Unit 73
Colorado Hunting Guide — Elk
Unit 73 lies in Montezuma County. CPW bounds it by Colo. 184 and Bear Creek among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 11%. Federal land covers about 37% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Elk Hunting in Unit 73
Unit 73 lies in Montezuma County. CPW bounds it by Colo. 184 and Bear Creek among others. CPW's harvest estimates put elk success here as high as 11%. Federal land covers about 37% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Elk in Unit 73
What CPW publishes for unit 73 is a boundary, not a elk 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 Montezuma County.
The lines of the unit: Colo. 184, Bear Creek and Montezuma-La Plata Co. line
CPW has unit 73 bounded on the north by Colo. 184 & 145 and Bear Creek; on the east by Montezuma-La Plata Co. line; on the south by NM; on the west by U.S. 491. 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 Plata Mountains, Hesperus Mountain and Mount Moss
Named high points inside the unit include La Plata Mountains at 13,216 feet, Hesperus Mountain at 13,182 feet, Mount Moss at 13,143 feet, Lavender Peak at 13,136 feet and Spiller Peak at 13,070 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: Townsend Basin, Beef Pasture and Lucy Halls Park
Below them sit Townsend Basin at 10,315 feet, Beef Pasture at 9,918 feet, Lucy Halls Park at 9,839 feet, Schubert Flat at 9,809 feet and Jersey Jim Flats at 9,735 feet. Those are the basins, parks and bottoms this unit has, and they are what you glass into from above. Work out which of them you can see from one position before you pick a camp.
Public ground to start from: Dolores River SWA, Joe Moore Reservoir SWA and Menefee Peak STL
CPW lists Dolores River SWA, Joe Moore Reservoir SWA, Menefee Peak STL, Puett Reservoir SWA and Summit Reservoir 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 37% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Longwill Spring, Walker Spring and Cedar Spring
Named sources include Longwill Spring, Walker Spring, Cedar Spring, Gray Beal Spring, Rock Springs and Wing 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-24
CPW does not manage elk unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit E-24, and unit 73 is one piece of it. The rest of E-24 is unit 70, unit 71, unit 72 and unit 711. 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 73 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: La Plata Mountains (13,216 ft), Burwell Peak (12,614 ft), Helmet Peak (11,952 ft), Burro Mountain (11,554 ft)
Holding ground: Rush Basin (11,849 ft), Windy Gap (11,021 ft), Townsend Basin (10,315 ft), Dolores River SWA, Joe Moore Reservoir 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 73
Elk Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put elk success in unit 73 at 10% — 59 animals taken by 605 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 — 11% success, 15 taken by 142 hunters
- Muzzleloader — 11% success, 7 taken by 67 hunters
- Rifle — 9% success, 36 taken by 395 hunters
These are the agency's own printed figures for this unit, not a modelled estimate and not a state average. They describe one season, so check CPW's current harvest estimates before you read a trend into them.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (resident) | 7 | 112 | 6.3% | 5 |
| Rifle — 2nd Season cow only (nonresident) | 1 | 23 | 4.3% | 6 |
| Rifle — 5th Season cow only (resident) | 6 | 30 | 20.0% | — |
| Rifle — 5th Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (resident) | 10 | 99 | 10.1% | 2 |
| Rifle — 3rd Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 19 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 4th Season cow only (resident) | 9 | 44 | 20.5% | — |
| Rifle — 4th Season cow only (nonresident) | 0 | 1 | 0.0% | — |
Data from 2026 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.
Open in Draw Odds EngineCPW's 2026 draw recap for elk in unit 73, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- EF073O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, resident: 112 applicants for 7 licences, 6.3% drawn, 5 preference points needed
- EF073O3R — Rifle, 3rd Season, Cow Only, resident: 99 applicants for 10 licences, 10.1% drawn, 2 preference points needed
- EF073O4R — Rifle, 4th Season, Cow Only, resident: 44 applicants for 9 licences, 20.5% drawn, no preference points needed
- EF073O2R — Rifle, 2nd Season, Cow Only, nonresident: 23 applicants for 1 licences, 4.3% drawn, 6 preference points needed
Colorado runs a pure preference-point draw, so the point figure above is the requirement the agency published for that code in that year, not a forecast for the next one. There are 2 further code-and-residency combinations in the recap for this unit. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit 73?
What is the elk success rate in unit 73?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-23.
- Colorado Big Game Hunting Brochure — Game Management Unit (GMU) Descriptions (pp. 79-80-81-82) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Data analysis unit (DAU) the unit belongs to · accessed 2026-10-22
- 2023 Colorado Elk Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for elk in unit 73, 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