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Colorado GMU 85 mule deer: terrain, access and seasons

Unit 85'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 47% for 319 hunters.

Size
1,174 sq mi
CPW unit boundary, 2025
Counties
Huerfano, Las Animas
Elevation
5,980–13,580 ft
USGS 3DEP, 2026-10-19
Huntable public land
16%
COMaP, 2026-10-12
Second rifle license, 2026
Draw buck
CPW 2026 big game brochure. Colorado has no OTC mule deer license
Success
47%
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunters
319
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunter-days per sq mi
1.1
CPW, 2024
Road miles, any vehicle
777 mi
MVUM + CDOT, open on the Oct 24 opener
Median Habitat Score
2.1 of 5
Ranks 61st of 156 for second rifle. Glassline, v4, 2026-10-19
Snow now
1 in
Deepest at Apishapa SNOTEL, 2026-10-20

In short

A mid-elevation, mostly timbered draw-only unit with more far-from-road ground than most units. Most of Unit 85 sits between 6,000 and 8,000 feet, with more conifer than anything else and grass and meadow next. Just under a fifth of the unit is huntable public land, and just under a third of that ground is more than an hour and a half on foot from a drivable road. CPW's survey counted 763 hunters across all seasons in 2024, up from 726 in 2022, while second rifle success held at 47%. Every license here is drawn, as for all Colorado mule deer.

Licenses and draw

Second rifle in Unit 85, 2026: a draw buck license (D-M-085-O2-R).

  • D-M-085-O2-R buck, draw 2026 draw: drawn out at 0 points for residents and nonresidents

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 85 sits among its neighbors.

851 133 83 134 861 85

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

Conditions

As of Oct 21: 1 in of snow at Apishapa SNOTEL, the deepest reading near the unit; severe drought (D2) on the US Drought Monitor over 94.2% of the unit.

Rebuilt nightly; sources at the end of the page.

Item Value Data
Snow (SNOTEL) Apishapa (10,000 ft): 1 in deep, SWE 0 inWhiskey Ck (10,260 ft, 2.3 mi out): 1 in deep, SWE 0 inCulebra #2 (10,560 ft, 3.3 mi out): 0 in deep, SWE 0 inTrinchera (10,860 ft, 3.5 mi out): 0 in deep, SWE 0.1 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 94.2% USDM 2026-10-13 USDM 2026-10-13
Greenness vs normal, Sep 14–29 105% of the September normal (2014–2023), MODIS 16-day composite 2026-09-29 2026-09-29

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, and the front is shaded.

8,000–9,000 ft NWS PUB gridpoint 82,28, issued 2026-10-21. Gusts and lows: gridpoint only. Front Sat 10/24: PUB: cold front Saturday (discussion of 10/21).
Wed 10/21 Thu 10/22 Fri 10/23 Sat 10/24 Front Opener Sun 10/25 Mon 10/26 Tue 10/27
High / low 63° 45°63° 44°61° 42°48° 36°44° 35°46° 33°50° 33°
Precip 0 in0 in0 in0.5 in0.4 in0 in0 in
Snow 0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in0 in
Gusts 13 mph18 mph28 mph15 mph8 mph9 mph10 mph
10,000–11,000 ft NWS PUB gridpoint 82,27, issued 2026-10-21. Gusts and lows: gridpoint only. Front Sat 10/24: PUB: cold front Saturday (discussion of 10/21).
Wed 10/21 Thu 10/22 Fri 10/23 Sat 10/24 Front Opener Sun 10/25 Mon 10/26 Tue 10/27
High / low 51° 37°52° 42°49° 38°37° 32°34° 31°34° 31°37° 31°
Precip 0 in0 in0 in0.6 in0.5 in0 in0 in
Snow 0 in0 in0 in2.8 in2 in0.1 in0 in
Gusts 16 mph26 mph33 mph17 mph10 mph10 mph10 mph

Access

Unit 85 has 17 trailheads and about 777 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the second rifle opener, plus 103 more that need high clearance. About a third of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and just under a third is more than an hour and a half away.

Trailheads
17
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
777 mi
High clearance
103 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
31.5%
30–60 min
21.7%
60–90 min
17.5%
Over 90 min
29.3%

Hunt codes and draw results

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-085-O2-R buck 2024 400 393 228 0 points 115 67 0 points
2025 400 379 210 0 points 154 80 0 points
2026 400 383 206 0 points 142 68 0 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 85.

  • Across Utah and Nevada, GPS-collared mule deer avoided high-severity burns at fine scale for up to 30 years after a fire.

    Mills et al., 2026 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

Build a plan for Unit 85, free.

Start free

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

5,980–13,580 ft; conifer 40.4% and grass & meadow 20.3%; burns: Sheep Head Fire, Titan Fire and Trujillo Creek Fire (2026 and 2023).

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

Elevation Acres per 1,000 ft band. USGS 3DEP.
  1. 6k–7k ft 241,100 ac
  2. 7k–8k ft 292,050 ac
  3. 8k–9k ft 114,110 ac
  4. 9k–10k ft 55,920 ac
  5. 10k–11k ft 28,820 ac
  6. 11k–12k ft 12,480 ac
  7. 12k–13k ft 2,910 ac
  8. 13k–14k ft 280 ac
Table view
BandAcres
6,000–7,000 ft241,100 ac
7,000–8,000 ft292,050 ac
8,000–9,000 ft114,110 ac
9,000–10,000 ft55,920 ac
10,000–11,000 ft28,820 ac
11,000–12,000 ft12,480 ac
12,000–13,000 ft2,910 ac
13,000–14,000 ft280 ac
Slope Share of the unit per slope class.
  1. Under 5° 30.3%
  2. 5–15° 37.1%
  3. 15–25° 21.6%
  4. 25–35° 9.6%
  5. 35°+ 1.5%
Table view
Slope classShare
Flat (under 5°)30.3%
Gentle (5–15°)37.1%
Moderate (15–25°)21.6%
Steep (25–35°)9.6%
Very steep (35° and up)1.5%
Aspect Share of non-flat ground facing each way.
  1. N 14.4%
  2. NE 14.6%
  3. E 15%
  4. SE 14.9%
  5. S 11.9%
  6. SW 9.5%
  7. W 8.7%
  8. NW 10.9%
Table view
AspectShare
North14.4%
Northeast14.6%
East15%
Southeast14.9%
South11.9%
Southwest9.5%
West8.7%
Northwest10.9%
Vegetation LF2024 existing vegetation, groups of 1% or more.
  1. Conifer 40.4%
  2. Grass & meadow 20.3%
  3. Pinyon-juniper 17.5%
  4. Shrubland 14.1%
  5. Riparian & wetland 2.8%
  6. Aspen 1.8%
  7. Developed 1.6%
Table view
Vegetation groupShare
Conifer40.4%
Grass & meadow20.3%
Pinyon-juniper17.5%
Shrubland14.1%
Riparian & wetland2.8%
Aspen1.8%
Developed1.6%
Item Value Data
Burned 0–3 years ago 2,400 acSheep Head Fire (2026), 1,300 acTitan Fire (2023), 900 acTrujillo Creek Fire (2023), 100 ac NIFC since 2020 NIFC since 2020
Openings in timber 5,460 openings of 1–40 ac, from lidar covering 99.7% of the unit 2026-10-19 2026-10-19
Habitat Score, second rifle Share of 114,700 ac of huntable public ground in each score band. Median 2.1. Scoring v4, computed 2026-10-19.
Table view
ScoreShare of scored ground
0–0.50%
0.5–10.7%
1–1.57.2%
1.5–232.6%
2–2.531.1%
2.5–321.1%
3–3.56.8%
3.5–40.5%
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 Trinidad herd (D-32) estimate for 2025 and hunter density, 2024.

Second rifle success held at 47% between 2022 and 2024, while the season's hunters rose by about a tenth. Across all seasons, hunters held about steady between 2022 and 2024. Unit 85 is one of 3 units in CPW's Trinidad mule deer herd (DAU D-32), estimated at about 8,400 mule deer after the 2025 hunt, with 31 bucks per 100 does.

Hunters, harvest and success
Season Year Hunters Harvest Success
Second rifle 2022 284 132 47%
2023 310 161 52%
2024 319 149 47%
All seasons 2022 726 378 52%
2023 833 444 53%
2024 763 351 46%

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

Item Value Data
Hunter density 3 hunter-days per sq mi, all seasons CPW 2024 CPW 2024
Herd estimate (Trinidad, D-32) 8,370 post-hunt · 9,930 in 2019 CPW 2025 CPW 2025
Buck:doe ratio 31 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 Trinidad herd unit (D-32), which also takes in Units 140 and 851: CPW manages herds, not units. Source: CPW post-hunt population estimate, 2025.

Neighbors

Units 851, 133, 83, 134 and 861, 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

24 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. 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.
  8. 3DEP lidar point clouds (canopy height model) — U.S. Geological Survey
  9. COTREX: Colorado Trail Explorer — Colorado Parks and Wildlife On the map: trailheads, 2024.
  10. 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.
  11. Highways and major roads — Colorado Department of Transportation On the map: highways, mapped 2026-07-31.
  12. SNOTEL network: daily snow depth and snow water equivalent — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, 2026-10-20 On the map: SNOTEL stations.
  13. U.S. Drought Monitor — National Drought Mitigation Center, 2026-10-13
  14. MOD13Q1 vegetation indices (NDVI), 250 m 16-day — NASA LP DAAC, 2026-09-29
  15. National Weather Service 7-day gridpoint forecast — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
  16. National Weather Service Area Forecast Discussion (BOU, GJT, PUB) — National Weather Service, 2026-10-21
  17. Influence of well pad activity on winter habitat selection patterns of mule deer — Sawyer, Kauffman and Nielson, Journal of Wildlife Management 73(7), 2009
  18. Long-term benefits of burns for large mammal habitat undermined by large, severe fires in the American West — Mills, Leclerc, Ditmer, Steel, Stoner, Sexton and others, Ecography 2026 (read via the Northern Rockies Fire Science Network summary), 2026
  19. Sex-specific behaviors of hunted mule deer during rifle season — Rodgers, Sawyer, Mong, Stephens and Kauffman, Journal of Wildlife Management 85(2), 2021
  20. Ungulate migrations of the western United States, volume 4 — Kauffman, Lowrey, Beaupre and others, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2024-5006, 2024
  21. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) fact sheet — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Colorado, Fact sheet, March 2000, 2000
  22. 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
  23. Gazetteer files, places — U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 On the map: towns, 2024.
  24. Species Activity Mapping: mule deer seasonal ranges — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2025 On the map: CPW mapped ranges, 2025.

Build a plan for Unit 85, free.

Start free

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