Unit 81 (San Luis Valley)
Colorado Hunting Guide — Pronghorn, Elk
Unit 81 lies in Alamosa, Archuleta, Conejos and Rio Grande counties. CPW bounds it by USFS 380 and Alamosa River among others. CPW's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 79%. Federal land covers about 64% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 81
Unit 81 lies in Alamosa, Archuleta, Conejos and Rio Grande counties. CPW bounds it by USFS 380 and Alamosa River among others. CPW's harvest estimates put pronghorn success here as high as 79%. Federal land covers about 64% of it. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Pronghorn in Unit 81
CPW draws an exact line around unit 81 and says nothing about where the pronghorn stand inside it. 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 Alamosa, Archuleta, Conejos and Rio Grande counties.
The lines of the unit: USFS 380, Alamosa River and La Jara Creek
CPW has unit 81 bounded on the north by USFS 380 & 250, Alamosa River and La Jara Creek; on the east by Rio Grande; on the south by NM; on the west by Continental Divide. Read it as a frame, not as a hint about animals. What it does give you is the way in: the rivers and highways you cross, and the divides that decide which drainage you end up in.
High ground inside the line: Summit Peak, Conejos Peak and Long Trek Mountain
Named high points inside the unit include Summit Peak at 13,277 feet, Conejos Peak at 13,157 feet, Long Trek Mountain at 12,861 feet, Cornwall Mountain at 12,317 feet and Red Mountain at 12,003 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: Spruce Hole, Little Rincon and La Manga Pass
Below them sit Spruce Hole at 10,495 feet, Little Rincon at 10,308 feet, La Manga Pass at 10,234 feet, Victoria Gulch at 10,168 feet and Osier Park at 10,105 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: Alamaditas Mesa STL, Alamosa Canyon STL and Alta STL
CPW lists Alamaditas Mesa STL, Alamosa Canyon STL, Alta STL, East Bend STL and Gallegos 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 64% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Cold Springs, Old Lantern Well and McIntire Spring
Named sources include Cold Springs, Old Lantern Well, McIntire Spring, Dexter Springs, Emory Orr Spring and Neff 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-16
CPW does not manage pronghorn unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit A-16, and unit 81 is one piece of it. The rest of A-16 is unit 80 and unit 83. 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 81 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Summit Peak (13,277 ft), Conejos Peak (13,157 ft), Long Trek Mountain (12,861 ft), Cornwall Mountain (12,317 ft)
Holding ground: Gunsight Pass (12,212 ft), Dolores Canyon (10,764 ft), Haskell Rincon (10,629 ft), Alamaditas Mesa STL, Alamosa Canyon 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 81
Pronghorn Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put pronghorn success in unit 81 at 79% — 52 animals taken by 66 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 15 | 121 | 12.4% | 6 |
| Archery — 1st Season buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 54 | 1.9% | 6 |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 32 | 818 | 3.9% | 16 |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident) | 8 | 182 | 4.4% | 19 |
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 81, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- AM081O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 818 applicants for 32 licences, 3.9% drawn, 16 preference points needed
- AM081O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 182 applicants for 8 licences, 4.4% drawn, 19 preference points needed
- AM081O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 121 applicants for 15 licences, 12.4% drawn, 6 preference points needed
- AM081O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Buck Only, nonresident: 54 applicants for 1 licences, 1.9% 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. Figures checked against CPW's own statistics pages on 2026-06-09.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colorado unit 81?
What is the pronghorn success rate in unit 81?
What is the elk success rate in unit 81?
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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 81, 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 81, Hunters and harvest by weapon and season · accessed 2026-10-22