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Colorado GMU 128 elk: terrain, access and seasons

Unit 128's terrain, access, seasons and CPW elk figures, with Conditions rebuilt nightly.

By Bryson, co-founder Updated

2026 season

Archery Sep 2–30

Every section below follows this season.

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 11% for 30 hunters.

Size
1,210 sq mi
CPW unit boundary, 2025
Counties
Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero, Pueblo
Elevation
4,340–6,440 ft
USGS 3DEP, 2026-10-19
Huntable public land
9%
COMaP, 2026-10-12
Archery license, 2026
OTC either sex (residents only)
CPW 2026 big game brochure
Success
11%
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunters
30
CPW harvest survey, 2024
Hunter-days per sq mi
0.1
CPW, 2024
Road miles, any vehicle
532 mi
MVUM + CDOT, open on the Sep 2 opener
Median Habitat Score
0.5 of 5
Ranks 115th of 177 for archery. Glassline, v20, 2026-10-19

In short

A low-elevation, open OTC unit. Almost all of Unit 128 sits between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, mostly grass and meadow with pinyon-juniper after it. About a tenth of the unit is huntable public land, and about a tenth of that ground is more than an hour and a half on foot from a drivable road. CPW's survey counted 237 hunters across all seasons in 2024, up from 216 in 2022. Archery sells over-the-counter either-sex licenses to residents only; plains rifle sells over-the-counter bull licenses; the other seasons are draw only.

Licenses and draw

Archery in Unit 128, 2026: an over-the-counter either sex license (E-E-000-U1-A) and an over-the-counter either sex license (E-E-087-U1-A).

  • E-E-000-U1-A either sex, over the counter
  • E-E-087-U1-A either sex, over the counter

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 128 sits among its neighbors.

133 129 84 123 134 128

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; severe drought (D2) on the US Drought Monitor over 47% 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 D2, Severe droughtShare of the unit: D0 or worse 100% · D1 or worse 70.3% · D2 or worse 47% USDM 2026-10-13 USDM 2026-10-13
Greenness vs normal, Sep 14–29 112% of the September normal (2014–2023), MODIS 16-day composite 2026-09-29 2026-09-29

7-day forecast

Access

Unit 128 has 2 trailheads and about 532 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the archery opener, plus 164 more that need high clearance. About half of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and about a tenth is more than an hour and a half away.

Trailheads
2
COTREX, computed 2026-10-19
Road miles open, archery opener Sep 2–30, by the smallest vehicle allowed. MVUM plus county and state roads.
Vehicle Miles
Any vehicle
532 mi
High clearance
164 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
50%
30–60 min
26.7%
60–90 min
14.2%
Over 90 min
9.1%

Hunt codes and draw results

2 hunt codes for archery, 2026; no draw results on file for them.

Hunt code Year Licenses Residents Nonresidents
1st-choice applicants Drawn Drawn out at 1st-choice applicants Drawn Drawn out at
E-E-000-U1-A either sex Over the counter: no draw
E-E-087-U1-A either sex Over the counter: no draw

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 elk have behaved where they were studied, not where they are in Unit 128.

  • In an Oregon experiment with mature bulls in the herd, about half of all conceptions fell in the single week of September 15–21; breeding dates follow day length, not weather.

    Noyes et al., 1996 Established finding

  • In Montana GPS work, archery-season elk tended to hold about 1.7 miles or more from open motorized routes, and needed little canopy once they were that far out.

    Ranglack et al., 2017 Established finding

  • In a Montana study, elk forage quality rose in the second and third years after a large fire, whatever the burn severity.

    Snobl et al., 2022 Single study

Read next: How to e-scout a Colorado elk unit

Build a plan for Unit 128, 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

4,340–6,440 ft; grass & meadow 84.4% and pinyon-juniper 4.4%; burns: Wilson Crossing Fire (2020).

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

Elevation Acres per 1,000 ft band. USGS 3DEP.
  1. 4k–5k ft 343,250 ac
  2. 5k–6k ft 378,550 ac
  3. 6k–7k ft 49,260 ac
Table view
BandAcres
4,000–5,000 ft343,250 ac
5,000–6,000 ft378,550 ac
6,000–7,000 ft49,260 ac
Slope Share of the unit per slope class.
  1. Under 5° 88.9%
  2. 5–15° 8.6%
  3. 15–25° 1.6%
  4. 25–35° 0.7%
  5. 35°+ 0.2%
Table view
Slope classShare
Flat (under 5°)88.9%
Gentle (5–15°)8.6%
Moderate (15–25°)1.6%
Steep (25–35°)0.7%
Very steep (35° and up)0.2%
Aspect Share of non-flat ground facing each way.
  1. N 13.7%
  2. NE 11.6%
  3. E 13.8%
  4. SE 14.2%
  5. S 9.8%
  6. SW 8.7%
  7. W 12.8%
  8. NW 15.4%
Table view
AspectShare
North13.7%
Northeast11.6%
East13.8%
Southeast14.2%
South9.8%
Southwest8.7%
West12.8%
Northwest15.4%
Vegetation LF2024 existing vegetation, groups of 1% or more.
  1. Grass & meadow 84.4%
  2. Pinyon-juniper 4.4%
  3. Shrubland 3.8%
  4. Rock & scree 2%
  5. Farmland 2%
  6. Developed 1.9%
  7. Riparian & wetland 1.4%
Table view
Vegetation groupShare
Grass & meadow84.4%
Pinyon-juniper4.4%
Shrubland3.8%
Rock & scree2%
Farmland2%
Developed1.9%
Riparian & wetland1.4%
Item Value Data
Burned 4–10 years ago 100 acWilson Crossing Fire (2020), 100 ac NIFC since 2020 NIFC since 2020
Openings in timber 373 openings of 1–40 ac, from lidar covering 85.7% of the unit 2026-10-19 2026-10-19
Habitat Score, archery Share of 8,700 ac of huntable public ground in each score band. Median 0.5. Scoring v20, computed 2026-10-19.
Table view
ScoreShare of scored ground
0–0.556.1%
0.5–142.4%
1–1.51.5%
1.5–20%
2–2.50%
2.5–30%
3–3.50%
3.5–40%
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 and hunter density, 2024.

CPW counted 30 archery hunters in 2024; on so few, the success rate swings widely from year to year. Across all seasons, hunters held about steady between 2022 and 2024.

Hunters, harvest and success
Season Year Hunters Harvest Success
Archery 2022 36 6 15%
2023 34 0 0%
2024 30 3 11%
All seasons 2022 216 43 20%
2023 216 41 19%
2024 237 56 24%

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

Item Value Data
Hunter density 2 hunter-days per sq mi, all seasons CPW 2024 CPW 2024

CPW harvest figures are survey estimates, not counts, and they cover the whole unit, private land included. Source: CPW harvest reports, 2022–2024.

Neighbors

Units 133, 129, 84, 123 and 134, 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. Finding elk is still your job.

Sources

20 datasets and studies, dated where the source dates them.
  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. 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. U.S. Drought Monitor — National Drought Mitigation Center, 2026-10-13
  11. MOD13Q1 vegetation indices (NDVI), 250 m 16-day — NASA LP DAAC, 2026-09-29
  12. 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
  13. Security areas for elk during archery and rifle hunting seasons — Ranglack, Proffitt, Canfield, Gude, Rotella and Garrott, Journal of Wildlife Management 81(5), 2017
  14. Wildfire extends the shelf life of elk nutritional resources regardless of fire severity — Snobl, Proffitt and Millspaugh, Ecosphere 13(7), 2022
  15. Behavioral responses of male elk to hunting risk — Smith, Spitz, Brown, Wisdom, Rowland, Forrester, Johnson and Clark, Journal of Wildlife Management 86, 2022
  16. 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.
  17. Highways and major roads — Colorado Department of Transportation On the map: highways, mapped 2026-07-31.
  18. SNOTEL network: daily snow depth and snow water equivalent — USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service On the map: SNOTEL stations.
  19. Gazetteer files, places — U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 On the map: towns, 2024.
  20. Species Activity Mapping: elk 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.