Colorado GMU 106 elk: terrain, access and seasons

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

CPW reports no plains rifle harvest figures for the unit. Unit 106 is one of 6 units in CPW's Castle Rock herd unit (E-51), estimated at about 3,500 elk after the 2025 hunt, with 40 bulls per 100 cows.

CPW counted 4 archery hunters in 2020; on so few, the success rate swings widely from year to year. Unit 106 is one of 6 units in CPW's Castle Rock herd unit (E-51), estimated at about 3,500 elk after the 2025 hunt, with 40 bulls per 100 cows.

• Unit 105 → All seasons success 41% (2024)2% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
• Unit 107 → 0% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
• Unit 99 → 1% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
• Unit 112 → All seasons success 24% (2023)0% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
• Unit 111 → All seasons success 11% (2024)0% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery

From each unit's own page; dates there.

• 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. Finding elk is still your job.

1. Elk 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. U.S. Drought Monitor — National Drought Mitigation Center, 2026-10-13
10. MOD13Q1 vegetation indices (NDVI), 250 m 16-day — NASA LP DAAC, 2026-09-29
11. Effects of bull age on conception dates and pregnancy rates of cow elk — Noyes, Johnson, Bryant, Findholt and Thomas, Journal of Wildlife Management 60(3), 1996
12. Security areas for elk during archery and rifle hunting seasons — Ranglack, Proffitt, Canfield, Gude, Rotella and Garrott, Journal of Wildlife Management 81(5), 2017
13. 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.
14. Highways and major roads — Colorado Department of Transportation On the map: highways, mapped 2026-07-31.
15. 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.
16. SNOTEL network: daily snow depth and snow water equivalent — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service On the map: SNOTEL stations.
17. Gazetteer files, places — U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 On the map: towns, 2024.
18. Species Activity Mapping: elk seasonal ranges — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2025 On the map: CPW mapped ranges, 2025.