Unit 5 either-sex elk, Ranching for Wildlife, season 1
How many preference points it took to draw this hunt in 2026, and your estimated chance at every point level.
163 adult residents put this hunt first; 13 drew (8.0%). Drawn out at 17 preference points: 2 of 3 applicants with 17 drew. 2 drew below the cutoff, through the hybrid random draw (about 2.5% of eligible applicants with 5+ points).
Drawn out at 17 points
No adult nonresidents put this hunt as their first choice.
Compare every Colorado elk hunt at your point level →
Odds by preference points
Residents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 2 | 2 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 20 | 4 | 4 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 18 | 2 | 2 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 17 | 3 | 2 | 1 in 1.5 | |
| 15 | 5 | 0 | — | |
| 14 | 6 | 0 | — | |
| 13 | 4 | 0 | — | |
| 12 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 11 | 7 | 0 | — | |
| 10 | 8 | 0 | — | |
| 9 | 9 | 0 | — | |
| 8 | 7 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | 9 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | 13 | 2 | 1 in 6.5 | |
| 5 | 10 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | 11 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | 11 | 0 | — | |
| 2 | 12 | 0 | — | |
| 1 | 14 | 0 | — | |
| 0 | 23 | 0 | — | |
| All | 163 | 13 | 1 in 12.5 |
Nonresidents
No applicants in this group.
Trends, 2024–2026
"Cutoff" is the preference point level where licenses ran out that year (CPW's "drawn out at" level).
| Year | Applicants | Drew | Odds | Cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 142 | 13 | 1 in 10.9 | 14 |
| 2025 | 143 | 13 | 1 in 11.0 | 17 |
| 2026 | 163 | 13 | 1 in 12.5 | 17 |
Drawn out at: 14 in 2024, 17 in 2025, 17 in 2026. The bar is rising at least one point a year, as fast as applicants earn points. Applicants rose 15% since 2024.
How this draw works
Colorado draws limited licenses by preference points, and only your first choice uses them. Licenses go to the applicants with the most points first; at the level where they run out (the "drawn out at" level) applicants are drawn at random. If you don't draw your first choice, you gain a point. This hunt also has a hybrid draw: up to 20% of licenses go at random to applicants with 5 or more points who fall below the cutoff. CPW big game hunting.
About the numbers. These are adult first-choice applicants, straight from CPW's 2026 draw recap. Youth and landowner licenses are drawn separately. The estimated chance is the share who actually drew at each point level, filled in from the cutoff where nobody held that many points. Applicant pools change every year. How we check and estimate.
Other hunts in Unit 5
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- Cow elk, Ranching for Wildlife, season 3, rifle EF005W3R · 121 applicants
- Cow elk, Ranching for Wildlife, season 4, rifle EF005W4R · 22 applicants
- Cow elk, Ranching for Wildlife, season 5, rifle EF005W5R · 84 applicants
- Either-sex elk, 4th rifle season EE005O4R · 9 applicants
- Either-sex elk, Ranching for Wildlife, season 2, rifle EE005W2R · 54 applicants
- Buck deer, 2nd rifle season DM005O2R · 81 applicants
- Buck deer, 3rd rifle season DM005O3R · 38 applicants
- Buck deer, 4th rifle season DM005O4R · 30 applicants
- Buck deer, Ranching for Wildlife, season 1, rifle DM005W1R · 110 applicants