Colorado Mule Deer Moose

Unit 65 (Gunnison Basin)

Colorado Hunting Guide — Mule Deer, Moose

Unit 65 lies in Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose and Ouray counties. CPW bounds it by U.S. 50 and Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 50%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

View Draw Odds Colorado Hunting Guide

🏔️

52%

Public Land

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 65

Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Colorado Unit 65 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.

Mule Deer guide Moose 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.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 65

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 65

What CPW publishes for unit 65 is a boundary, not a mule deer map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose and Ouray counties.

The lines of the unit: U.S. 50, Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide and Ouray-San Juan Co. line

CPW has unit 65 bounded on the north by U.S. 50; on the east by Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide; on the south by Ouray-San Juan Co. line; on the west by Ouray-San Miguel Co. line and Colo. 62 & 550. 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: Mount Sneffels, Wetterhorn Peak and Potosi Peak

Named high points inside the unit include Mount Sneffels at 14,106 feet, Wetterhorn Peak at 14,019 feet, Potosi Peak at 13,774 feet, Teakettle Mountain at 13,713 feet and Gilpin Peak at 13,662 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: Champion Basin, Governor Basin and Richmond Basin

Below them sit Champion Basin at 11,832 feet, Governor Basin at 11,814 feet, Richmond Basin at 11,800 feet, Porphyry Basin at 11,795 feet and Pierson Basin at 11,710 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: Billy Creek SWA, Billy Creek SWA - Beckett Tract and Billy Creek SWA - Billy Creek Tract

CPW lists Billy Creek SWA, Billy Creek SWA - Beckett Tract, Billy Creek SWA - Billy Creek Tract, Billy Creek SWA - Carmichael Tract and Billy Creek SWA - Chaffee Gulch 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: Hout Spring, Mud Spring and Homer Brown Spring

Named sources include Hout Spring, Mud Spring, Homer Brown Spring, Groff Spring, Bear Creek Falls and Cascade Falls. 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-40

CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-40, and unit 65 is one piece of it. The rest of D-40 is unit 64. 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 65 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Mount Sneffels (14,106 ft), Wetterhorn Peak (14,019 ft), Potosi Peak (13,774 ft), Redcliff (13,622 ft)

Holding ground: Richmond Pass (12,664 ft), Yankee Boy Basin (12,133 ft), Wetterhorn Basin (11,967 ft), Billy Creek SWA, Billy Creek SWA - Beckett Tract

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 65

CPW's own harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 65 at archery 17% and rifle 50%. 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 Coxcomb Peak, Whitehouse Mountain and Mears Peak

Take a position on one of Coxcomb Peak (13,518 ft), Whitehouse Mountain (13,490 ft), Mears Peak (13,453 ft) and Mount Ridgway (13,410 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, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Getting past the roads

There is little true four-wheel-drive road here, so distance from the gravel is the only thing separating you from the next hunter. One mapped public entry point falls inside the unit, so decide which one you take before the morning you take it.

Where unit 65 sits inside D-40

Across D-40, CPW's 2023 mule deer success runs 45% in unit 64 and 45% in unit 65. Nothing in the herd beat unit 65 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.

The way in: U.S. 50 and Colo. 62

We have no road inventory for this unit, so the only routes we can name are the ones CPW draws the boundary with: U.S. 50 and Colo. 62. Those are its edges, not its interior — useful because they are where you leave the pavement, and useless for telling you what the inside is like. Check each of them on a current motor-vehicle-use map before you count on it, because a line on a boundary description is not a promise of public access.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks Mount Sneffels, Wetterhorn Peak, Potosi Peak and Redcliff as places to see from, and Richmond Pass, Yankee Boy Basin, Wetterhorn Basin and Billy Creek SWA 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 a day here costs you

672 square miles is more country than a week will cover, so pick one drainage and learn it rather than driving the unit. The ground is gentle enough that the pack-out is a distance problem rather than a climbing one. One good position held through the whole of first light beats three visited in a hurry.

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.

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.

Pro Members Only

Unlock mule deer tactics for Unit 65

Upgrade to Pro — $49/yr

Mule Deer Success Rates

All manners of take45%

Archery17%

Rifle50%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 65 at 45% — 308 animals taken by 690 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 — 17% success, 16 taken by 93 hunters
Rifle — 50% success, 273 taken by 541 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 — 1st Season buck only (resident)	19	96	19.8%	4
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	6	46	13.0%	10

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

DM065E1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 96 applicants for 19 licences, 19.8% drawn, 4 preference points needed
DM065E1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 46 applicants for 6 licences, 13% drawn, 10 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.

Moose Hunting in Unit 65

Unit 65 lies in Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose and Ouray counties. CPW bounds it by U.S. 50 and Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide among others. CPW's harvest estimates put Shiras moose success here as high as 100%. Federal land covers about 52% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 65

What CPW publishes for unit 65 is a boundary, not a Shiras moose map. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose and Ouray counties.

The lines of the unit: U.S. 50, Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide and Ouray-San Juan Co. line

CPW has unit 65 bounded on the north by U.S. 50; on the east by Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide; on the south by Ouray-San Juan Co. line; on the west by Ouray-San Miguel Co. line and Colo. 62 & 550. 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: Redcliff, Cirque Mountain and Matterhorn Peak

Named high points inside the unit include Redcliff at 13,622 feet, Cirque Mountain at 13,620 feet, Matterhorn Peak at 13,557 feet, Coxcomb Peak at 13,518 feet and Whitehouse Mountain at 13,490 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: Half Moon Basin, Silver Basin and Imogene Basin

Below them sit Half Moon Basin at 11,673 feet, Silver Basin at 11,625 feet, Imogene Basin at 11,618 feet, Sidney Basin at 11,602 feet and Slagle Pass at 11,027 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: Billy Creek SWA - Nicoll Tract, Billy Creek SWA - Porter Tract and Cimarron SWA

CPW lists Billy Creek SWA - Nicoll Tract, Billy Creek SWA - Porter Tract, Cimarron SWA, Billy Creek SWA and Billy Creek SWA - Beckett Tract 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: Orvis Hot Spring, Gibson Spring and Billy Wood Spring

Named sources include Orvis Hot Spring, Gibson Spring, Billy Wood Spring, Gray Copper Falls, McKean Spring and Hout 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: M-4

CPW does not manage Shiras moose unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit M-4, and unit 65 is one piece of it. The rest of M-4 is unit 66, unit 67, unit 68, unit 70, unit 71, unit 72, unit 73 and unit 74 and 14 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 65 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: Mount Sneffels (14,106 ft), Wetterhorn Peak (14,019 ft), Potosi Peak (13,774 ft), Redcliff (13,622 ft)

Holding ground: Richmond Pass (12,664 ft), Yankee Boy Basin (12,133 ft), Wetterhorn Basin (11,967 ft), Billy Creek SWA, Billy Creek SWA - Beckett Tract

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 65

CPW's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 65 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 Darley Mountain, Wildhorse Peak and Hayden Mountain

Take a position on one of Darley Mountain (13,229 ft), Wildhorse Peak (13,206 ft), Hayden Mountain (13,203 ft) and Engineer Mountain (13,203 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, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

Getting past the roads

Where unit 65 sits inside M-4

Across M-4, CPW's 2023 Shiras moose success runs 100% in unit 65, 100% in unit 66, 100% in unit 68, 100% in unit 75 and 100% in unit 76. Nothing in the herd beat unit 65 on that measure and 7 units 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.

The way in: U.S. 50 and Colo. 62

We have no road inventory for this unit, so the only routes we can name are the ones CPW draws the boundary with: U.S. 50 and Colo. 62. Those are its edges, not its interior — useful because they are where you leave the pavement, and useless for telling you what the inside is like. Park on the boundary and walk; a unit you can only enter from its rim rewards whoever is willing to leave the truck at the rim.

A first plan from the pins on this page

What a day here costs you

672 square miles is more country than a week will cover, so pick one drainage and learn it rather than driving the unit. The ground is gentle enough that the pack-out is a distance problem rather than a climbing one. Leave the truck earlier than you want to and you will hunt the best half-hour of the 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.

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.

Pro Members Only

Unlock moose hunting tactics for Unit 65

Upgrade to Pro — $49/yr

Moose Success Rates

All manners of take100%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 65 at 100% — 1 animals taken by 1 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 either sex (resident)	2	140	1.4%	3
Any Legal Method — 1st Season either sex (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 65, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

ME065O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 140 applicants for 2 licences, 1.4% drawn, 3 preference points needed

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Planning Notes

🚐

RV Sites

Full RV services in Gunnison and Crested Butte. Many private RV parks and forest service campgrounds.

⛺

Camp Sites

Developed campgrounds in Gunnison NF; dispersed camping throughout BLM and NF.

🛻

Trailer Access

Yes on paved highways and major forest roads.

💧

Water

Gunnison River, East River, Taylor River, multiple reservoirs.

🛣️

Road Conditions

Main routes paved. Secondary forest roads are gravel; spurs need high clearance.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

Moderate. Elevations 7,500-11,500 feet. Aspen and sage country is walkable but big.

👥

Hunting Pressure

Moderate. Higher around Crested Butte recreation areas.

🌦️

Weather

Snow routine by late October. Expect freezing temperatures even in September.

📱

Cell Service

Good in towns and near highways. Spotty to none in the backcountry.

🏘️

Nearest Town

Gunnison

Pro Members Only

Unlock logistics for Unit 65

Upgrade to Pro — $49/yr

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit 65?

Unit 65 lies in Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose and Ouray counties, and CPW has it bounded on the north by U.S. 50; on the east by Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide; on the south by Ouray-San Juan Co. line; on the west by Ouray-San Miguel Co. line and Colo. 62 & 550.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 65?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 65 at 45% across all manners of take, and archery 17% and rifle 50% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the Shiras moose success rate in unit 65?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 65 at 100% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

Free Hunt Planning Tools

🎰 Colorado Draw Odds Unit-level tag success rates 📅 Application Timeline Deadlines for all 9 states 🦌 Rut Forecast Peak rut timing by species 💰 Hunt Cost Calculator Budget your entire hunt

Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro

Unlock advanced tactics, the Tag-to-Trail Planner, AI hunt strategy assistant, and personalized camp and trip execution plans.

Upgrade to Pro — $49/yr

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 65, 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 Moose Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for Shiras moose in unit 65, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22

Unit 65 (Gunnison Basin)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 65

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 65

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 65

The lines of the unit: U.S. 50, Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide and Ouray-San Juan Co. line

High ground inside the line: Mount Sneffels, Wetterhorn Peak and Potosi Peak

Holding ground: Champion Basin, Governor Basin and Richmond Basin

Public ground to start from: Billy Creek SWA, Billy Creek SWA - Beckett Tract and Billy Creek SWA - Billy Creek Tract

Water: Hout Spring, Mud Spring and Homer Brown Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: D-40

Unit 65 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Unit 65

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Moose Hunting in Unit 65

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 65

The lines of the unit: U.S. 50, Big Blue Creek-Cimarron Creek divide and Ouray-San Juan Co. line

High ground inside the line: Redcliff, Cirque Mountain and Matterhorn Peak

Holding ground: Half Moon Basin, Silver Basin and Imogene Basin

Public ground to start from: Billy Creek SWA - Nicoll Tract, Billy Creek SWA - Porter Tract and Cimarron SWA

Water: Orvis Hot Spring, Gibson Spring and Billy Wood Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: M-4

Unit 65 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Shiras Moose in Unit 65

Moose Success Rates

Moose Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

Explore Related Units

Unit 65 — Elk

Frequently Asked Questions

Free Hunt Planning Tools

Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro

Sources & Verification