Unit 53 either-sex elk, nonresident archery season
How many preference points it took to draw this hunt in 2026, and your estimated chance at every point level.
No adult residents put this hunt as their first choice.
241 adult nonresidents put this hunt first; 241 drew (100%). Every first-choice applicant drew, so any point level was enough.
Any points drew
Compare every Colorado elk hunt at your point level →
Odds by preference points
Residents
No applicants in this group.
Nonresidents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 2 | 6 | 6 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 1 | 15 | 15 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 0 | 215 | 215 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| All | 241 | 241 | 1 in 1.0 |
Trends, 2025–2026
"Cutoff" is the preference point level where licenses ran out that year (CPW's "drawn out at" level).
| Year | Applicants | Drew | Odds | Cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 265 | 265 | 1 in 1.0 | 0 |
| 2026 | 241 | 241 | 1 in 1.0 | 0 |
Drawn out at: 0 in 2025, 0 in 2026. The bar has held steady at about 0 points. Applicants fell 9% since 2025.
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. Nonresidents could get at most 100% of this hunt's licenses. 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 53
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