Colorado Unit 116 Pronghorn Antelope Hunting Guide

Colorado Unit 116 is a limited-quota pronghorn unit tucked into the plains country of eastern Colorado, and it's a unit hunters need to research carefully before applying — not because it lacks opportunity, but because access here is genuinely tight. With only 4% public land across 615,634 total acres, Unit 116 is overwhelmingly private ground, and that single fact should shape every decision a hunter makes about this unit, from whether to apply at all to how to plan the hunt if a tag is drawn.

This is not a general-season unit. Every hunt available in Unit 116 — including tags for antlered and either-sex pronghorn — is issued through Colorado's limited-quota draw. There is no over-the-counter fallback here and no general season buck tag to lean on if the draw doesn't go a hunter's way. Anyone putting in for this unit needs to go in with eyes open about what that means for planning, licensing, and access.

Elevation across the unit runs from 4,110 to 4,876 feet, which is classic high-plains pronghorn country: open, rolling, and largely treeless terrain where visibility is excellent and pronghorn behavior is driven almost entirely by water and food availability rather than terrain relief.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 116 Worth Applying For?

The honest answer is that Unit 116 is a mixed bag, and the deciding factor for most hunters will be land access rather than pronghorn numbers.

Start with the positive: harvest success in Unit 116 has been strong in recent years. The 2025 season posted 819 hunters with 440 harvested, a 54% success rate — a notable jump in both hunter numbers and total harvest compared to prior years. Looking at the broader five-year window, success rates have ranged from a low of 35% in 2024 up to 66% in 2022, with 2023 landing at 51% and 2021 at 42%. That's a wide swing year to year, but even the weaker years cleared one-in-three hunters tagging out, and most years land well above that. For a limited-quota pronghorn unit, that's a respectable track record of hunters converting tags into meat in the freezer.

The problem is access. At just 4% public land, Unit 116 is almost entirely private ground. That's an extremely low figure even by eastern Colorado pronghorn standards, and it means the overwhelming majority of the unit's huntable habitat sits behind fences that require either landowner permission, a private lease arrangement, or a guided/outfitted hunt to access. DIY public-land hunters drawing this tag need to have a land-access plan locked in before they apply, not after. Showing up with a tag and no permission secured is a recipe for walking the shoulders of public roads glassing pronghorn on land you can't touch.

There's no wilderness designation in this unit (0%), which is expected and irrelevant for pronghorn hunting on the plains — this isn't backcountry pack-in country, it's flat-to-rolling rangeland where the access question is about landowner relationships, not physical remoteness.

On herd health, the data shows a six-year average buck:doe ratio of 37:100 across surveys conducted from 2018 through 2024. That's a modest ratio, on the lower end for a pronghorn population, and it suggests a buck segment that isn't heavily skewed toward mature age classes at the population level. It doesn't rule out mature bucks being present, but it does mean hunters shouldn't expect an unusually buck-heavy herd structure driving trophy potential.

Trophy data is not available for this unit in the structured data provided, so no qualitative trophy assessment can be made. Hunters chasing a specific trophy-class animal should treat this as an open question rather than assume either way based on harvest numbers alone.

Bottom line: Unit 116 is worth applying for if a hunter already has private land access lined up, or is prepared to invest in securing it before drawing. The harvest success numbers are genuinely good for hunters who get on animals. But treating this as a walk-in public-land unit based on the harvest stats alone would be a mistake — the 4% public land figure is the real story here, and it demands a plan before the draw, not after.

Harvest Success Rates

Unit 116's harvest data over the past five seasons tells a story of a unit that reliably produces tagged animals for hunters who draw and hunt it:

• 2025: 819 hunters, 440 harvested — 54% success
• 2024: 338 hunters, 118 harvested — 35% success
• 2023: 344 hunters, 176 harvested — 51% success
• 2022: 315 hunters, 207 harvested — 66% success
• 2021: 352 hunters, 149 harvested — 42% success

Two things stand out. First, the jump in hunter numbers for 2025 — from the 300-350 range seen in 2021-2024 up to 819 — suggests a meaningful increase in tag quotas or hunt structure changes for that season, which is worth factoring in when thinking about future pressure levels and hunter density on the ground. Second, despite that increase in hunter numbers, success rate actually improved to 54%, above the multi-year average, which is a positive sign that the added tags didn't dilute harvest outcomes.

Averaging across all five years, success rates have generally sat in the 35-66% range, with three of five years clearing 50%. That's a solid track record for a pronghorn unit and indicates that hunters who draw and put in the effort are tagging out at a healthy clip — assuming they can get on huntable ground.

Herd Health & Population Trends

The available survey data covers six years from 2018 through 2024, showing an average buck:doe ratio of 37:100. This is on the lower side for pronghorn herds generally, where ratios in the 40s and above are often seen as indicators of a buck segment with more mature animals surviving into older age classes. A ratio in the high 30s doesn't suggest a herd in trouble, but it does temper expectations about seeing large numbers of mature bucks relative to the doe population.

Without year-by-year survey breakdowns provided beyond the six-year average, it's not possible to identify whether the ratio has been trending up, down, or holding steady across that window. Hunters should treat the 37:100 average as the most reliable indicator available and not read too much into any single year's snapshot, since pronghorn survey sample sizes on a unit this size can vary and swing ratios significantly from year to year.

Access & Terrain

Access is the defining challenge in Unit 116. With public land at just 4% of the unit's 615,634 acres, this ranks among the more restrictive access situations a Colorado pronghorn hunter will encounter. The vast majority of huntable ground is private, and hunters need to secure permission, a lease, or outfitted access well before applying — not scramble for it after drawing a tag.

Terrain-wise, elevation runs from 4,110 to 4,876 feet, placing this squarely in high-plains pronghorn habitat: open rangeland with minimal vertical relief, long sightlines, and vegetation dominated by grass and low shrub cover typical of eastern Colorado's plains ecosystem. This kind of terrain rewards good glassing and patience over physical endurance — pronghorn here can be seen from a long way off, but that also means they can see hunters coming from just as far.

There is no wilderness acreage in this unit (0%), which is standard for plains pronghorn country and doesn't factor meaningfully into access planning. The real access variable is entirely about private versus public boundaries, and hunters should be doing that homework — identifying which parcels are public, where public access points exist, and whether neighboring private landowners are approachable — well ahead of any hunt. HuntPilot's mapping tools can help hunters overlay public land boundaries against the unit to identify the limited public parcels available before committing to an application.

How to Apply

Colorado's pronghorn tags in Unit 116 are issued entirely through the state's limited-quota draw system — there is no general season and no over-the-counter alternative for this unit. Every hunt code available here, including those for antlered and either-sex animals, requires a successful draw application.

Colorado uses a preference point system for its big game draws, meaning hunters who apply and don't draw accumulate a point that improves their position in future draws. Residents and nonresidents apply through separate pools, and because Colorado's system awards a meaningful share of tags to the highest point holders first, a high enough point total can put a hunter in strong position for a specific hunt code — though the exact point level needed varies by hunt and changes as application numbers shift year to year.

Hunters should also plan their draw strategy around the access reality of this unit. Because so little of Unit 116 is public, many applicants use their preference points toward units with better public access, or they pursue Unit 116 specifically because they already have a private land arrangement in place. Either approach is valid, but it should be a deliberate decision rather than an afterthought.

Application dates, fees, and current draw statistics change every cycle. For the most current deadlines, license costs, and draw odds for Unit 116, hunters should check HuntPilot's Colorado state page at /states/CO, which reflects the live numbers for the current application period.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is harvest success like in Unit 116? Harvest success has ranged from 35% to 66% over the past five recorded seasons, with the most recent 2025 season posting 819 hunters and 440 harvested for a 54% success rate. That's a generally strong track record for a limited-quota pronghorn unit, though hunters should note that success depends heavily on securing access to the private land that makes up 96% of the unit.

What is the terrain like in Unit 116? Unit 116 sits in classic eastern Colorado high-plains country, with elevation ranging from 4,110 to 4,876 feet. Expect open, rolling rangeland with long sightlines and minimal cover — typical pronghorn habitat where glassing from a distance and understanding water and forage patterns matters more than physical terrain navigation.

Is Unit 116 worth applying for? It depends heavily on whether a hunter can secure private land access. The harvest numbers are good — success rates have topped 50% in three of the last five years — but with only 4% public land in the unit, DIY hunters without an access plan will struggle to find huntable ground even with a tag in hand. Hunters with private land connections or the resources to lease access or hire a guide will find much better odds of a successful, low-frustration hunt.

How big are the pronghorn in Unit 116? Trophy data is not available for this unit, so no specific assessment of antler size or trophy quality can be made. The survey data shows a six-year average buck:doe ratio of 37:100, which is on the modest side and doesn't point toward an unusually mature buck segment, but this doesn't rule out quality animals being present. Hunters looking for trophy-specific information should treat this as an open question given the lack of available records.

Does Unit 116 have public land for DIY hunters? Public land makes up only 4% of the unit's 615,634 acres, meaning the vast majority of ground is private. This is not a unit well suited to a walk-in DIY approach without a pre-arranged access plan — hunters need to identify the limited public parcels in advance, using tools like HuntPilot's public land mapping overlay, or secure permission on private ground before applying.