Unit 8
Colorado Hunting Guide — Pronghorn
Unit 8 lies in Larimer County and covers about 438 square miles. Ground runs from 7,094 to 10,995 feet. CPW bounds it by CR 59 and Colo. 14 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 30%. Federal land covers about 78% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 8
Unit 8 lies in Larimer County and covers about 438 square miles. Ground runs from 7,094 to 10,995 feet. CPW bounds it by CR 59 and Colo. 14 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 30%. Federal land covers about 78% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 8
What CPW publishes for unit 8 is a boundary, not a pronghorn 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 Larimer County. It runs to about 438 square miles.
The lines of the unit: CR 59, Colo. 14 and CR 103 (Laramie River Rd.)
CPW has unit 8 bounded on the north by WY; on the east by CRs 59, 80C (Cherokee Park Rd.), 67J (Prairie Divide Rd.), 74E (Red Feather Lakes Rd.) & 69 (Manhattan Rd.); on the south by Colo. 14; on the west by CR 103 (Laramie River Rd.). 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: South Bald Mountain, Middle Bald Mountain and North Bald Mountain
Named high points inside the unit include South Bald Mountain at 10,995 feet, Middle Bald Mountain at 10,979 feet, North Bald Mountain at 10,975 feet, Mount Hughes at 10,874 feet and Deadman Hill at 10,466 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: Red Mountain Pass, Williams Gulch and Bull Garden
Below them sit Red Mountain Pass at 8,243 feet, Williams Gulch at 7,786 feet, Bull Garden at 7,750 feet, Washout Gulch at 7,573 feet and Log Draw at 7,491 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: Arrowhead STL, Bellaire Lake SWA and Bliss SWA
CPW lists Arrowhead STL, Bellaire Lake SWA, Bliss SWA, Bull Mountain STL and Cherokee SWA - Upper Unit 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 78% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Jimmy Creek Spring, Whiskey Springs and Owl Spring
The water inside the unit line comes to 161 mapped stream reaches, 20 lakes and 110 stock tanks. Named sources include Jimmy Creek Spring, Whiskey Springs and Owl Spring. On ground with that many tanks, knowing which two or three hold water in your season is the most useful thing a scouting trip can tell you.
The herd this unit belongs to: A-36
CPW does not manage pronghorn unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit A-36, and unit 8 is one piece of it. The rest of A-36 is unit 7. 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 8 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 7,999–10,138 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 9,173 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 437.7 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- Private / Other — 100%
Roughly 0% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 110 tanks
- 161 stream segments
- 20 lakes
Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: South Bald Mountain (10,995 ft), North Bald Mountain (10,975 ft), Deadman Hill (10,466 ft), Little Bald Mountain (10,422 ft)
Holding ground: Liebey Park (10,022 ft), Nunn Creek Basin (9,892 ft), Sand Creek Pass (8,981 ft), Arrowhead STL, Bellaire Lake 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 Pronghorn in Unit 8
Pronghorn Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 8 at 30% — 22 animals taken by 74 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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident) | 7 | 100 | 7.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident) | 15 | 48 | 31.3% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 7 | 202 | 3.5% | 9 |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 37 | 2.7% | 9 |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 13 | 56 | 23.2% | 1 |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck 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 pronghorn in unit 8, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- AM008O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 202 applicants for 7 licences, 3.5% drawn, 9 preference points needed
- AF008O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Doe Only, resident: 100 applicants for 7 licences, 7% drawn, no preference points needed
- AM008P1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 56 applicants for 13 licences, 23.2% drawn, 1 preference point needed
- AF008P1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Doe Only, resident: 48 applicants for 15 licences, 31.3% 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 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 8?
What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 8?
Where do you stay and resupply for a unit 8 hunt?
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Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-23.
- Colorado Big Game Hunting Brochure — Game Management Unit (GMU) Descriptions (pp. 79-80-81-82) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: GMU boundary description, Counties the unit lies in, Data analysis unit (DAU) the unit belongs to · accessed 2026-10-22
- 2023 Colorado Pronghorn Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for pronghorn in unit 8, 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