Colorado GMU 135 elk: terrain, access and seasons
Unit 135's terrain, access, seasons and CPW elk figures, with Conditions rebuilt nightly.
Decide
The season's licenses, draw results and harvest figures.
At a glance
Plains rifle runs Sep 1–Jan 31, 2026.
Archery runs Sep 2–30, 2026; CPW's 2024 harvest survey put success at 0% for 10 hunters.
- Size
- 743 sq mi
- CPW unit boundary, 2025
- Counties
- Las Animas, Pueblo, Otero
- Elevation
- 4,050–5,700 ft
- USGS 3DEP, 2026-10-19
- Huntable public land
- 40%
- COMaP, 2026-10-12
- Plains rifle license, 2026
- OTC either sex
- CPW 2026 big game brochure
- Archery license, 2026
- OTC either sex (residents only)
- CPW 2026 big game brochure
- Success
- 0%
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunters
- 10
- CPW harvest survey, 2024
- Hunter-days per sq mi
- 0
- CPW, 2024
- Road miles, any vehicle
- 308 mi
- MVUM + CDOT, open on the Sep 2 opener
- Median Habitat Score
- 0.1 of 5
- Ranks 151st of 177 for archery. Glassline, v20, 2026-10-19
In short
A low-elevation, open OTC unit with less far-from-road ground than most units and fewer hunters than in 2021. Almost all of Unit 135 sits between 4,000 and 5,000 feet, mostly grass and meadow with shrubland after it. About two-fifths of the unit is huntable public land, and almost none of that ground is more than an hour and a half on foot from a drivable road. CPW's survey counted 188 hunters across all seasons in 2024, down from 228 in 2021. Plains rifle sells over-the-counter either-sex licenses; archery sells over-the-counter either-sex licenses to residents only.
Licenses and draw
Plains rifle in Unit 135, 2026: an over-the-counter either sex license (E-E-087-U5-R).
- E-E-087-U5-R either sex, over the counter
Archery in Unit 135, 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. 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 (40% of the unit) by manager, with roads drawn as open on the plains rifle opener, Sep 1; CPW's mapped ranges switch on from the layer chips.
Huntable public land (40% 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.
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 135 sits among its neighbors.
Click or tap the map to zoom and pan
Layers
Public land
Roads, open on the archery opener
Burns and stations
Terrain
CPW ranges
CPW Species Activity Mapping, 2025. These are the ranges CPW has mapped for elk, 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 15.8% 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 55.1% · D1 or worse 15.8% USDM 2026-10-13 | USDM 2026-10-13 |
| Greenness vs normal, Sep 14–29 | 145% of the September normal (2014–2023), MODIS 16-day composite 2026-09-29 | 2026-09-29 |
7-day forecast
Access
Unit 135 has 4 trailheads. About nine-tenths of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and almost none is more than an hour and a half away.
Unit 135 has 4 trailheads and about 308 miles of road any vehicle may drive on the archery opener, plus 334 more that need high clearance. About nine-tenths of the huntable public ground is within a 30-minute walk of a drivable road, and almost none is more than an hour and a half away.
- Trailheads
- 4
- COTREX, computed 2026-10-19
Hunt codes and draw results
1 hunt code for plains rifle, 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-087-U5-R either sex | Over the counter: no draw | |||||||
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.
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 135.
-
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
Read next: How to e-scout a Colorado elk unit
Build a plan for Unit 135, 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
4,050–5,700 ft; grass & meadow 91.6% and shrubland 2.6%; no mapped burns since 2020.
Unit-wide figures, computed 2026-10-19.
Table view
| Band | Acres |
|---|---|
| 4,000–5,000 ft | 415,310 ac |
| 5,000–6,000 ft | 58,090 ac |
Table view
| Slope class | Share |
|---|---|
| Flat (under 5°) | 92.5% |
| Gentle (5–15°) | 5.9% |
| Moderate (15–25°) | 1.2% |
| Steep (25–35°) | 0.4% |
| Very steep (35° and up) | 0% |
Table view
| Aspect | Share |
|---|---|
| North | 11.3% |
| Northeast | 11.6% |
| East | 14.2% |
| Southeast | 13.9% |
| South | 10.9% |
| Southwest | 10.5% |
| West | 14.1% |
| Northwest | 13.5% |
Table view
| Vegetation group | Share |
|---|---|
| Grass & meadow | 91.6% |
| Shrubland | 2.6% |
| Farmland | 1.7% |
| Rock & scree | 1.3% |
| Developed | 1% |
| Item | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Burns | No burned acres in the unit since 2020 NIFC | NIFC |
| Openings in timber | 60 openings of 1–40 ac, from lidar covering 92.9% of the unit 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-19 |
No Habitat Score distribution for this season.
Table view
| Score | Share of scored ground |
|---|---|
| 0–0.5 | 96.5% |
| 0.5–1 | 3.3% |
| 1–1.5 | 0.2% |
| 1.5–2 | 0% |
| 2–2.5 | 0% |
| 2.5–3 | 0% |
| 3–3.5 | 0% |
| 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 2021–2024 for the chosen season and all seasons, the Apishipa herd (E-53) estimate for 2025 and hunter density, 2024.
CPW reports no plains rifle harvest figures for the unit. Across all seasons, hunters fell by about a fifth between 2021 and 2024. Unit 135 is one of 5 units in CPW's Apishipa herd unit (E-53), estimated at about 1,500 elk after the 2025 hunt, with 32 bulls per 100 cows.
CPW counted 10 archery hunters in 2024; on so few, the success rate swings widely from year to year. Across all seasons, hunters fell by about a fifth between 2021 and 2024. Unit 135 is one of 5 units in CPW's Apishipa herd unit (E-53), estimated at about 1,500 elk after the 2025 hunt, with 32 bulls per 100 cows.
| Season | Year | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All seasons | 2021 | 228 | 29 | 13% |
| 2024 | 188 | 26 | 14% |
CPW elk harvest reports, 2021–2024. A dash: not reported.
| Season | Year | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | 2021 | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | 0% | |
| 2024 | 10 | 0 | 0% | |
| All seasons | 2021 | 228 | 29 | 13% |
| 2024 | 188 | 26 | 14% |
CPW elk harvest reports, 2021–2024. A dash: not reported.
| Item | Value | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter density | 1 hunter-days per sq mi, all seasons CPW 2024 | CPW 2024 |
| Herd estimate (Apishipa, E-53) | 1,510 post-hunt · 1,110 in 2019 CPW 2025 | CPW 2025 |
| Bull:cow ratio | 32 bulls per 100 cows 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, 2021–2024.
Herd numbers cover the whole Apishipa herd unit (E-53), which also takes in Units 133, 134, 141 and 142: CPW manages herds, not units. Source: CPW post-hunt population estimate, 2025.
Neighbors
Units 142, 129, 130, 136 and 147, nearest first.
- Unit 142 → All seasons success 29% (2024)0% huntable public landOTC archery, second rifle and third rifle
- Unit 129 → All seasons success 0% (2021)0% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
- Unit 130 → All seasons success 8% (2024)9% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
- Unit 136 → All seasons success 20% (2024)7% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
- Unit 147 → All seasons success 26% (2024)4% huntable public landOTC plains rifle and archery
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
18 datasets and studies, dated where the source dates them.
- Elk 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.
- 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
- 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
- Security areas for elk during archery and rifle hunting seasons — Ranglack, Proffitt, Canfield, Gude, Rotella and Garrott, Journal of Wildlife Management 81(5), 2017
- 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.
- 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: elk seasonal ranges — Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2025 On the map: CPW mapped ranges, 2025.
Build a plan for Unit 135, free.
Start freePOIs are terrain candidates — places worth checking, not animal locations.