Colorado GMU 2 mule deer: terrain, access and seasons
Unit 2's terrain, access, seasons and CPW mule deer figures, with Conditions rebuilt nightly.
Decide
The season's licenses, draw results and harvest figures.
At a glance
Archery runs Sep 2–30, 2026; CPW's 2024 harvest survey put success at 0% for 7 hunters.
Muzzleloader runs Sep 12–20, 2026; CPW's 2024 harvest survey put success at 51% for 7 hunters.
Second rifle runs Oct 24–Nov 1, 2026; CPW's 2024 harvest survey put success at 83% for 21 hunters.
Third rifle runs Nov 7–15, 2026; CPW's 2024 harvest survey put success at 58% for 19 hunters.
- Size
- 1,195 sq mi
- CPW unit boundary, 2025
- County
- Moffat
- Elevation
- 5,050–9,020 ft
- USGS 3DEP, 2026-10-19
- Huntable public land
- 84%
- COMaP, 2026-10-12
- Archery license, 2026
- Draw buck
- CPW 2026 big game brochure. Colorado has no OTC mule deer license
- Success
- 0%
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunters
- 7
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunter-days per sq mi
- 0
- CPW, 2024
- Road miles, any vehicle
- 417 mi
- MVUM + CDOT, open on the Sep 2 opener
- Median Habitat Score
- 0.7 of 5
- Ranks 114th of 162 for archery. Glassline, v4, 2026-10-19
- Muzzleloader license, 2026
- Draw buck
- CPW 2026 big game brochure. Colorado has no OTC mule deer license
- Success
- 51%
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunters
- 7
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunter-days per sq mi
- 0
- CPW, 2024
- Road miles, any vehicle
- 417 mi
- MVUM + CDOT, open on the Sep 12 opener
- Median Habitat Score
- 0.7 of 5
- Ranks 112th of 124 for muzzleloader. Glassline, v4, 2026-10-19
- Second rifle license, 2026
- Draw buck
- CPW 2026 big game brochure. Colorado has no OTC mule deer license
- Success
- 83%
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunters
- 21
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunter-days per sq mi
- 0.1
- CPW, 2024
- Road miles, any vehicle
- 417 mi
- MVUM + CDOT, open on the Oct 24 opener
- Median Habitat Score
- 1.9 of 5
- Ranks 89th of 156 for second rifle. Glassline, v4, 2026-10-19
- Third rifle license, 2026
- Draw buck
- CPW 2026 big game brochure. Colorado has no OTC mule deer license
- Success
- 58%
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunters
- 19
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunter-days per sq mi
- 0.1
- CPW, 2024
- Road miles, any vehicle
- 417 mi
- MVUM + CDOT, open on the Nov 7 opener
- Median Habitat Score
- 2.3 of 5
- Ranks 21st of 123 for third rifle. Glassline, v4, 2026-10-19
In short
A low-elevation, mostly open draw-only unit. Most of Unit 2 sits between 6,000 and 7,000 feet, mostly shrubland with pinyon-juniper after it. Just over four-fifths of the unit is huntable public land, and under a tenth of that ground is more than an hour and a half on foot from a drivable road. CPW's survey counted 54 hunters across all seasons in 2024. Every license here is drawn, as for all Colorado mule deer.
Licenses and draw
Archery in Unit 2, 2026: a draw buck license (D-M-002-O1-A).
- D-M-002-O1-A buck, draw 2026 draw: residents drawn out at 4 points; nonresidents drawn out at 16 points
Muzzleloader in Unit 2, 2026: a draw buck license (D-M-002-O1-M).
- D-M-002-O1-M buck, draw 2026 draw: residents drawn out at 4 points; nonresidents drawn out at 14 points
Second rifle in Unit 2, 2026: a draw buck license (D-M-002-O2-R).
- D-M-002-O2-R buck, draw 2026 draw: residents drawn out at 11 points; nonresidents drawn out at 24 points
Third rifle in Unit 2, 2026: a draw buck license (D-M-002-O3-R).
- D-M-002-O3-R buck, draw 2026 draw: residents drawn out at 16 points; nonresidents drawn out at 24 points
CPW 2026 big game brochure; CPW primary-draw recap and drawn-out-at reports, 2024–2026, adult licenses. Every year of draw results is under Hunt codes and draw results.
Plan
The map, Conditions, access, hunt codes and draw results for the season, and what the research says.
Map
Huntable public land (84% of the unit) by manager, with roads drawn as open on the archery opener, Sep 2; CPW's mapped ranges switch on from the layer chips.
Huntable public land (84% of the unit) by manager, with roads drawn as open on the muzzleloader opener, Sep 12; CPW's mapped ranges switch on from the layer chips.
Huntable public land (84% of the unit) by manager, with roads drawn as open on the second rifle opener, Oct 24; CPW's mapped ranges switch on from the layer chips.
Huntable public land (84% of the unit) by manager, with roads drawn as open on the third rifle opener, Nov 7; CPW's mapped ranges switch on from the layer chips.
The interactive map (public land by manager, roads by vehicle class, burns, trailheads, SNOTEL stations, terrain and CPW's mapped ranges) needs JavaScript. The outline shows where Unit 2 sits among its neighbors.
Click or tap the map to zoom and pan
Layers
Public land
Roads, open on the second rifle opener
Burns and stations
Terrain
CPW ranges
CPW Species Activity Mapping, 2025. These are the ranges CPW has mapped for mule deer, not animal locations.
Public data only. The plan lives in the app. Map sources
Conditions
As of Oct 21: no SNOTEL station sits within 6 mi of the unit; moderate drought (D1) on the US Drought Monitor over 100% of the unit.
Rebuilt nightly; sources at the end of the page.
| Item | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| SNOTEL | No SNOTEL station within 6 mi of the unit | |
| Drought | D1, Moderate droughtShare of the unit: D0 or worse 100% · D1 or worse 100% USDM 2026-10-13 | USDM 2026-10-13 |
| Greenness vs normal, Sep 14–29 | 121% of the September normal (2014–2023), MODIS 16-day composite 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-29 |
7-day forecast
The 2026 archery season ended Sep 30; no forecast is shown for it.
The 2026 muzzleloader season ended Sep 20; no forecast is shown for it.
NWS 7-day gridpoint forecast for 8,000–9,000 ft, issued Oct 21; the second rifle opener, Oct 24, is marked; no front named in the NWS discussion for the 7 days.
| Wed 10/21 | Thu 10/22 | Fri 10/23 | Sat 10/24 Opener | Sun 10/25 | Mon 10/26 | Tue 10/27 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High / low | 54° 42° | 52° 45° | 48° 39° | 44° 36° | 43° 34° | 46° 35° | 46° 33° |
| Precip | 0 in | 0.2 in | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in |
| Snow | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in | 0 in |
| Gusts | 24 mph | 23 mph | 37 mph | 24 mph | 16 mph | 13 mph | 20 mph |
The 7-day forecast for the third rifle opener, Nov 7, appears here from Nov 1.
Access
Unit 2 has 2 trailheads and about 417 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the archery opener, plus 14 more that need high clearance. About four-fifths of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and under a tenth is more than an hour and a half away.
Unit 2 has 2 trailheads and about 417 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the muzzleloader opener, plus 14 more that need high clearance. About four-fifths of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and under a tenth is more than an hour and a half away.
Unit 2 has 2 trailheads and about 417 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the second rifle opener, plus 14 more that need high clearance. About four-fifths of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and under a tenth is more than an hour and a half away.
Unit 2 has 2 trailheads and about 417 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the third rifle opener, plus 14 more that need high clearance. About four-fifths of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and under a tenth is more than an hour and a half away.
- Trailheads
- 2
- COTREX, computed 2026-10-19
Hunt codes and draw results
1 hunt code for archery, 2026, with CPW's primary-draw results for 2024–2026.
| Hunt code | Year | Licenses | Residents | Nonresidents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | |||
| D-M-002-O1-A buck | 2024 | 7 | 23 | 6 | 3 points | 39 | 1 | 15 points |
| 2025 | 7 | 25 | 6 | 4 points | 24 | 1 | 17 points | |
| 2026 | 10 | 26 | 6 | 4 points | 46 | 2 | 16 points | |
1 hunt code for muzzleloader, 2026, with CPW's primary-draw results for 2024–2026.
| Hunt code | Year | Licenses | Residents | Nonresidents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | |||
| D-M-002-O1-M buck | 2024 | 7 | 31 | 5 | 4 points | 19 | 1 | 15 points |
| 2025 | 7 | 27 | 6 | 4 points | 13 | 1 | 19 points | |
| 2026 | 10 | 29 | 6 | 4 points | 14 | 2 | 14 points | |
1 hunt code for second rifle, 2026, with CPW's primary-draw results for 2024–2026.
| Hunt code | Year | Licenses | Residents | Nonresidents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | |||
| D-M-002-O2-R buck | 2024 | 20 | 75 | 13 | 10 points | 60 | 3 | 17 points |
| 2025 | 20 | 95 | 13 | 9 points | 75 | 3 | 17 points | |
| 2026 | 20 | 131 | 13 | 11 points | 122 | 3 | 24 points | |
1 hunt code for third rifle, 2026, with CPW's primary-draw results for 2024–2026.
| Hunt code | Year | Licenses | Residents | Nonresidents | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | 1st-choice applicants | Drawn | Drawn out at | |||
| D-M-002-O3-R buck | 2024 | 20 | 131 | 13 | 14 points | 99 | 3 | 21 points |
| 2025 | 20 | 115 | 13 | 13 points | 105 | 3 | 24 points | |
| 2026 | 20 | 150 | 13 | 16 points | 133 | 3 | 24 points | |
Hunt codes from the CPW 2026 big game brochure. A code valid in several units counts every hunter in all of them.
Draw results are CPW's primary-draw recap and drawn-out-at reports, 2024–2026, adult licenses. "Drawn out at" is the lowest preference-point level that drew a license; "Leftover" means licenses remained after the draw. A code valid in several units counts every applicant for all of them. Source: CPW draw reports, 2024–2026.
What the research says for this season
Findings from published studies and agency work, as tendencies. They describe how mule deer have behaved where they were studied, not where they are in Unit 2.
-
In a Wyoming study, mule deer avoided well pads more as vehicle traffic grew; cutting the traffic shrank the ground the deer avoided.
Sawyer et al., 2009 Single study
-
In a south-central Wyoming herd, mature bucks moved away from motorized routes into roadless cover during a rifle season while does stayed on their usual forage, and hunting barely changed when deer migrated.
Rodgers et al., 2021 Single study
-
In Colorado's Gunnison Basin, GPS-collared mule deer made their fall migration from late October into early November, along corridors averaging about 17 miles.
Kauffman et al., 2024 Single study
-
In a south-central Wyoming herd, mature bucks moved away from motorized routes into roadless cover during a rifle season while does stayed on their usual forage, and hunting barely changed when deer migrated.
Rodgers et al., 2021 Single study
-
Colorado mule deer breed from mid-November to mid-December, so the third and fourth rifle seasons overlap the rut.
Colorado NRCS, 2000 Agency guidance
-
In a Wyoming GPS study, the date mule deer reached winter range swung by weeks between years, following snow and falling temperatures rather than the calendar.
Monteith et al., 2011 Single study
Build a plan for Unit 2, free.
Start freePOIs are terrain candidates — places worth checking, not animal locations.
Reference
Terrain, the multi-year numbers, neighbors and sources. Each opens in place.
Terrain and habitat
5,050–9,020 ft; shrubland 64.8% and pinyon-juniper 22.2%; no mapped burns since 2020.
Unit-wide figures, computed 2026-10-19.
Table view
| Band | Acres |
|---|---|
| 5,000–6,000 ft | 69,340 ac |
| 6,000–7,000 ft | 545,120 ac |
| 7,000–8,000 ft | 140,470 ac |
| 8,000–9,000 ft | 4,410 ac |
Table view
| Slope class | Share |
|---|---|
| Flat (under 5°) | 46.3% |
| Gentle (5–15°) | 34.4% |
| Moderate (15–25°) | 12.7% |
| Steep (25–35°) | 4.7% |
| Very steep (35° and up) | 1.9% |
Table view
| Aspect | Share |
|---|---|
| North | 10.4% |
| Northeast | 12.2% |
| East | 14.3% |
| Southeast | 13% |
| South | 13.5% |
| Southwest | 13.1% |
| West | 12.6% |
| Northwest | 10.9% |
Table view
| Vegetation group | Share |
|---|---|
| Shrubland | 64.8% |
| Pinyon-juniper | 22.2% |
| Rock & scree | 9% |
| Grass & meadow | 1.4% |
| Conifer | 1.2% |
| Item | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Burns | No burned acres in the unit since 2020 NIFC | NIFC |
| Openings in timber | 2,342 openings of 1–40 ac, from lidar covering 100% of the unit 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-19 |
Table view
| Score | Share of scored ground |
|---|---|
| 0–0.5 | 27.7% |
| 0.5–1 | 47% |
| 1–1.5 | 15.4% |
| 1.5–2 | 6.8% |
| 2–2.5 | 2.6% |
| 2.5–3 | 0.4% |
| 3–3.5 | 0.1% |
| 3.5–4 | 0% |
| 4–4.5 | 0% |
| 4.5–5 | 0% |
Glassline's Habitat Score grades terrain and habitat for the season on food, water, breeding and shelter. Shown here as one distribution for the whole unit, never a map: it grades ground, not animal locations.
Table view
| Score | Share of scored ground |
|---|---|
| 0–0.5 | 27.7% |
| 0.5–1 | 47% |
| 1–1.5 | 15.4% |
| 1.5–2 | 6.8% |
| 2–2.5 | 2.6% |
| 2.5–3 | 0.4% |
| 3–3.5 | 0.1% |
| 3.5–4 | 0% |
| 4–4.5 | 0% |
| 4.5–5 | 0% |
Glassline's Habitat Score grades terrain and habitat for the season on food, water, breeding and shelter. Shown here as one distribution for the whole unit, never a map: it grades ground, not animal locations.
Table view
| Score | Share of scored ground |
|---|---|
| 0–0.5 | 0% |
| 0.5–1 | 1.3% |
| 1–1.5 | 11.6% |
| 1.5–2 | 44% |
| 2–2.5 | 34.6% |
| 2.5–3 | 8.1% |
| 3–3.5 | 0.3% |
| 3.5–4 | 0% |
| 4–4.5 | 0% |
| 4.5–5 | 0% |
Glassline's Habitat Score grades terrain and habitat for the season on food, water, breeding and shelter. Shown here as one distribution for the whole unit, never a map: it grades ground, not animal locations.
Table view
| Score | Share of scored ground |
|---|---|
| 0–0.5 | 0% |
| 0.5–1 | 0.2% |
| 1–1.5 | 3.1% |
| 1.5–2 | 19% |
| 2–2.5 | 47% |
| 2.5–3 | 25.4% |
| 3–3.5 | 5.2% |
| 3.5–4 | 0% |
| 4–4.5 | 0% |
| 4.5–5 | 0% |
Glassline's Habitat Score grades terrain and habitat for the season on food, water, breeding and shelter. Shown here as one distribution for the whole unit, never a map: it grades ground, not animal locations.
The numbers
CPW harvest estimates 2022–2024 for the chosen season and all seasons, the Little Snake herd (D-1) estimate for 2025 and hunter density, 2024.
CPW counted 7 archery hunters in 2024; on so few, the success rate swings widely from year to year. Unit 2 is one of 3 units in CPW's Little Snake mule deer herd (DAU D-1), estimated at about 1,300 mule deer after the 2025 hunt, with 28 bucks per 100 does.
CPW counted 7 muzzleloader hunters in 2024; on so few, the success rate swings widely from year to year. Unit 2 is one of 3 units in CPW's Little Snake mule deer herd (DAU D-1), estimated at about 1,300 mule deer after the 2025 hunt, with 28 bucks per 100 does.
CPW counted 21 second rifle hunters in 2024; on so few, the success rate swings widely from year to year. Unit 2 is one of 3 units in CPW's Little Snake mule deer herd (DAU D-1), estimated at about 1,300 mule deer after the 2025 hunt, with 28 bucks per 100 does.
CPW counted 19 third rifle hunters in 2024; on so few, the success rate swings widely from year to year. Unit 2 is one of 3 units in CPW's Little Snake mule deer herd (DAU D-1), estimated at about 1,300 mule deer after the 2025 hunt, with 28 bucks per 100 does.
| Season | Year | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | 2022 | 4 | 2 | 46% |
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | 33% | |
| 2024 | 7 | 0 | 0% | |
| All seasons | 2022 | 44 | 38 | 86% |
| 2023 | 53 | 30 | 57% | |
| 2024 | 54 | 32 | 59% |
CPW deer harvest reports, 2022–2024. A dash: not reported.
| Season | Year | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muzzleloader | 2022 | 6 | 5 | 75% |
| 2023 | 6 | 2 | 28% | |
| 2024 | 7 | 4 | 51% | |
| All seasons | 2022 | 44 | 38 | 86% |
| 2023 | 53 | 30 | 57% | |
| 2024 | 54 | 32 | 59% |
CPW deer harvest reports, 2022–2024. A dash: not reported.
| Season | Year | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second rifle | 2022 | 14 | 14 | 100% |
| 2023 | 21 | 14 | 66% | |
| 2024 | 21 | 18 | 83% | |
| All seasons | 2022 | 44 | 38 | 86% |
| 2023 | 53 | 30 | 57% | |
| 2024 | 54 | 32 | 59% |
CPW deer harvest reports, 2022–2024. A dash: not reported.
| Season | Year | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third rifle | 2022 | 20 | 18 | 89% |
| 2023 | 19 | 13 | 66% | |
| 2024 | 19 | 11 | 58% | |
| All seasons | 2022 | 44 | 38 | 86% |
| 2023 | 53 | 30 | 57% | |
| 2024 | 54 | 32 | 59% |
CPW deer harvest reports, 2022–2024. A dash: not reported.
| Item | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter density | 0 hunter-days per sq mi, all seasons CPW 2024 | CPW 2024 |
| Herd estimate (Little Snake, D-1) | 1,270 post-hunt · 2,220 in 2019 CPW 2025 | CPW 2025 |
| Buck:doe ratio | 28 bucks per 100 does CPW 2025 | CPW 2025 |
CPW harvest figures are survey estimates, not counts, and they cover the whole unit, private land included. Source: CPW harvest reports, 2022–2024.
Herd numbers cover the whole Little Snake herd unit (D-1), which also takes in Units 1 and 201: CPW manages herds, not units. Source: CPW post-hunt population estimate, 2025.
Neighbors
Units 201, 1, 3, 10 and 11, nearest first.
- Unit 201 → All seasons success 91% (2024)86% huntable public landDraw only
- Unit 1 → All seasons success 63% (2024)65% huntable public landDraw only
- Unit 3 → All seasons success 56% (2024)54% huntable public landDraw only
- Unit 10 → All seasons success 86% (2024)64% huntable public landDraw only
- Unit 11 → All seasons success 48% (2024)69% huntable public landDraw only
From each unit's own page; dates there.
What this page can't tell you
Closures, private ground, this year's pressure and animal locations.
- Closures. Forest, fire and road closure orders change through the season and aren't checked here. The managing agency's current order governs.
- Private ground. Land with no public hunting access is hunted only with the owner's permission, and the public-land share above leaves it out.
- This year's pressure. CPW's hunter numbers run a year or more behind the season you're planning.
- Animal locations. These are terrain, access, harvest and herd figures, and CPW's mapped ranges are range lines; none of them places an animal.
Sources
23 datasets and studies, dated where the source dates them.
- Deer statistics: population estimates and harvest reports — Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- Colorado big game hunting: brochure, seasons and hunt codes — Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- Game Management Unit boundaries (Hunting Atlas) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife On the map: unit boundaries, 2025.
- COMaP: Colorado Ownership, Management and Protection — Colorado Natural Heritage Program, 2026-10-12 On the map: public land by manager, mapped 2026-07-29.
- 3D Elevation Program (3DEP), 1/3 arc-second — U.S. Geological Survey On the map: shaded relief from 5 m and 10 m lidar elevation, mapped 2026-10-04; elevation bands and slope, mapped 2026-10-04.
- LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Type (LF 2024) — U.S. Geological Survey / USDA Forest Service, LF2024
- 3DEP lidar point clouds (canopy height model) — U.S. Geological Survey
- COTREX: Colorado Trail Explorer — Colorado Parks and Wildlife On the map: trailheads, 2024.
- Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) — USDA Forest Service On the map: roads by vehicle class, drawn as open on the selected season's opener, mapped 2026-08-22.
- Highways and major roads — Colorado Department of Transportation On the map: highways, mapped 2026-07-31.
- U.S. Drought Monitor — National Drought Mitigation Center, 2026-10-13
- MOD13Q1 vegetation indices (NDVI), 250 m 16-day — NASA LP DAAC, 2026-09-29
- National Weather Service 7-day gridpoint forecast — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
- National Weather Service Area Forecast Discussion (BOU, GJT, PUB) — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
- Influence of well pad activity on winter habitat selection patterns of mule deer — Sawyer, Kauffman and Nielson, Journal of Wildlife Management 73(7), 2009
- Sex-specific behaviors of hunted mule deer during rifle season — Rodgers, Sawyer, Mong, Stephens and Kauffman, Journal of Wildlife Management 85(2), 2021
- Ungulate migrations of the western United States, volume 4 — Kauffman, Lowrey, Beaupre and others, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5006, 2024
- Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) fact sheet — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado, Fact sheet, March 2000, 2000
- Timing of seasonal migration in mule deer: effects of climate, plant phenology, and life-history characteristics — Monteith, Bleich, Stephenson, Pierce, Conner, Klaver and Bowyer, Ecosphere 2(4), 2011
- Wildland Fire Interagency Geospatial Services (WFIGS) fire perimeters — National Interagency Fire Center On the map: burns over 100 acres since 2020, mapped 2026-06-29.
- SNOTEL network: daily snow depth and snow water equivalent — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service On the map: SNOTEL stations.
- Gazetteer files, places — U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 On the map: towns, 2024.
- Species Activity Mapping: mule deer seasonal ranges — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2025 On the map: CPW mapped ranges, 2025.
Build a plan for Unit 2, free.
Start freePOIs are terrain candidates — places worth checking, not animal locations.