19 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 11 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 53

Unit 53 lies in Delta and Gunnison counties and covers about 396 square miles. Ground runs from 5,403 to 12,702 feet. CPW bounds it by North Fork of Gunnison River and Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 19%. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Elk in Unit 53

What CPW publishes for unit 53 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 Delta and Gunnison counties. It runs to about 396 square miles.

The lines of the unit: North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) and Kebler Pass

CPW has unit 53 bounded on the north by North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.), Kebler Pass and Ohio Pass; on the east and south by Gunnison River-North Fork of Gunnison River divide and Curecanti Pass, Smith Fork-Curecanti Creek divide, Smith Fork-Dyer Creek divide and Delta-Montrose Co. line; on the west by Colo. 92. 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: Storm Ridge, Coal Mountain and Mendicant Ridge

Named high points inside the unit include Storm Ridge at 11,810 feet, Coal Mountain at 11,669 feet, Mendicant Ridge at 11,599 feet, Mount Lamborn at 11,401 feet and Smith Fork Mountain at 11,314 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: Little Elk Basin, Spruce Draw and Navajo Gulch

Below them sit Little Elk Basin at 8,499 feet, Spruce Draw at 8,108 feet, Navajo Gulch at 7,769 feet, Poison Gulch at 7,754 feet and Sams Divide at 7,604 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.

Public ground to start from: McCluskey SWA and Roeber SWA

Water: Corral Spring Number 2, Pole Patch Springs and Clark Spring Number 2

The water inside the unit line comes to 4,212 mapped stream reaches, 15 lakes, 420 stock tanks and 28 springs. Named sources include Corral Spring Number 2, Pole Patch Springs, Clark Spring Number 2, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 6, Clark Spring Number 1 and Wiley 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-5

CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-5, and unit 53 is one piece of it. The rest of E-5 is unit 54 and unit 63. 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.

Unit 53 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,722–11,289 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 8,269 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
396 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

420 tanks
28 springs
4,212 stream segments
15 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: Mount Gunnison (12,702 ft), East Beckwith Mountain (12,418 ft), West Beckwith Mountain (12,140 ft), Mount Guero (12,041 ft)

Holding ground: Curecanti Pass (10,496 ft), Hoodoo Gap (10,399 ft), Swampy Pass (10,252 ft), McCluskey SWA, Roeber 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 Elk in Unit 53

CPW's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 53 at archery 10%, muzzleloader 3% and rifle 19%. 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 Tater Heap, Landsend Peak and Big Sand Mountain

Take a position on one of Tater Heap (10,929 ft), Landsend Peak (10,817 ft), Big Sand Mountain (10,436 ft) and Second Creek Ridge (10,154 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, September bugling works where you can get above a drainage and let the thermals carry sound downhill.

Water against feed

There are 4,212 mapped stream reaches and 420 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. Check the ground around it before you commit an evening to it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CR 12 and FR 709

Where unit 53 sits inside E-5

Across E-5, CPW's 2023 elk success runs 18% in unit 54, 17% in unit 63 and 13% in unit 53. Unit 53 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 54 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 Mount Gunnison, East Beckwith Mountain, West Beckwith Mountain and Mount Guero as places to see from, and Curecanti Pass, Hoodoo Gap, Swampy Pass and McCluskey SWA 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 53

Named routes and what they need

CR 12 — 8.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 709 — 8.6 mi · High-clearance
CO 92 — 7.1 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 814 — 6 mi · High-clearance
Linman Road — 1.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
D Road — 1.3 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

Paonia — 10.1 mi · groceries, lodging
Crawford — 12.4 mi · fuel, groceries
Hotchkiss — 16.1 mi · no services listed
Marble — 22.2 mi · no services listed
Crested Butte — 23.9 mi · fuel, groceries, gear

Developed camps

Clear Fork Campground
Lost Lake Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan38° / 15° · 1.4" precip
Aug84° / 55° · 1.5" precip
Sep76° / 47° · 1.7" precip
Oct64° / 36° · 1.6" precip
Nov50° / 26° · 1.2" precip
Dec38° / 16° · 1.4" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 15% 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 take13%

Archery10%

Muzzleloader3%

Rifle19%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 53 at 13% — 275 animals taken by 2,067 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 — 10% success, 115 taken by 1,170 hunters
Muzzleloader — 3% success, 3 taken by 91 hunters
Rifle — 19% success, 157 taken by 806 hunters

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	25	42	59.5%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	21	26	80.8%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (resident)	13	27	48.1%	—
Rifle — 4th Season either sex (nonresident)	2	4	50.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (resident)	23	85	27.1%	—
Rifle — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	9	28	32.1%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident)	29	93	31.2%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident)	27	55	49.1%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	38	76	50.0%	—
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident)	8	15	53.3%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident)	18	45	40.0%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident)	1	3	33.3%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident)	79	152	52.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident)	4	7	57.1%	—
Rifle — 1st Season bull only (resident)	58	137	42.3%	—
Rifle — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	20	144	13.9%	3
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (resident)	12	35	34.3%	—
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (nonresident)	7	11	63.6%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (resident)	17	32	53.1%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	18	43	41.9%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season bull only (resident)	26	60	43.3%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	52	137	38.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	524	920	57.0%	—

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

EE053V1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 920 applicants for 524 licences, 57% drawn, no preference points needed
EF053P5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Cow Only, resident: 152 applicants for 79 licences, 52% drawn, no preference points needed
EM053O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Bull Only, nonresident: 144 applicants for 20 licences, 13.9% drawn, 3 preference points needed
EM053O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Bull Only, resident: 137 applicants for 58 licences, 42.3% 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.

Bear Hunting in Unit 53

Unit 53 lies in Delta and Gunnison counties and covers about 396 square miles. Ground runs from 5,403 to 12,702 feet. CPW bounds it by North Fork of Gunnison River and Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) among others. CPW publishes no per-unit black bear success figure we can verify for this unit. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Black Bear in Unit 53

What CPW publishes for unit 53 is a boundary, not a black bear map. 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 Delta and Gunnison counties. It runs to about 396 square miles.

The lines of the unit: North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) and Kebler Pass

CPW has unit 53 bounded on the north by North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.), Kebler Pass and Ohio Pass; on the east and south by Gunnison River-North Fork of Gunnison River divide and Curecanti Pass, Smith Fork-Curecanti Creek divide, Smith Fork-Dyer Creek divide and Delta-Montrose Co. line; on the west by Colo. 92. 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: Browning Ridge, Chain Mountains and Tater Heap

Named high points inside the unit include Browning Ridge at 11,205 feet, Chain Mountains at 11,026 feet, Tater Heap at 10,929 feet, Landsend Peak at 10,817 feet and Big Sand Mountain at 10,436 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Bears follow food, which in early autumn means oakbrush, chokecherry and serviceberry on south slopes.

Holding ground: Watson Flats, Horse Gulch and Missouri Flats

Below them sit Watson Flats at 7,588 feet, Horse Gulch at 7,330 feet, Missouri Flats at 7,056 feet, Pond Gulch at 6,732 feet and Lion Gulch at 6,596 feet. These are the folds worth watching, and the ones other hunters walk past on the way to somewhere steeper. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.

Public ground to start from: McCluskey SWA and Roeber SWA

Water: Reynolds Creek Springs, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 7 and Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 5

The water inside the unit line comes to 4,212 mapped stream reaches, 15 lakes, 420 stock tanks and 28 springs. Named sources include Reynolds Creek Springs, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 7, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 5, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 3, Mays Spring and Erickson 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: B-17

CPW does not manage black bear unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit B-17, and unit 53 is one piece of it. The rest of B-17 is unit 41, unit 42, unit 52, unit 63, unit 411, unit 421 and unit 521. 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.

Unit 53 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,722–11,289 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 8,269 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
396 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

420 tanks
28 springs
4,212 stream segments
15 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: Mount Gunnison (12,702 ft), East Beckwith Mountain (12,418 ft), West Beckwith Mountain (12,140 ft), Mount Guero (12,041 ft)

Holding ground: Curecanti Pass (10,496 ft), Hoodoo Gap (10,399 ft), Swampy Pass (10,252 ft), McCluskey SWA, Roeber 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 Black Bear in Unit 53

CPW publishes no black bear success figure for unit 53 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 Kaufman Ridge, Saddle Mountain and South Saddle Peak

Take a position on one of Kaufman Ridge (10,035 ft), Saddle Mountain (10,000 ft), South Saddle Peak (10,000 ft) and Moseley Ridge (9,909 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. Work the glass in strips and go back over ground you already covered — animals appear in country you looked at ten minutes ago. On the rut hunts, September hunts coincide with the feeding push before denning.

Water against feed

There are 4,212 mapped stream reaches and 420 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. Check the ground around it before you commit an evening to it.

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CR 12 and FR 709

A first plan from the pins on this page

What a day here costs you

396 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 Paonia, about 10 miles out, which is an hour of your morning each way if you sleep there. With 5,567 feet between the lowest and highest ground, the walk back up out of a kill site is the part to plan first. Decide the night before where you will be at first light, and go there in the dark.

Getting in and staying out: unit 53

Named routes and what they need

CR 12 — 8.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 709 — 8.6 mi · High-clearance
CO 92 — 7.1 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 814 — 6 mi · High-clearance
Linman Road — 1.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
D Road — 1.3 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

Paonia — 10.1 mi · groceries, lodging
Crawford — 12.4 mi · fuel, groceries
Hotchkiss — 16.1 mi · no services listed
Marble — 22.2 mi · no services listed
Crested Butte — 23.9 mi · fuel, groceries, gear

Developed camps

Clear Fork Campground
Lost Lake Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan38° / 15° · 1.4" precip
Aug84° / 55° · 1.5" precip
Sep76° / 47° · 1.7" precip
Oct64° / 36° · 1.6" precip
Nov50° / 26° · 1.2" precip
Dec38° / 16° · 1.4" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 15% 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.

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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Bear Success Rates

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates carry no black bear row for unit 53 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.

Bear Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	27	37	73.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	25	35	71.4%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (resident)	9	11	81.8%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	3	4	75.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	203	268	75.7%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	97	116	83.6%	—

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

BE053O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 268 applicants for 203 licences, 75.7% drawn, no preference points needed
BE053O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 116 applicants for 97 licences, 83.6% drawn, no preference points needed
BE053O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 37 applicants for 27 licences, 73% drawn, no preference points needed
BE053O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 35 applicants for 25 licences, 71.4% 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 2 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 53

Unit 53 lies in Delta and Gunnison counties and covers about 396 square miles. Ground runs from 5,403 to 12,702 feet. CPW bounds it by North Fork of Gunnison River and Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) among others. CPW's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 53

CPW draws an exact line around unit 53 and says nothing about where the Shiras moose stand inside it. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Delta and Gunnison counties. It runs to about 396 square miles.

The lines of the unit: North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.) and Kebler Pass

CPW has unit 53 bounded on the north by North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.), Kebler Pass and Ohio Pass; on the east and south by Gunnison River-North Fork of Gunnison River divide and Curecanti Pass, Smith Fork-Curecanti Creek divide, Smith Fork-Dyer Creek divide and Delta-Montrose Co. line; on the west by Colo. 92. 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: Second Creek Ridge, Kaufman Ridge and Saddle Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Second Creek Ridge at 10,154 feet, Kaufman Ridge at 10,035 feet, Saddle Mountain at 10,000 feet, South Saddle Peak at 10,000 feet and Moseley Ridge at 9,909 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: Slide Gulch, Snowshoe Canyon and Raven Gulch

Below them sit Slide Gulch at 6,542 feet, Snowshoe Canyon at 6,379 feet, Raven Gulch at 6,179 feet, Sylvester Gulch at 6,145 feet and Box Canyon at 6,114 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Two you can watch from a single knob is worth more than five you have to drive between.

Public ground to start from: McCluskey SWA and Roeber SWA

Water: German Creek Springs, Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 1 and Upper Reynolds Creek Spring Number 2

The herd this unit belongs to: M-5

CPW does not manage Shiras moose unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit M-5, and unit 53 is one piece of it. The rest of M-5 is unit 41, unit 42, unit 43, unit 52, unit 54, unit 63, unit 64 and unit 411 and 2 more. 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.

Unit 53 terrain and land status

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

The lay of it

5,722–11,289 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 8,269 ft ; peaks can run higher. That spread means you can hunt two seasons in one day — plan clothing for both ends.
396 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

420 tanks
28 springs
4,212 stream segments
15 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: Mount Gunnison (12,702 ft), East Beckwith Mountain (12,418 ft), West Beckwith Mountain (12,140 ft), Mount Guero (12,041 ft)

Holding ground: Curecanti Pass (10,496 ft), Hoodoo Gap (10,399 ft), Swampy Pass (10,252 ft), McCluskey SWA, Roeber 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 53

CPW's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 53 at 100% 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 Three Knobs, The Knob and North Saddle Peak

Take a position on one of Three Knobs (9,856 ft), The Knob (9,730 ft), North Saddle Peak (9,695 ft) and Little Sand Mountain (9,634 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. Glass the edges first, then the shaded timber, then the edges again as the light goes. On the rut hunts, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

Water against feed

Timing the season: Sep, Oct, Nov

Getting past the roads: CR 12 and FR 709

Where unit 53 sits inside M-5

Across M-5, CPW's 2023 Shiras moose success runs 100% in unit 53, 100% in unit 54, 80% in unit 521, 75% in unit 43 and 60% in unit 42. Nothing in the herd beat unit 53 on that measure and one unit matched it, which on a hunt this small says more about tag numbers than about animals. Success inside one herd moves with tag numbers and season length as much as with animals, so read the licence count alongside it.

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 53

Named routes and what they need

CR 12 — 8.8 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
FR 709 — 8.6 mi · High-clearance
CO 92 — 7.1 mi · Paved (all rigs)
FR 814 — 6 mi · High-clearance
Linman Road — 1.5 mi · Graded gravel (2WD / small trailer)
D Road — 1.3 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

Paonia — 10.1 mi · groceries, lodging
Crawford — 12.4 mi · fuel, groceries
Hotchkiss — 16.1 mi · no services listed
Marble — 22.2 mi · no services listed
Crested Butte — 23.9 mi · fuel, groceries, gear

Developed camps

Clear Fork Campground
Lost Lake Campground

Season weather and signal

Jan38° / 15° · 1.4" precip
Aug84° / 55° · 1.5" precip
Sep76° / 47° · 1.7" precip
Oct64° / 36° · 1.6" precip
Nov50° / 26° · 1.2" precip
Dec38° / 16° · 1.4" precip

Best signal is Verizon at about 15% 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 take100%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 53 at 100% — 2 animals taken by 2 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside it.

Moose Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull only (resident)	3	203	1.5%	3
Any Legal Method — 1st Season bull 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 Engine

CPW's 2026 draw recap for Shiras moose in unit 53, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

MM053O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, resident: 203 applicants for 3 licences, 1.5% 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. 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, including Clear Fork Campground and Lost Lake Campground.

🛣️

Road Conditions

CR 12, FR 709 and CO 92 are the named routes in the unit. Roughly 9 mi paved, 20 mi gravel and 3 mi four-wheel-drive.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

5,722–11,289 ft, averaging 8,269. 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 76/47°F, 1.7 in.; Oct 64/36°F, 1.6 in.; Nov 50/26°F, 1.2 in..

📱

Cell Service

Verizon 15%, AT&T 10%, T-Mobile 5% of the unit area — modelled coverage, not measured. Assume no signal off the paved road.

🏘️

Nearest Town

Paonia (10 mi), Crawford (12 mi), Hotchkiss (16 mi)

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit 53?

Unit 53 lies in Delta and Gunnison counties, and CPW has it bounded on the north by North Fork of Gunnison River, Gunnison CR 12 (Kebler Pass Rd.), Kebler Pass and Ohio Pass; on the east and south by Gunnison River-North Fork of Gunnison River divide and Curecanti Pass, Smith Fork-Curecanti Creek divide, Smith Fork-Dyer Creek divide and Delta-Montrose Co. line; on the west by Colo. 92. It covers about 396 square miles.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 53?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 53 at 73% across all manners of take, and rifle 79% 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 53 hunt?

The nearest services our logistics pipeline finds for unit 53 are at Paonia, about 10 miles from the unit's centre, with Crawford at about 12 miles. There are also 2 developed campgrounds in or beside the unit.

What is the elk success rate in unit 53?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 53 at 13% across all manners of take, and archery 10%, muzzleloader 3% and rifle 19% 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 53?

CPW publishes no black bear success figure we can tie to unit 53 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.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 53?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 53 at 100% 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 Deer Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for mule deer in unit 53, 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 53, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
2023 Colorado Moose Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for Shiras moose in unit 53, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22