Unit 85 buck deer, Ranching for Wildlife, season 1
How many preference points it took to draw this hunt in 2026, and your estimated chance at every point level.
39 adult residents put this hunt first; 2 drew (5.1%). Drawn out at 31 preference points: 1 of 1 applicants with 31 drew. 1 drew below the cutoff, through the hybrid random draw (about 4.0% of eligible applicants with 5+ points).
Drawn out at 31 points
No adult nonresidents put this hunt as their first choice.
Compare every Colorado deer hunt at your point level →
Odds by preference points
Residents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 28 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 27 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 25 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 23 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 22 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 21 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 18 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 17 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 16 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 14 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 13 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 11 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 10 | 3 | 0 | — | |
| 9 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 7 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 5 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 4 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | — | |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | — | |
| 0 | 6 | 0 | — | |
| All | 39 | 2 | 1 in 19.5 |
Nonresidents
No applicants in this group.
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 | 57 | 2 | 1 in 28.5 | 25 |
| 2025 | 40 | 2 | 1 in 20.0 | 26 |
| 2026 | 39 | 2 | 1 in 19.5 | 31 |
Drawn out at: 25 in 2024, 26 in 2025, 31 in 2026. The bar is rising at least one point a year, as fast as applicants earn points. Applicants fell 32% 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. 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 85
- Buck deer, archery season DM085O1A · 173 applicants
- Buck deer, muzzleloader season DM085O1M · 62 applicants
- Buck deer, 2nd rifle season DM085O2R · 383 applicants
- Buck deer, 3rd rifle season DM085O3R · 275 applicants
- Buck deer, 4th rifle season DM085O4R · 216 applicants
- Doe deer, private land only, season 5, rifle DF085P5R · 98 applicants
- Cow elk, late season, rifle EF085L1R · 44 applicants
- Cow elk, muzzleloader season EF085O1M · 21 applicants
- Cow elk, 2nd rifle season EF085O2R · 73 applicants
- Cow elk, 3rd rifle season EF085O3R · 35 applicants
- Cow elk, 4th rifle season EF085O4R · 5 applicants
- Cow elk, private land only, season 5, rifle EF085P5R · 205 applicants