Colorado Pronghorn Mule Deer Elk Bear Moose

Unit 68 (La Garita)

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

Unit 68 lies in Saguache County. CPW bounds it by Colo. 114 and U.S. 285 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 51%. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

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Public Land

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Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 68

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 68

CPW's material on unit 68 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its pronghorn 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 Saguache County.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

CPW has unit 68 bounded on the north by Colo. 114; on the east by U.S. 285; on the south by CRs G & 41G, USFS 675 & 676, USFS Trails 796 & 787 and Saguache- Mineral Co. line; on the west by Continental Divide. That is a legal description, not a habitat map. 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: La Garita Mountains, Bowers Peak and Twin Peaks

Named high points inside the unit include La Garita Mountains at 13,897 feet, Bowers Peak at 12,454 feet, Twin Peaks at 12,413 feet, Palmer Mesa at 12,330 feet and Sheep Mountain at 12,088 feet. Several carry a public-land flag in our data, which makes them the first places to try for a view. Pronghorn stay on the open rolling ground and leave the timber alone.

Holding ground: Cochetopa Pass, Round Park and Carnero Pass

Below them sit Cochetopa Pass at 10,198 feet, Round Park at 10,187 feet, Carnero Pass at 10,176 feet, South Park at 10,154 feet and Cyclone Park at 9,821 feet. That is the low country of the unit — the ground animals drop into when they are pushed or when the weather turns. Pick the one with the least road on its upwind side.

Public ground to start from: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

CPW lists Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring 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 79% of the unit on top of those.

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

Named sources include Onion Spring, Boland Spring, Big Dry Gulch Spring, Hat Springs and Higgins 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: A-14

CPW does not manage pronghorn unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit A-14, and unit 68 is one piece of it. The rest of A-14 is unit 79, unit 82, unit 681, unit 682 and unit 791. 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 68 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: La Garita Mountains (13,897 ft), Bowers Peak (12,454 ft), Twin Peaks (12,413 ft), Palmer Mesa (12,330 ft)

Holding ground: Moon Pass (10,569 ft), Sunnyside Park (10,346 ft), Long Park (10,246 ft), Burro Springs STL, Laughlin 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 Pronghorn in Unit 68

CPW's own harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 68 at 51% across all manners of take. A number like that comes from few tags and a short season, not from easy hunting. The plan: spot from a vehicle or a rise at distance, then plan a stalk that uses the only cover there is — the curve of the ground.

Glassing from Spruce Mountain, Storm King Mountain and Hat Mountain

Take a position on one of Spruce Mountain (10,870 ft), Storm King Mountain (10,831 ft), Hat Mountain (10,617 ft) and Lake Mountain (10,550 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. A tripod is worth more here than another hour of walking. On the rut hunts, early-season bucks hold does and can be decoyed where the law allows it.

Where unit 68 sits inside A-14

Across A-14, CPW's 2023 pronghorn success runs 72% in unit 82, 70% in unit 79, 51% in unit 68 and 42% in unit 681. That puts unit 68 behind 2 of the 3 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 82 carried the better number in the same herd — check its tag count before you read that as an easier hunt.

The way in: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

We have no road inventory for this unit, so the only routes we can name are the ones CPW draws the boundary with: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675. 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

The map above marks La Garita Mountains, Bowers Peak, Twin Peaks and Palmer Mesa as places to see from, and Moon Pass, Sunnyside Park, Long Park and Burro Springs STL 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

603 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.

Pronghorn: where to put the shot

Broadside, straight up the front leg, a third of the way into the body. Pronghorn are shallow-chested and the lungs sit forward.

Shots to refuse

Range it, then range it again. Open country makes 400 yards look like 250.
Wait for the buck to stop. Nobody kills a running pronghorn cleanly on purpose.
Mind the backdrop. A miss carries a long way across a flat.

Plan the carry: roughly 30– 45 lb of boned-out meat, before head and hide — one large cooler with ice already in it. ProHunt planning estimate, not an agency figure.

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Pronghorn Success Rates

All manners of take51%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 68 at 51% — 11 animals taken by 22 hunters. On a sample that small the percentage moves several points with one animal, so read the hunter count beside 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.

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season buck only (resident)	8	45	17.8%	6
Archery — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	0	11	0.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (resident)	11	200	5.5%	11
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	2	62	3.2%	15
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident)	7	649	1.1%	22
Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	1	151	0.7%	27

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 pronghorn in unit 68, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

AM068O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 649 applicants for 7 licences, 1.1% drawn, 22 preference points needed
AM068O1M — Muzzleloader, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 200 applicants for 11 licences, 5.5% drawn, 11 preference points needed
AM068O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 151 applicants for 1 licences, 0.7% drawn, 27 preference points needed
AM068O1M — Muzzleloader, 1st Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 62 applicants for 2 licences, 3.2% drawn, 15 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.

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 68

Unit 68 lies in Saguache County. CPW bounds it by Colo. 114 and U.S. 285 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 51%. Federal land covers about 79% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 68

What CPW publishes for unit 68 is a boundary, not a mule deer map. 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 Saguache County.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

CPW has unit 68 bounded on the north by Colo. 114; on the east by U.S. 285; on the south by CRs G & 41G, USFS 675 & 676, USFS Trails 796 & 787 and Saguache- Mineral Co. line; on the west by Continental Divide. 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: Table Mountain, Lookout Mountain and Tracy Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Table Mountain at 11,904 feet, Lookout Mountain at 11,516 feet, Tracy Mountain at 11,001 feet, Spruce Mountain at 10,870 feet and Storm King Mountain at 10,831 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: Hawkins Gulch, Mouds Bottom and Fullerton Park

Below them sit Hawkins Gulch at 9,814 feet, Mouds Bottom at 9,811 feet, Fullerton Park at 9,794 feet, Lower South Park at 9,763 feet and Royal Park at 9,701 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Reaching the edge of one before light beats reaching its middle at noon.

Public ground to start from: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

Named sources include Onion Spring, Boland Spring, Big Dry Gulch Spring, Hat Springs and Higgins 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: D-26

CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-26, and unit 68 is one piece of it. The rest of D-26 is unit 681 and unit 682. 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 68 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: La Garita Mountains (13,897 ft), Bowers Peak (12,454 ft), Twin Peaks (12,413 ft), Palmer Mesa (12,330 ft)

Holding ground: Moon Pass (10,569 ft), Sunnyside Park (10,346 ft), Long Park (10,246 ft), Burro Springs STL, Laughlin 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 Mule Deer in Unit 68

CPW's own harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 68 at archery 6% and rifle 51%. 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 Lion, Chimney Rock and Houghland Hill

Take a position on one of Mount Lion (10,396 ft), Chimney Rock (10,111 ft), Houghland Hill (9,501 ft) and Sierra de La Lola (9,495 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. Give a basin forty minutes before you decide it is empty. On the rut hunts, late-season hunts put bucks with doe groups and moving in daylight.

Where unit 68 sits inside D-26

Across D-26, CPW's 2023 mule deer success runs 76% in unit 682, 45% in unit 68 and 43% in unit 681. That puts unit 68 behind 1 of the 2 other units in the herd. If the draw lets you choose, unit 682 carried the better number in the same herd — check its tag count before you read that as an easier hunt.

The way in: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

We have no road inventory for this unit, so the only routes we can name are the ones CPW draws the boundary with: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675. 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 La Garita Mountains, Bowers Peak, Twin Peaks and Palmer Mesa as places to see from, and Moon Pass, Sunnyside Park, Long Park and Burro Springs STL 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 a day here costs you

603 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. Decide the night before where you will be at first light, and go there in the dark.

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.

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 take45%

Archery6%

Rifle51%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 68 at 45% — 208 animals taken by 459 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 — 6% success, 3 taken by 53 hunters
Rifle — 51% success, 180 taken by 351 hunters

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Archery — 1st Season buck only (resident)	77	207	37.2%	—
Archery — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	28	130	21.5%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (resident)	83	192	43.2%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season buck only (nonresident)	23	67	34.3%	—
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (resident)	171	883	19.4%	2
Rifle — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident)	55	342	16.1%	3
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (resident)	109	803	13.6%	2
Rifle — 3rd Season buck only (nonresident)	40	268	14.9%	7
Rifle — 4th Season buck only (resident)	11	274	4.0%	10
Rifle — 4th Season buck only (nonresident)	2	93	2.2%	21

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

DM068O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, resident: 883 applicants for 171 licences, 19.4% drawn, 2 preference points needed
DM068O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Buck Only, resident: 803 applicants for 109 licences, 13.6% drawn, 2 preference points needed
DM068O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 342 applicants for 55 licences, 16.1% drawn, 3 preference points needed
DM068O4R — Rifle, 4th Season, Buck Only, resident: 274 applicants for 11 licences, 4% 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. There are 6 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 68

Unit 68 lies in Saguache County. CPW bounds it by Colo. 114 and U.S. 285 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 10%. 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 68

What CPW publishes for unit 68 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 Saguache County.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

CPW has unit 68 bounded on the north by Colo. 114; on the east by U.S. 285; on the south by CRs G & 41G, USFS 675 & 676, USFS Trails 796 & 787 and Saguache- Mineral Co. line; on the west by Continental Divide. 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: Hat Mountain, Lake Mountain and Mount Lion

Named high points inside the unit include Hat Mountain at 10,617 feet, Lake Mountain at 10,550 feet, Mount Lion at 10,396 feet, Chimney Rock at 10,111 feet and Houghland Hill at 9,501 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: Chimney Rock Gulch, Horse Canyon and Browns Park

Below them sit Chimney Rock Gulch at 9,546 feet, Horse Canyon at 9,436 feet, Browns Park at 9,353 feet, Poison Gulch at 9,269 feet and Royal Gulch at 9,074 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: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

Named sources include Onion Spring, Boland Spring, Big Dry Gulch Spring, Hat Springs and Higgins 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: E-26

CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-26, and unit 68 is one piece of it. The rest of E-26 is unit 681. Read a neighbour in the same herd before you read the state average — the herd, not the unit line, is what the agency is steering.

Unit 68 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: La Garita Mountains (13,897 ft), Bowers Peak (12,454 ft), Twin Peaks (12,413 ft), Palmer Mesa (12,330 ft)

Holding ground: Moon Pass (10,569 ft), Sunnyside Park (10,346 ft), Long Park (10,246 ft), Burro Springs STL, Laughlin 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 68

CPW's own harvest estimates put elk success in unit 68 at archery 5%, muzzleloader 9% and rifle 10%. 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 Devils Knob, La Garita Mountains and Bowers Peak

Take a position on one of Devils Knob (8,781 ft), La Garita Mountains (13,897 ft), Bowers Peak (12,454 ft) and Twin Peaks (12,413 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, September bugling works where you can get above a drainage and let the thermals carry sound downhill.

Where unit 68 sits inside E-26

Across E-26, CPW's 2023 elk success runs 8% in unit 68 and 7% in unit 681. Unit 68 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.

The way in: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

We have no road inventory for this unit, so the only routes we can name are the ones CPW draws the boundary with: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675. 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. Pick the edge nearest the country you mean to hunt and work in from it on foot, rather than driving the perimeter looking for a way through.

A first plan from the pins on this page

The map above marks La Garita Mountains, Bowers Peak, Twin Peaks and Palmer Mesa as places to see from, and Moon Pass, Sunnyside Park, Long Park and Burro Springs STL 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 a day here costs you

603 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.

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 take8%

Archery5%

Muzzleloader9%

Rifle10%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 68 at 8% — 193 animals taken by 2,308 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 — 5% success, 32 taken by 715 hunters
Muzzleloader — 9% success, 7 taken by 72 hunters
Rifle — 10% success, 154 taken by 1,521 hunters

Elk Draw Odds

Season	Tags	Applicants	Draw %	Pts Req
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (resident)	31	81	38.3%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season cow only (nonresident)	0	25	0.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season bull only (resident)	61	159	38.4%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	19	103	18.4%	1
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident)	42	448	9.4%	2
Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident)	9	80	11.3%	2
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident)	48	445	10.8%	3
Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident)	3	30	10.0%	3
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident)	42	198	21.2%	—
Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident)	8	32	25.0%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident)	25	40	62.5%	—
Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident)	3	3	100.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season bull only (resident)	258	508	50.8%	—
Rifle — 1st Season bull only (nonresident)	87	403	21.6%	—
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (resident)	77	254	30.3%	—
Rifle — 4th Season bull only (nonresident)	47	83	56.6%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident)	0	0	0.0%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	456	720	63.3%	—

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

EE068V1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 720 applicants for 456 licences, 63.3% drawn, no preference points needed
EM068O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Bull Only, resident: 508 applicants for 258 licences, 50.8% drawn, no preference points needed
EF068O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, resident: 448 applicants for 42 licences, 9.4% drawn, 2 preference points needed
EF068O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Cow Only, resident: 445 applicants for 48 licences, 10.8% 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 13 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 68

Unit 68 lies in Saguache County. CPW bounds it by Colo. 114 and U.S. 285 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 68

CPW's material on unit 68 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its black bear live. The country below is verified; where to begin in it is our judgement, not the agency's. The unit lies in Saguache County.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

CPW has unit 68 bounded on the north by Colo. 114; on the east by U.S. 285; on the south by CRs G & 41G, USFS 675 & 676, USFS Trails 796 & 787 and Saguache- Mineral Co. line; on the west by Continental 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: Sierra de La Lola, Devils Knob and La Garita Mountains

Named high points inside the unit include Sierra de La Lola at 9,495 feet, Devils Knob at 8,781 feet, La Garita Mountains at 13,897 feet, Bowers Peak at 12,454 feet and Twin Peaks at 12,413 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: Andys Hole, California Gulch and Bull Gulch

Below them sit Andys Hole at 8,921 feet, California Gulch at 8,884 feet, Bull Gulch at 8,879 feet, Burro Canyon at 8,688 feet and Rabbit Canyon at 8,454 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: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

Named sources include Onion Spring, Boland Spring, Big Dry Gulch Spring, Hat Springs and Higgins 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: B-13

CPW does not manage black bear unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit B-13, and unit 68 is one piece of it. The rest of B-13 is unit 76, unit 79, unit 80, unit 81, unit 681, unit 682 and unit 791. 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 68 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: La Garita Mountains (13,897 ft), Bowers Peak (12,454 ft), Twin Peaks (12,413 ft), Palmer Mesa (12,330 ft)

Holding ground: Moon Pass (10,569 ft), Sunnyside Park (10,346 ft), Long Park (10,246 ft), Burro Springs STL, Laughlin 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 Black Bear in Unit 68

CPW publishes no black bear success figure for unit 68 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 Palmer Mesa, Sheep Mountain and Table Mountain

Take a position on one of Palmer Mesa (12,330 ft), Sheep Mountain (12,088 ft), Table Mountain (11,904 ft) and Lookout Mountain (11,516 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 hunts coincide with the feeding push before denning.

The way in: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

A first plan from the pins on this page

What a day here costs you

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. We have no black bear success figure for this unit that survives checking against CPW's own harvest and hunter counts, and we would rather say so than print a statewide average as though it were measured here.

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 68 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)	110	230	47.8%	—
Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	37	230	16.1%	1
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (resident)	49	98	50.0%	—
Muzzleloader — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	11	55	20.0%	—
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (resident)	210	696	30.2%	1
Rifle — 1st Season either sex (nonresident)	39	136	28.7%	1
Rifle — 5th Season either sex (resident)	70	448	15.6%	1
Rifle — 5th Season either sex (nonresident)	24	95	25.3%	1

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

BE068O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 696 applicants for 210 licences, 30.2% drawn, 1 preference point needed
BE068O5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Either Sex, resident: 448 applicants for 70 licences, 15.6% drawn, 1 preference point needed
BE068O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 230 applicants for 110 licences, 47.8% drawn, no preference points needed
BE068O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, nonresident: 230 applicants for 37 licences, 16.1% drawn, 1 preference point 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 4 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 68

Unit 68 lies in Saguache County. CPW bounds it by Colo. 114 and U.S. 285 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 68

CPW's material on unit 68 stops at the boundary — there is no agency account of where its Shiras moose live. 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 Saguache County.

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

CPW has unit 68 bounded on the north by Colo. 114; on the east by U.S. 285; on the south by CRs G & 41G, USFS 675 & 676, USFS Trails 796 & 787 and Saguache- Mineral Co. line; on the west by Continental Divide. 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: Palmer Mesa, Sheep Mountain and Table Mountain

Named high points inside the unit include Palmer Mesa at 12,330 feet, Sheep Mountain at 12,088 feet, Table Mountain at 11,904 feet, Lookout Mountain at 11,516 feet and Tracy Mountain at 11,001 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: Spring Gulch, Boland Canyon and Lone Tree Gulch

Below them sit Spring Gulch at 8,358 feet, Boland Canyon at 8,297 feet, Lone Tree Gulch at 8,129 feet, Poison Gulch at 8,048 feet and Laughlin Gulch at 7,923 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: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

Named sources include Onion Spring, Boland Spring, Big Dry Gulch Spring, Hat Springs and Higgins 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 68 is one piece of it. The rest of M-4 is unit 65, unit 66, unit 67, 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 68 terrain and land status

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

Named features inside the unit

Glass from: La Garita Mountains (13,897 ft), Bowers Peak (12,454 ft), Twin Peaks (12,413 ft), Palmer Mesa (12,330 ft)

Holding ground: Moon Pass (10,569 ft), Sunnyside Park (10,346 ft), Long Park (10,246 ft), Burro Springs STL, Laughlin 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.

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How to Hunt Shiras Moose in Unit 68

CPW's own harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 68 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 Tracy Mountain, Spruce Mountain and Storm King Mountain

Take a position on one of Tracy Mountain (11,001 ft), Spruce Mountain (10,870 ft), Storm King Mountain (10,831 ft) and Hat Mountain (10,617 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. A tripod is worth more here than another hour of walking. On the rut hunts, late September bulls answer a cow call near water.

Where unit 68 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 68 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: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

A first plan from the pins on this page

What a day here costs you

603 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. Decide the night before where you will be at first light, and go there in the dark.

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.

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Moose Success Rates

All manners of take100%

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 68 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 bull only (resident)	2	379	0.5%	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 68, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:

MM068O1X — Any Legal Method, 1st Season, Bull Only, resident: 379 applicants for 2 licences, 0.5% 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

🚐

RV Sites

Limited near Saguache. Some campgrounds along CO 114.

⛺

Camp Sites

Dispersed camping on Rio Grande NF and BLM land. Some developed campgrounds.

🛻

Trailer Access

CO 114 paved. County roads gravel but passable.

💧

Water

Mountain streams and stock ponds. Saguache has basic services.

🛣️

Road Conditions

CO 114 paved. BLM and county roads gravel. Maintained seasonally.

🥾

Terrain Difficulty

Easy to moderate. Elevation 8,000-10,000 feet. Sage parks, mountain meadows.

👥

Hunting Pressure

Very low. Limited tags.

🌦️

Weather

Expect 25-55F during pronghorn season. Mountain climate. Snow possible.

📱

Cell Service

Spotty near Saguache. None in backcountry.

🏘️

Nearest Town

Saguache

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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Colorado unit 68?

Unit 68 lies in Saguache County, and CPW has it bounded on the north by Colo. 114; on the east by U.S. 285; on the south by CRs G & 41G, USFS 675 & 676, USFS Trails 796 & 787 and Saguache- Mineral Co. line; on the west by Continental Divide.

What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 68?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 68 at 51% across all manners of take. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the mule deer success rate in unit 68?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 68 at 45% across all manners of take, and archery 6% and rifle 51% by weapon. Those are the agency's own figures for this unit, not a statewide average.

What is the elk success rate in unit 68?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 68 at 8% across all manners of take, and archery 5%, muzzleloader 9% and rifle 10% 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 68?

CPW publishes no black bear success figure we can tie to unit 68 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 68?

CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put Shiras moose success in unit 68 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 Pronghorn Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for pronghorn in unit 68, 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 68, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22
2023 Colorado Elk Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for elk in unit 68, 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 68, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22

Unit 68 (La Garita)

Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 68

Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 68

Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 68

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

High ground inside the line: La Garita Mountains, Bowers Peak and Twin Peaks

Holding ground: Cochetopa Pass, Round Park and Carnero Pass

Public ground to start from: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: A-14

Unit 68 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Pronghorn in Unit 68

Pronghorn Success Rates

Pronghorn Draw Odds

Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 68

Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 68

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

High ground inside the line: Table Mountain, Lookout Mountain and Tracy Mountain

Holding ground: Hawkins Gulch, Mouds Bottom and Fullerton Park

Public ground to start from: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: D-26

Unit 68 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Mule Deer in Unit 68

Mule Deer Success Rates

Mule Deer Draw Odds

Elk Hunting in Unit 68

Where to Find Elk in Unit 68

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

High ground inside the line: Hat Mountain, Lake Mountain and Mount Lion

Holding ground: Chimney Rock Gulch, Horse Canyon and Browns Park

Public ground to start from: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: E-26

Unit 68 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Elk in Unit 68

Elk Success Rates

Elk Draw Odds

Bear Hunting in Unit 68

Where to Find Black Bear in Unit 68

The lines of the unit: Colo. 114, U.S. 285 and USFS 675

High ground inside the line: Sierra de La Lola, Devils Knob and La Garita Mountains

Holding ground: Andys Hole, California Gulch and Bull Gulch

Public ground to start from: Burro Springs STL, Laughlin Gulch STL and Spring Gulch STL

Water: Onion Spring, Boland Spring and Big Dry Gulch Spring

The herd this unit belongs to: B-13

Unit 68 terrain and land status

Named features inside the unit

How to Hunt Black Bear in Unit 68

Bear Success Rates

Bear Draw Odds

Moose Hunting in Unit 68

Where to Find Shiras Moose in Unit 68

How to Hunt Shiras Moose in Unit 68

Moose Success Rates

Moose Draw Odds

Unit Logistics & Expectations

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