Unit 1 bull elk, muzzleloader season
How many preference points it took to draw this hunt in 2026, and your estimated chance at every point level.
35 adult residents put this hunt first; 4 drew (11%). Drawn out at 17 preference points: 2 of 3 applicants with 17 drew. 1 drew below the cutoff, through the hybrid random draw (about 6.2% of eligible applicants with 5+ points).
Drawn out at 17 points
12 adult nonresidents put this hunt first; 1 drew (8.3%). Drawn out at 26 preference points: 1 of 1 applicants with 26 drew.
Drawn out at 26 points
Compare every Colorado elk hunt at your point level →
Odds by preference points
Residents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 17 | 3 | 2 | 1 in 1.5 | |
| 16 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 13 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 12 | 3 | 0 | — | |
| 11 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 10 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 9 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 8 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | 4 | 0 | — | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 0 | 5 | 0 | — | |
| All | 35 | 4 | 1 in 8.8 |
Nonresidents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 9 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 8 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | — | |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| All | 12 | 1 | 1 in 12.0 |
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 | 30 | 4 | 1 in 7.5 | 18 |
| 2025 | 28 | 4 | 1 in 7.0 | 15 |
| 2026 | 35 | 4 | 1 in 8.8 | 17 |
Drawn out at: 18 in 2024, 15 in 2025, 17 in 2026. The bar has been falling. Applicants rose 17% since 2024.
| Year | Applicants | Drew | Odds | Cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 21 | 0 | — | — |
| 2025 | 32 | 0 | — | — |
| 2026 | 12 | 1 | 1 in 12.0 | 26 |
Applicants fell 43% 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. Nonresidents could get at most 20% of this hunt's licenses. 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 1
- Cow elk, late season, rifle EF001L1R · 15 applicants
- Cow elk, 2nd rifle season EF001O2R · 3 applicants
- Cow elk, private land only, season 5, rifle EF001P5R · 2 applicants
- Either-sex elk, early season, rifle EE001E1R · 143 applicants
- Either-sex elk, archery season EE001O1A · 46 applicants
- Buck deer, archery season DM001O1A · 13 applicants
- Buck deer, muzzleloader season DM001O1M · 5 applicants
- Buck deer, 2nd rifle season DM001O2R · 26 applicants
- Buck deer, 3rd rifle season DM001O3R · 28 applicants
- Buck pronghorn, muzzleloader season AM001O1M · 43 applicants
- Doe pronghorn, muzzleloader season AF001O1M · 12 applicants