Unit 96
Colorado Hunting Guide — Mule Deer
Unit 96 lies in Logan, Washington and Morgan counties and covers about 249 square miles. Ground runs from 4,027 to 4,530 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 144 and Morgan CRs W.5 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 25%. No federal land falls inside it, so every acre is a permission question. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
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Mule Deer Hunting in Unit 96
Unit 96 lies in Logan, Washington and Morgan counties and covers about 249 square miles. Ground runs from 4,027 to 4,530 feet. CPW bounds it by Colo. 144 and Morgan CRs W.5 among others. CPW's harvest estimates put mule deer success here as high as 25%. No federal land falls inside it, so every acre is a permission question. Check land status on a current map before you plan a route.
Where to Find Mule Deer in Unit 96
CPW draws an exact line around unit 96 and says nothing about where the mule deer stand inside it. 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 Logan, Washington and Morgan counties. It runs to about 249 square miles.
The lines of the unit: Colo. 144, Morgan CRs W.5 and Colo. 71
CPW has unit 96 bounded on the north by Colo. 144, Morgan CRs W.5, 13.5, W, 28 & W.5, Colo. 71, Morgan CR W.7 (becomes Washington CR 58 at Co. line), Washington CR 58 (becomes Logan CR 17.7 at Co. line), Logan CRs 17.7 & 6 and U.S. 6; on the east and south by U.S. 6 and I-76; o W by Colo. 144. 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: Narrows
Named high points inside the unit include Narrows at 4,311 feet. None carries a public-land flag we trust, so settle the ownership question before you plan to stand on one. Mule deer on open country use every fold and draw there is, and almost none of the flat.
Holding ground: Bijou Flats, Milliron Draw and Cottonwood Draw
Below them sit Bijou Flats at 4,416 feet, Milliron Draw at 4,399 feet, Cottonwood Draw at 4,359 feet, Cris Lee Draw at 4,281 feet and L F Draw at 4,094 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: Atwood STL, Atwood SWA and Brush SWA
CPW lists Atwood STL, Atwood SWA, Brush SWA, Cottonwood SWA and Dune Ridge 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 0% of the unit on top of those.
Water: Sterling Wells
The water inside the unit line comes to 65 mapped stream reaches, 34 lakes and 144 stock tanks. Named sources include Sterling Wells. 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: D-44
CPW does not manage mule deer unit by unit. It manages them as data analysis unit D-44, and unit 96 is one piece of it. The rest of D-44 is unit 91, unit 92, unit 94 and unit 951. 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.
Reading the land status
Our ownership read for this unit is approximate — it comes out as Private / Other 85% and BLM 15%, so treat it as a starting point and check a current land-status layer before you plan a route. A grid sample of the unit reads 4,027 to 4,530 feet, averaging 4,279 — a sample rather than a survey, so read the ends as approximate. There is not much relief, so the animals move laterally rather than up and down.
Unit 96 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 4,027–4,530 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,279 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 248.7 sq mi inside the boundary.
Who owns the ground
- BLM — 15%
- Private / Other — 85%
Roughly 15% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 144 tanks
- 65 stream segments
- 34 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: Narrows (4,311 ft)
Holding ground: Milliron Draw (4,399 ft), Bijou Flats (4,416 ft), Cottonwood Draw (4,359 ft), Atwood STL, Atwood SWA, Brush SWA, Cottonwood 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 Mule Deer in Unit 96
Mule Deer Success Rates
CPW's 2023 harvest estimates put mule deer success in unit 96 at 22% — 145 animals taken by 658 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 — 10% success, 10 taken by 100 hunters
- Rifle — 25% success, 125 taken by 509 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery — 1st Season either sex (resident) | 94 | 208 | 45.2% | — |
| Archery — 1st Season either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 4 | 25.0% | 2 |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident) | 49 | 160 | 30.6% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (resident) | 47 | 169 | 27.8% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 53 | 216 | 24.5% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 2 | 50.0% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (resident) | 59 | 248 | 23.8% | — |
| Rifle — 1st Season buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 6 | 16.7% | 2 |
| Rifle — 5th Season buck only (resident) | 95 | 172 | 55.2% | — |
| Rifle — 5th Season buck only (nonresident) | 0 | 2 | 0.0% | — |
| Muzzleloader — 2nd Season doe only (resident) | 17 | 44 | 38.6% | — |
| Muzzleloader — 2nd Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Muzzleloader — 2nd Season buck only (resident) | 31 | 58 | 53.4% | — |
| Muzzleloader — 2nd Season buck only (nonresident) | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
| Any Legal Method — 5th Season doe only (resident) | 33 | 87 | 37.9% | — |
| Any Legal Method — 5th Season doe only (nonresident) | 0 | 1 | 0.0% | — |
| Any Legal Method — 6th Season doe only (resident) | 17 | 36 | 47.2% | — |
| Any Legal Method — 6th Season doe 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 EngineCPW's 2026 draw recap for mule deer in unit 96, by hunt code, with resident and nonresident kept apart because the two draw from different licence pools:
- DM096O1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 248 applicants for 59 licences, 23.8% drawn, no preference points needed
- DM096L1R — Rifle, 1st Season, Buck Only, resident: 216 applicants for 53 licences, 24.5% drawn, no preference points needed
- DE096O1A — Archery, 1st Season, Either Sex, resident: 208 applicants for 94 licences, 45.2% drawn, no preference points needed
- DM096P5R — Rifle, 5th Season, Buck Only, resident: 172 applicants for 95 licences, 55.2% 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 11 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
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What is the mule deer success rate in unit 96?
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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 Deer Harvest Estimates — Colorado Parks and Wildlife · supports: Percent success for mule deer in unit 96, 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