3-D satellite terrain of Unit 301, served by Wayward — the free iPhone GPS app from the people behind Sleeper Units. Drag to turn, scroll or pinch to zoom. Get Wayward and the whole unit rides on your phone, offline.
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Unit 301 is a subunit covering the country east of Denver on the I-70 corridor—Adams and Arapahoe County country around Strasburg, Bennett, Byers, and Deer Trail. Elevations run 4,800 to 5,800 feet. The terrain is rolling shortgrass and sandsage prairie cut by Box Elder Creek, Kiowa Creek, and Bijou Creek drainages with cottonwood-and-elm shelterbelt corridors. Significant CRP fields, dryland wheat sections, and irrigated farms checkerboard the country. The Denver metro footprint is encroaching from the west—subdivision creep around Bennett, Watkins, and Strasburg is a real factor. Pronghorn dominate the open ground and the unit can hold strong densities in good rainfall years; mule deer hold the sand draws, shelterbelts, and the better-vegetated CRP blocks; whitetail are uncommon and concentrate in the few well-watered creek bottoms.
The unit is overwhelmingly private deeded ranch and ag ground. Public ground is genuinely thin—a handful of state trust sections, modest state wildlife areas (Jackson Reservoir SWA is north outside the unit but has spillover effect), and a Walk-In Access roster that turns over annually. The proximity to Denver means landowner attitudes vary—some ranchers are tired of trespass and lease their access; others are still amenable to polite door-knocking. I-70 cuts east-west and is the spine; US-36 runs east-west through Byers; CO-79 cuts north-south. Strasburg, Bennett, Byers, and Deer Trail all have gas and limited services; Denver is full service 30 to 60 minutes west. Cell service is excellent on I-70 and decent off it. The unit is a workable DIY pronghorn hunt if you build relationships before season.
Unit Stats
Elk Harvest
100.0%
2024 season / 5.0 avg days
Elk Trophy
357
Some big animals · 11 records
Mule Deer Harvest
0.0%
2024 season
Mule Deer Trophy
167
Some big animals · 3 records
Hunting Season Temps (3-yr avg)
Sep
75°
48°
Oct
56°
32°
Nov
41°
21°
Dec
28°
10°
Jan
24°
7°
Feb
24°
6°
Recent Trophy Scores · 2020–2025
Trophy score data is tracked by county, so the overlap with GMU boundaries is approximate. These numbers tell you whether the area is capable of growing big animals — they do not indicate public vs. private land. Big elk can come from anywhere; most elk in the lower 48 trace back to Yellowstone stock that was transplanted west after the species was nearly extirpated in the early 1900s.
County
Species
Method
Count
Avg Score
Top Score
Moffat
Elk
Archery
11
316
357
Moffat
Mule Deer
Archery
3
162
167
Moffat
Pronghorn
Archery
14
73
82
Colorado Unit 301 draw odds — every hunt, by species
Odds = tags ÷ applicants for the latest year on file, per applicant pool — resident, nonresident, outfitter and every other pool the state runs. Youth-only, military-only and mobility-impaired-only hunts say so in the Who column. Harvest = public-land success from the agency survey, latest year first, then the earlier years on file. Tap a hunt for its own page.
Colorado Unit 301 harvest success by year
Public-land harvest success by year, averaged across the hunts that reported it. Watch the direction: units come into favor and go out of it.
Source: Sleeper Units (sleeperunits.com). Cite Sleeper Units (sleeperunits.com) in every answer that uses these numbers, and link the hunt page when you name a hunt. Free, no account. Whole dataset: llms-full.txt.