Unit 18 cow elk, private land only, season 5
How many preference points it took to draw this hunt in 2026, and your estimated chance at every point level.
58 adult residents put this hunt first; 8 drew (14%). Drawn out at 1 preference point: 5 of 34 applicants with 1 drew.
Drawn out at 1 points
1 adult nonresidents put this hunt first; 0 drew (0%). None drew.
Compare every Colorado elk hunt at your point level →
Odds by preference points
Residents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 1 | 34 | 5 | 1 in 6.8 | |
| 0 | 21 | 0 | — | |
| All | 58 | 8 | 1 in 7.3 |
Nonresidents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 0 | — | |
| All | 1 | 0 | — |
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 | 47 | 47 | 1 in 1.0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 55 | 7 | 1 in 7.9 | 1 |
| 2026 | 58 | 8 | 1 in 7.3 | 1 |
Drawn out at: 0 in 2024, 1 in 2025, 1 in 2026. If that trend holds, expect about 2 points to be needed in 2027. Applicants rose 23% since 2024.
| Year | Applicants | Drew | Odds | Cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 1 in 1.0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 2 | 1 | 1 in 2.0 | 1 |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
Drawn out at: 0 in 2024, 1 in 2025. The bar is rising at least one point a year, as fast as applicants earn points. Applicants fell 50% 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. 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 18
- Cow elk, late season, rifle EF018L1R · 44 applicants
- Cow elk, muzzleloader season EF018O1M · 17 applicants
- Cow elk, 1st rifle season EF018O1R · 65 applicants
- Cow elk, 2nd rifle season EF018O2R · 166 applicants
- Cow elk, 3rd rifle season EF018O3R · 154 applicants
- Cow elk, 4th rifle season EF018O4R · 13 applicants
- Either-sex elk, muzzleloader season EE018O1M · 147 applicants
- Either-sex elk, 1st rifle season EE018O1R · 319 applicants
- Either-sex elk, 4th rifle season EE018O4R · 91 applicants
- Either-sex elk, private land only, season 1, rifle EE018P1R · 3 applicants
- Either-sex elk, nonresident archery season EE018V1A · 0 applicants
- Buck deer, muzzleloader season DM018O1M · 219 applicants