Colorado Unit 116 Mule Deer Hunting Guide

Colorado Unit 116 is a limited-quota mule deer unit where every hunt — including antlered tags — requires a successful draw. There is no general season here, which immediately sets this unit apart from much of Colorado's deer country and signals a more controlled, lower-pressure hunting environment on paper. For hunters researching Unit 116, the numbers tell a mixed story: a unit with real harvest activity but also one defined by extremely limited public access and a buck:doe ratio that warrants a cautious read.

Spanning 615,634 acres at a relatively low elevation band of 4,110 to 4,876 feet, Unit 116 sits in terrain that's noticeably different from the high alpine basins typically associated with trophy Colorado mule deer country. The standout figure for anyone doing homework on this unit is public land: just 4%. That number alone should shape every planning decision a hunter makes here, from how they apply to whether DIY access is even realistic.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 116 Worth Applying For?

The honest answer is that Unit 116 is worth considering only for hunters who have a specific access plan already in mind — because the public land situation here is about as restrictive as it gets. With only 4% public land across more than 615,000 acres, the overwhelming majority of this unit is privately held. That doesn't mean the unit is off-limits, but it does mean that hunters without a landowner connection, a leased property, or an outfitter arrangement will struggle to find huntable ground through Forest Service or BLM access alone. This is not a unit to draw and then "figure out access later."

On the harvest side, the data shows real variability year to year. In 2025, 1,272 hunters took to the field and harvested 409 animals, a 32% success rate. That's a sharp jump in hunter numbers compared to 2024, when 452 hunters hunted the unit and posted a stronger 39% success rate with 175 harvested. In 2023, 588 hunters harvested 176 animals for a 30% success rate. The pattern suggests a unit that can produce solid success in a given year, but one where hunter numbers and success rates fluctuate — 2025 in particular saw nearly three times the hunters of 2024 with a noticeably lower success percentage, which likely reflects either increased tag allocations or a tougher season for those extra hunters competing for the same private-land access points.

The buck:doe ratio from the 2024 survey year came in at 36:100, based on a single survey year. That ratio is on the lower end for mule deer herds and suggests a buck population that isn't deep relative to does — hunters should treat this as a signal of average-at-best herd composition rather than a boom year, especially since it's drawn from only one survey cycle and can't yet be compared against a multi-year trend.

Trophy potential here is moderate. The counties overlapping Unit 116 carry a moderate history of trophy-class mule deer entries, which means some notable bucks have come from this broader geographic area over time, but it isn't a unit defined by frequent record-book production. Hunters chasing a genuine trophy-caliber buck should view Unit 116 as a possibility rather than a primary target, and should weigh that moderate trophy history against the access realities before investing points here.

Put together: Unit 116 is a legitimate, functioning limited-quota unit with decent harvest activity, but the 4% public land figure is the dominant factor. This unit makes the most sense for hunters with a private-land arrangement already lined up. For public-land DIY hunters working from a blank slate, the access math here is difficult, and that should weigh heavily against applying regardless of how the draw odds look on HuntPilot's unit page.

Access & Terrain

Unit 116 sits at a lower elevation range than much of Colorado's western slope mule deer country, running from 4,110 to 4,876 feet. This lower-elevation profile typically means less alpine and subalpine habitat and more lower-foothill or basin-type terrain, though hunters should scout specific habitat types within the unit using mapping tools rather than assuming high country exists here — the elevation data doesn't support it.

The defining access characteristic of this unit is its public land percentage: just 4% of the 615,634 total acres. There is no wilderness designation in this unit (0%), so hunters aren't dealing with pack-in-only regulations or stock-based access requirements, but that's a minor consideration given how little public ground exists in the first place. With 96% of the unit in private ownership, hunters need to treat Unit 116 as a private-access unit first and a public-land hunt second. Successful hunters here are almost certainly working through landowner relationships, leased ground, or guided access rather than walking onto open BLM or national forest land and setting up camp.

For hunters evaluating this unit on HuntPilot's mapping tools, the public land layer should be the first thing checked before any other planning — elevation bands, drainages, and glassing points matter far less than simply locating where the legal public access actually exists within those 615,634 acres.

Harvest Success Rates

Harvest numbers in Unit 116 show meaningful year-to-year swings that hunters should factor into their expectations. The 2025 season recorded 1,272 hunters and 409 harvested animals, a 32% success rate. That's a considerably larger hunter pool than the two prior years combined with the 2024 season, which saw just 452 hunters post a 39% success rate (175 harvested) — the strongest success percentage of the three years shown. The 2023 season fell in between in hunter volume at 588 hunters, with 176 harvested for a 30% success rate.

The jump in participation in 2025 — nearly triple the hunters of 2024 — without a corresponding spike in success rate suggests the unit absorbed more pressure without a proportional increase in opportunity. Hunters should not assume that more tags issued automatically means more huntable deer; given the public land constraints already discussed, added hunter volume on a fixed amount of accessible ground often means more competition for the same pockets of land, which may explain the dip from 39% to 32% success between 2024 and 2025. Success rates in the 30-39% range across all three years indicate this is a unit where roughly one in three hunters connects — solid, but not automatic, and consistent with a draw unit where tag numbers are being managed relative to the herd and access base.

Trophy Quality

Trophy potential in Unit 116 is best described as moderate. The counties that overlap this unit carry a moderate history of trophy-class mule deer entries in the record books, meaning the broader region has produced notable bucks over time without being one of Colorado's heavyweight trophy destinations. Because record-book entries are logged by county rather than by exact hunt unit, this history is shared across Unit 116 and its neighboring units — the specific animals tallied in that history may have come from anywhere within those overlapping county boundaries, not necessarily from inside Unit 116's own borders.

Given the unit's low public land percentage and the fact that most hunting pressure and harvest activity likely occurs on private ground, older, more mature bucks may have a better chance of avoiding heavy pressure in the inaccessible portions of the unit — a dynamic sometimes seen in restricted-access units where private land functions as a de facto refuge. That said, without specific entry counts or score data to confirm a strong trophy pedigree, hunters should treat Unit 116 as a moderate trophy prospect rather than a unit with a proven track record of producing elite bucks consistently.

Herd Health & Population Trends

The only wildlife survey data available for Unit 116 comes from a single 2024 survey year, showing a buck:doe ratio of 36:100. This is a modest ratio for mule deer and sits below what's typically considered a healthy buck representation in a herd. Because this figure is drawn from just one survey year, it's difficult to establish a trend — hunters shouldn't read too much into a single data point, whether it's good or bad news. Without multiple years of survey data to compare against, the 36:100 ratio should be treated as a baseline snapshot rather than evidence of a declining or improving herd. Hunters serious about this unit should check HuntPilot's unit page periodically for updated survey data as more years become available, since a single-year ratio carries limited predictive value on its own.

How to Apply

Unit 116 operates entirely as a limited-quota draw unit — there is no general season here for any class of mule deer, antlered or otherwise. Every hunter, resident or nonresident, must successfully draw a tag through Colorado's draw system before hunting this unit.

Colorado's draw system is a true preference-point structure, meaning the highest point holders in a given pool draw first. Unlike weighted-lottery states, a high enough point total in Colorado can functionally guarantee a tag on many hunts, which makes Unit 116 a candidate for point-based planning for hunters willing to invest in building preference points over time. Residents and nonresidents apply through separate pools, and nonresidents should expect this unit — like most limited-quota Colorado units — to require a meaningful point investment relative to resident applicants.

Given the unit's heavy private-land composition, hunters applying here should have an access plan in place before committing points to Unit 116. Drawing a tag without a path onto huntable ground wastes a valuable point investment in a true-preference state like Colorado, where points generally cannot be recovered once spent on an unsuccessful hunt.

Application structure, current point requirements, and draw odds specific to this unit change every cycle. For up-to-date deadlines, fees, and draw data, hunters should check HuntPilot's Colorado page at /states/CO and the Unit 116 page directly before applying.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Unit 116? Unit 116 sits at a lower elevation range of 4,110 to 4,876 feet with no wilderness designation. Specific vegetation and drainage details beyond elevation aren't available in current data, so hunters should use HuntPilot's mapping tools to study public parcels and terrain features before applying, given how limited accessible ground is in this unit.

What is harvest success like in Unit 116? Success rates have ranged from 30% to 39% over the past three recorded seasons. The 2024 season posted the best success rate at 39% with 452 hunters, while 2025 saw a much larger hunter pool of 1,272 with success dropping to 32%. Roughly one in three hunters connects in a typical year.

How big are the mule deer in Unit 116? Trophy potential is moderate. The counties overlapping Unit 116 have a moderate history of trophy-class entries, shared with neighboring units in those same counties, but the unit isn't a standout trophy destination. Hunters should view it as a possible trophy unit rather than a guaranteed one.

Is Unit 116 worth applying for? It depends heavily on access. With only 4% public land across 615,634 acres, Unit 116 is best suited to hunters with a private-land arrangement, lease, or outfitter connection already in place. DIY public-land hunters starting from scratch will find access extremely difficult here, regardless of how favorable the harvest and trophy data might look.

What is the buck:doe ratio in Unit 116? The most recent survey year, 2024, showed a 36:100 buck:doe ratio based on a single survey. That's a modest ratio, and with only one year of data available, it should be treated as a snapshot rather than a confirmed trend.