Colorado Unit 106 Pronghorn Antelope Hunting Guide

Unit 106 sits on the eastern plains of Colorado, a landscape of open prairie and sagebrush flats that defines classic pronghorn country. For hunters researching this unit, the numbers tell an interesting story: solid harvest success, a tightly controlled draw structure, and a public land footprint that demands careful planning before anyone commits points or cash to an application. This article breaks down what the data actually shows so hunters can decide whether Unit 106 deserves a spot on their application strategy.

Pronghorn hunting on Colorado's eastern plains is almost entirely a story of land access. The terrain itself is open and huntable — pronghorn are visible from long distances and don't require technical mountain skills to pursue — but who controls that ground matters more here than in almost any other type of western hunting. With only 8% public land across Unit 106's 382,976 acres, that reality shapes every other decision a hunter will make about this unit.

Hunt Structure: This Is a Draw-Only Unit

Unit 106 has no general season. Every hunt here — including hunts for antlered, either-sex animals — is limited-quota and allocated through the draw. There's no walk-in, buy-a-tag-over-the-counter option for this unit. Hunters need to apply and be drawn to hunt pronghorn here, full stop. This matters for planning purposes: hunters can't fall back on leftover or OTC tags if they miss the draw cycle, and the entire opportunity runs through Colorado's limited-quota license system.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 106 Worth Applying For?

The harvest data from Unit 106 is genuinely strong. Across five recent seasons, success rates have ranged from 51% to 68%, with the most recent three years (2022-2024) all posting success rates of 60% or better. In 2021, hunters posted a 68% success rate with 682 hunters harvesting 465 animals. Even in 2025, when hunter numbers jumped to 1,091 (up significantly from the 761 hunters in 2024), success held at 51% with 559 animals harvested. That's a meaningful increase in both participants and total harvest, suggesting more tags were allocated into this unit without the success rate collapsing — a sign of a healthy, huntable pronghorn population.

That said, the 8% public land figure is the single most important data point in this entire profile. With the overwhelming majority of Unit 106 in private ownership, DIY hunters pulling a tag here need a real access plan before they ever nock an arrow or chamber a round. Drawing a tag in this unit does not guarantee a place to hunt. Hunters without existing landowner relationships, leases, or a plan to pursue walk-in access should budget time and effort into securing permission well before the season — or consider whether a guided hunt on private ground is a better fit for their situation. This pattern is consistent with what other eastern Colorado pronghorn hunters have reported: good population numbers on paper, but tight access on the ground where water and feed are concentrated on private land.

On trophy quality, the data here is limited. The counties overlapping Unit 106 show only a limited history of trophy-class record entries. That doesn't mean big bucks don't exist here — pronghorn populations can produce good animals without generating a long trophy résumé — but hunters chasing a record-caliber buck should treat Unit 106 as an opportunity unit rather than a unit with a demonstrated trophy pedigree. For hunters prioritizing a high-percentage harvest and a straightforward hunt over a shot at a record-book entry, the harvest numbers make a reasonable case. For hunters strictly hunting horn size, the trophy history here doesn't support that as the primary draw.

The herd health picture requires a caveat. The six-year survey average buck:doe ratio sits at 20:100, which is a thin ratio by pronghorn standards (the structured survey data spans 2018-2024). A ratio this low generally points to either a buck-heavy harvest pressure pattern or a population management strategy favoring more doe/fawn production tags over bucks. Hunters should not read this as a sign of a declining herd outright, but it is worth noting that buck representation in the survey data is modest relative to what's considered a robust ratio in prime pronghorn country. Combined with the harvest data showing strong success rates, the likely read is a unit that's managed to produce consistent opportunity rather than trophy density.

Overall: Unit 106 is worth applying for if a hunter's priority is a high-success, draw-only pronghorn hunt and they have — or are willing to build — a plan for private land access. It is not the unit to prioritize if the primary goal is a trophy-class buck backed by strong record history, since that data simply isn't there to support the claim.

Harvest Success Rates

The five-year harvest trend in Unit 106 is one of the strongest arguments in favor of this unit:

• 2025: 1,091 hunters, 559 harvested, 51% success
• 2024: 761 hunters, 457 harvested, 60% success
• 2023: 788 hunters, 471 harvested, 60% success
• 2022: 736 hunters, 474 harvested, 64% success
• 2021: 682 hunters, 465 harvested, 68% success

Four of the last five years have produced success rates at or above 60%, which is a strong number for any limited-quota pronghorn unit. The dip to 51% in 2025 coincides with a substantial jump in hunter numbers — nearly 330 more hunters afield than the prior year — which naturally dilutes the success percentage even as total harvested animals remained comparable to prior seasons. Hunters should read this as a unit that has consistently put animals on the ground for the majority of its tag holders, even as allocation has grown.

Trophy Quality

Trophy data for Unit 106 is limited. The counties overlapping this unit carry only a limited history of trophy-class record entries, which suggests this is not a unit with an established reputation for producing record-book pronghorn. Hunters should treat this as a unit built around dependable harvest opportunity rather than trophy potential, and temper expectations accordingly. That doesn't rule out an exceptional buck turning up in any given year — pronghorn herds can surprise hunters — but the data doesn't support marketing this unit as a trophy destination.

Herd Health & Population Trends

The available wildlife survey data spans six survey years between 2018 and 2024, with an average buck:doe ratio of 20:100. This is a low ratio relative to what's typically considered a healthy buck representation in pronghorn herds, and it's worth factoring into expectations: hunters drawing an antlered tag here are hunting in a unit where bucks make up a smaller share of the visible population relative to does. This ratio, combined with strong and consistent harvest success rates over multiple years, points toward a unit managed with meaningful doe harvest pressure alongside buck tags — common in eastern plains units where pronghorn density supports multiple hunt types. Hunters should not expect to see large bachelor groups of bucks relative to does while glassing this unit.

Access & Terrain

Access is the defining challenge of Unit 106. With just 8% public land across nearly 383,000 acres, this unit falls well below the threshold where DIY hunters can expect to find workable public ground without significant pre-season legwork. The vast majority of this unit — more than 90% — is privately held, which means success here is tied directly to whether a hunter has secured permission, a lease, or a guided arrangement before the season starts. Hunters without an access plan should not assume a drawn tag translates into huntable ground.

The terrain itself sits at a relatively low elevation band of 4,730 to 5,994 feet, consistent with open eastern plains topography — rolling grassland and sagebrush flats typical of Colorado's pronghorn range. There is no wilderness designation in this unit (0%), so there are no wilderness-specific access restrictions to navigate; the limiting factor here is entirely about private land ownership, not terrain difficulty or backcountry access regulations. Hunters comfortable glassing long distances across open country and making contact with private landowners well ahead of the season will be in the best position to capitalize on the unit's strong harvest numbers.

HuntPilot's data shows this pattern clearly: strong success rates paired with minimal public access is a combination that rewards hunters who do their homework on land access before applying, not after drawing.

How to Apply

Unit 106 is accessed exclusively through Colorado's limited-quota draw system — there is no over-the-counter or general season option for pronghorn in this unit. Both resident and nonresident hunters must apply through the state's draw process, and Colorado's system uses a preference point structure where accumulated points influence draw priority over time. Points are an important part of strategy for this unit given its draw-only status, and hunters serious about building a long-term plan for Unit 106 should factor point accumulation into their broader Colorado pronghorn strategy.

Because this is a limited-quota unit with no general season fallback, missing the draw means no hunting opportunity in Unit 106 for that year — there's no leftover-tag or OTC safety net built into this unit's structure the way there might be in units with general season options elsewhere in the state.

Application structures, deadlines, and fees change every cycle, so rather than citing figures that will go stale, hunters should check HuntPilot's Colorado state page at /states/CO for the current application windows, license costs, and point requirements, and review HuntPilot's Unit 106 page directly for up-to-date draw odds broken out by residency and point level.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Colorado Unit 106? Unit 106 is characteristic eastern Colorado plains country — open grassland and sagebrush flats at a relatively low elevation range of 4,730 to 5,994 feet. There's no wilderness designation in this unit, and the terrain itself doesn't present technical access challenges. The primary access constraint is land ownership, not topography.

What is harvest success like in Unit 106? Harvest success has been strong and consistent in recent years, ranging from 51% to 68% across the last five reported seasons. Four of the last five years posted success rates of 60% or higher, making this one of the more productive pronghorn units in terms of hunters actually connecting with an animal.

How big are the pronghorn in Unit 106? Trophy data for this unit is limited — the counties overlapping Unit 106 show only a limited history of trophy-class record entries. Hunters should view this as an opportunity-focused unit rather than one with an established track record of producing record-book bucks.

Is Unit 106 worth applying for? It depends on the hunter's priorities and access plan. The harvest success data strongly favors this unit for hunters wanting a high-probability pronghorn hunt. However, with only 8% public land, hunters need a concrete access plan — a lease, landowner permission, or guided arrangement — before applying, since a drawn tag does not guarantee huntable ground.

What is the public land access situation in Unit 106? Public land makes up just 8% of the unit's 382,976 total acres, meaning the large majority of the land base is privately owned. This is below the threshold considered DIY-friendly, and hunters should plan for private land access arrangements rather than assuming walk-in public opportunities will be sufficient.