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Colorado GMU 4 mule deer: terrain, access and seasons

Unit 4's terrain, access, seasons and CPW mule deer figures, with Conditions rebuilt nightly.

By Bryson, co-founder Updated

2026 season

Second rifle Oct 24–Nov 1

Every section below follows this season.

Decide

The season's licenses, draw results and harvest figures.

At a glance

Second rifle runs Oct 24–Nov 1, 2026; CPW's 2024 harvest survey put success at 64% for 199 hunters.

Size
468 sq mi
CPW unit boundary, 2025
Counties
Moffat, Routt
Elevation
6,190–10,860 ft
USGS 3DEP, 2026-10-19
Huntable public land
46%
COMaP, 2026-10-12
Second rifle license, 2026
Draw buck, doe
CPW 2026 big game brochure. Colorado has no OTC mule deer license
Success
64%
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunters
199
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunter-days per sq mi
1.8
CPW, 2024
Road miles, any vehicle
252 mi
MVUM + CDOT, open on the Oct 24 opener
Median Habitat Score
2.2 of 5
Ranks 41st of 156 for second rifle. Glassline, v4, 2026-10-19
Snow now
0 in
Deepest at Elkhead Divide SNOTEL, 2026-10-20

In short

A mid-elevation, mostly open draw-only unit with far fewer hunters than in 2022. Most of Unit 4 sits between 6,000 and 8,000 feet, with more shrubland than anything else and aspen next, then conifer. Just under half 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 678 hunters across all seasons in 2024, down from 1,703 in 2022, while second rifle success fell from 65% to 64%. Every license here is drawn, as for all Colorado mule deer.

Licenses and draw

Second rifle in Unit 4, 2026: a draw buck license (D-M-004-O2-R) and a draw doe license (D-F-004-O2-R).

  • D-M-004-O2-R buck, draw 2026 draw: residents drawn out at 1 point; nonresidents drawn out at 3 points
  • D-F-004-O2-R doe, draw 2026 draw: residents drawn out at 3 points; nonresidents none drawn

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

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 4 sits among its neighbors.

441 5 301 214 13 4

Public data only. The plan lives in the app. Map sources

Conditions

As of Oct 21: no snow on the ground at the SNOTEL station near the unit; severe drought (D2) on the US Drought Monitor over 99.3% of the unit.

Rebuilt nightly; sources at the end of the page.

Item Value Data
Snow (SNOTEL) Elkhead Divide (8,780 ft, 1.3 mi out): 0 in deep, SWE 0 in 2026-10-20 2026-10-20
Drought D2, Severe droughtShare of the unit: D0 or worse 100% · D1 or worse 100% · D2 or worse 99.3% · D3 or worse 4.8% USDM 2026-10-13 USDM 2026-10-13
Greenness vs normal, Sep 14–29 110% of the September normal (2014–2023), MODIS 16-day composite 2026-09-29 2026-09-29
Item Value Data
Seasonal road gates in the season's dates Black Mountain (110.1), 4x4: closes Oct 2West Sand Point (99.1), 4x4: closes Dec 2West Sand Point (99.1), any vehicle: closes Dec 2West Sand Point (99.1), high clearance: closes Dec 2Drill Site (99.1A), 4x4: closes Dec 2Drill Site (99.1A), any vehicle: closes Dec 2Drill Site (99.1A), high clearance: closes Dec 2Buddha (99.1B), 4x4: closes Dec 2Buddha (99.1B), any vehicle: closes Dec 2Buddha (99.1B), high clearance: closes Dec 2Rectangle Rock (99.1C), 4x4: closes Dec 2Rectangle Rock (99.1C), any vehicle: closes Dec 2Rectangle Rock (99.1C), high clearance: closes Dec 2Apex (99.1D), 4x4: closes Dec 2Apex (99.1D), any vehicle: closes Dec 2Apex (99.1D), high clearance: closes Dec 2Hook (99.1E), 4x4: closes Dec 2Hook (99.1E), any vehicle: closes Dec 2Hook (99.1E), high clearance: closes Dec 2Barb (99.1F), 4x4: closes Dec 2Barb (99.1F), any vehicle: closes Dec 2Barb (99.1F), high clearance: closes Dec 2 MVUM MVUM

7-day forecast

NWS 7-day gridpoint forecast for 8,000–9,000 ft and 10,000–11,000 ft, issued Oct 21; the second rifle opener, Oct 24, is marked; no front named in the NWS discussion for the 7 days.

8,000–9,000 ft NWS GJT gridpoint 142,175, issued 2026-10-21. Gusts and lows: gridpoint only. 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 52° 39°50° 44°47° 38°44° 34°42° 34°43° 33°42° 31°
Precip 0 in0.2 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in
Snow 0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in
Gusts 18 mph23 mph38 mph8 mph9 mph10 mph16 mph
10,000–11,000 ft NWS GJT gridpoint 143,176, issued 2026-10-21. Gusts and lows: gridpoint only. 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 46° 35°44° 40°43° 33°38° 30°37° 30°37° 29°37° 27°
Precip 0 in0.2 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in
Snow 0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in
Gusts 22 mph25 mph44 mph10 mph9 mph10 mph16 mph

Access

Unit 4 has 23 trailheads and about 252 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the second rifle opener, plus 25 more that need high clearance. Just over half 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
23
COTREX, computed 2026-10-19
Road miles open, second rifle opener Oct 24–Nov 1, by the smallest vehicle allowed. MVUM plus county and state roads.
Vehicle Miles
Any vehicle
252 mi
High clearance
25 mi
4x4
0 mi
Walking time from a drivable road Share of huntable public ground by foot time from the nearest drivable road. Foot time at a standard pace on Glassline's travel model (slope, vegetation, trails), from the nearest highway, road a high-clearance vehicle can drive, or trailhead, with every road open.
Walking time Share
Within 30 min
53.3%
30–60 min
29.3%
60–90 min
12.3%
Over 90 min
5%

Hunt codes and draw results

2 hunt codes 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-004-O2-R buck 2024 150 189 83 1 point 151 28 2 points
2025 210 268 118 1 point 156 41 2 points
2026 275 316 159 1 point 201 52 3 points
D-F-004-O2-R doe 2024 10 87 7 2 points 1 0 None Drawn
2025 10 86 6 2 points 4 0 None Drawn
2026 10 90 6 3 points 8 0 None Drawn

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 4.

  • 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

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POIs 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

6,190–10,860 ft; shrubland 45.5% and aspen 19.8%; no mapped burns since 2020.

Unit-wide figures, computed 2026-10-19.

Elevation Acres per 1,000 ft band. USGS 3DEP.
  1. 6k–7k ft 112,350 ac
  2. 7k–8k ft 78,890 ac
  3. 8k–9k ft 69,560 ac
  4. 9k–10k ft 31,050 ac
  5. 10k–11k ft 4,570 ac
Table view
BandAcres
6,000–7,000 ft112,350 ac
7,000–8,000 ft78,890 ac
8,000–9,000 ft69,560 ac
9,000–10,000 ft31,050 ac
10,000–11,000 ft4,570 ac
Slope Share of the unit per slope class.
  1. Under 5° 25.3%
  2. 5–15° 58.7%
  3. 15–25° 13.9%
  4. 25–35° 1.8%
  5. 35°+ 0.3%
Table view
Slope classShare
Flat (under 5°)25.3%
Gentle (5–15°)58.7%
Moderate (15–25°)13.9%
Steep (25–35°)1.8%
Very steep (35° and up)0.3%
Aspect Share of non-flat ground facing each way.
  1. N 11.8%
  2. NE 11.1%
  3. E 10.9%
  4. SE 11.4%
  5. S 12.4%
  6. SW 13.7%
  7. W 15.4%
  8. NW 13.2%
Table view
AspectShare
North11.8%
Northeast11.1%
East10.9%
Southeast11.4%
South12.4%
Southwest13.7%
West15.4%
Northwest13.2%
Vegetation LF2024 existing vegetation, groups of 1% or more.
  1. Shrubland 45.5%
  2. Aspen 19.8%
  3. Conifer 15.4%
  4. Grass & meadow 7.6%
  5. Pinyon-juniper 3.5%
  6. Riparian & wetland 3.5%
  7. Farmland 3%
  8. Developed 1.1%
Table view
Vegetation groupShare
Shrubland45.5%
Aspen19.8%
Conifer15.4%
Grass & meadow7.6%
Pinyon-juniper3.5%
Riparian & wetland3.5%
Farmland3%
Developed1.1%
Item Value Data
Burns No burned acres in the unit since 2020 NIFC NIFC
Openings in timber 2,065 openings of 1–40 ac, from lidar covering 91.1% of the unit 2026-10-19 2026-10-19
Habitat Score, second rifle Share of 135,500 ac of huntable public ground in each score band. Median 2.2. Scoring v4, computed 2026-10-19.
Table view
ScoreShare of scored ground
0–0.50.1%
0.5–12.1%
1–1.513.1%
1.5–223.4%
2–2.527.1%
2.5–322.5%
3–3.510.6%
3.5–41.1%
4–4.50%
4.5–50%

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 Bears Ears herd (D-2) estimate for 2025 and hunter density, 2024.

Second rifle success fell from 65% to 64% between 2022 and 2024, while the season's hunters fell by just over two-thirds. Across all seasons, hunters fell by about three-fifths between 2022 and 2024. Unit 4 is one of 7 units in CPW's Bears Ears mule deer herd (DAU D-2), estimated at about 25,000 mule deer after the 2025 hunt, with 26 bucks per 100 does.

Hunters, harvest and success
Season Year Hunters Harvest Success
Second rifle 2022 647 422 65%
2023 198 94 47%
2024 199 128 64%
All seasons 2022 1,703 1,093 64%
2023 659 312 47%
2024 678 384 57%

CPW deer harvest reports, 2022–2024. A dash: not reported.

Item Value Data
Hunter density 6 hunter-days per sq mi, all seasons CPW 2024 CPW 2024
Herd estimate (Bears Ears, D-2) 24,620 post-hunt · 38,660 in 2019 CPW 2025 CPW 2025
Buck:doe ratio 26 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 Bears Ears herd unit (D-2), which also takes in Units 3, 5, 14, 214, 301 and 441: CPW manages herds, not units. Source: CPW post-hunt population estimate, 2025.

Neighbors

Units 441, 5, 301, 214 and 13, nearest first.

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.
  1. Deer statistics: population estimates and harvest reports — Colorado Parks and Wildlife
  2. Colorado big game hunting: brochure, seasons and hunt codes — Colorado Parks and Wildlife
  3. Game Management Unit boundaries (Hunting Atlas) — Colorado Parks and Wildlife On the map: unit boundaries, 2025.
  4. COMaP: Colorado Ownership, Management and Protection — Colorado Natural Heritage Program, 2026-10-12 On the map: public land by manager, mapped 2026-07-29.
  5. 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.
  6. LANDFIRE Existing Vegetation Type (LF 2024) — U.S. Geological Survey / USDA Forest Service, LF2024
  7. 3DEP lidar point clouds (canopy height model) — U.S. Geological Survey
  8. COTREX: Colorado Trail Explorer — Colorado Parks and Wildlife On the map: trailheads, 2024.
  9. 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.
  10. Highways and major roads — Colorado Department of Transportation On the map: highways, mapped 2026-07-31.
  11. SNOTEL network: daily snow depth and snow water equivalent — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2026-10-20 On the map: SNOTEL stations.
  12. U.S. Drought Monitor — National Drought Mitigation Center, 2026-10-13
  13. MOD13Q1 vegetation indices (NDVI), 250 m 16-day — NASA LP DAAC, 2026-09-29
  14. National Weather Service 7-day gridpoint forecast — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
  15. National Weather Service Area Forecast Discussion (BOU, GJT, PUB) — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
  16. Influence of well pad activity on winter habitat selection patterns of mule deer — Sawyer, Kauffman and Nielson, Journal of Wildlife Management 73(7), 2009
  17. Sex-specific behaviors of hunted mule deer during rifle season — Rodgers, Sawyer, Mong, Stephens and Kauffman, Journal of Wildlife Management 85(2), 2021
  18. Ungulate migrations of the western United States, volume 4 — Kauffman, Lowrey, Beaupre and others, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5006, 2024
  19. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) fact sheet — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado, Fact sheet, March 2000, 2000
  20. 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
  21. 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.
  22. Gazetteer files, places — U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 On the map: towns, 2024.
  23. Species Activity Mapping: mule deer seasonal ranges — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2025 On the map: CPW mapped ranges, 2025.

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POIs are terrain candidates — places worth checking, not animal locations.