Unit 72 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.
18 adult residents put this hunt first; 18 drew (100%). Every first-choice applicant drew, so any point level was enough.
Any points drew
No adult nonresidents put this hunt as their first choice.
Compare every Colorado elk hunt at your point level →
Odds by preference points
Residents
| Preference points | Applicants | Drew | Actual odds | Estimated chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| 0 | 13 | 13 | 1 in 1.0 | |
| All | 18 | 18 | 1 in 1.0 |
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 | 23 | 9 | 1 in 2.6 | 1 |
| 2025 | 22 | 22 | 1 in 1.0 | 0 |
| 2026 | 18 | 18 | 1 in 1.0 | 0 |
Drawn out at: 1 in 2024, 0 in 2025, 0 in 2026. The bar has been falling. Applicants fell 22% since 2024.
| Year | Applicants | Drew | Odds | Cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | 1 in 1.0 | 1 |
| 2025 | 3 | 3 | 1 in 1.0 | 0 |
| 2026 | 0 | 0 | — | — |
Drawn out at: 1 in 2024, 0 in 2025. The bar has been falling. Applicants fell 100% 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 72
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- Buck deer, 3rd rifle season DM072O3R · 205 applicants
- Buck deer, 4th rifle season DM072O4R · 119 applicants
- Buck deer, private land only, season 2, rifle DM072P2R · 51 applicants
- Buck deer, private land only, season 3, rifle DM072P3R · 64 applicants
- Doe deer, private land only, season 2, rifle DF072P2R · 5 applicants
- Doe deer, private land only, season 3, rifle DF072P3R · 5 applicants
- Doe deer, private land only, season 4, rifle DF072P4R · 9 applicants