Unit 106, Colorado

Flat to gently rolling shortgrass prairie at elevations of roughly 4,922 to 6,500 feet, transitioning in rougher portions to arid break country characterized by canyons, long draws, and gulches. East Bijou Creek and Middle Bijou Creek drain through the northern portions of the unit, providing the most topographic relief. There are no mountains or significant forested uplands; the landscape is dominated by wide-open rangeland with occasional rimrock ridges.

GMU 106 is overwhelmingly private land; HuntScore reports approximately 8% nominal public (state school sections), while GoHunt has reported a higher figure, but virtually all public parcels are landlocked within private ranches and inaccessible without a trespass agreement, making effective public hunting access near zero. There is no National Forest, BLM, or state wildlife area with road access inside the unit. The primary access routes are I-70 along the southern boundary (exits at Byers, Deer Trail, Agate, Limon), US 36 along the northern boundary, and Colorado 71 on the east edge. Secondary county roads bisect the unit but pass through private agricultural land. Hunters must contact landowners well in advance; outfitter-guided access on private ranches (trespass fee) is the common path. 4WD is useful; county roads can become impassable mud in wet conditions. There is no designated wilderness, no seasonal closure areas, and no federal land-use permit system.

The predominant cover type is shortgrass prairie (blue grama, buffalo grass) interspersed with dryland wheat and corn fields. Brushy draws and creek bottoms support eastern red cedar (juniper), sagebrush, yucca, and prickly pear cactus. Ponderosa pine appears sporadically on steep break slopes in the northeast corner of the unit. Cottonwood galleries line the intermittent creek bottoms. There is no aspen, spruce-fir, or alpine habitat; the unit is entirely in the plains and foothill grassland/shrubland zone.

Mule deer are the primary big game species, scattered across the prairie and concentrated in creek bottoms and break country. White-tailed deer are present in low numbers, especially along cottonwood creek corridors. Pronghorn occur throughout the open prairie, with rut activity from early September through mid-October. Elk numbers are very low — a small number of animals use the steeper break terrain, and elk are not a primary target species in this unit. Black bear and mountain lion are present at low densities typical of eastern plains edge habitat. Wild turkey are present in creek-bottom riparian corridors. No moose or bighorn sheep are documented. Mule deer in this part of the eastern plains are largely residential year-round without dramatic altitudinal migrations; they concentrate in draws and agricultural edges for winter cover and forage.

1. PUBLIC LAND: HuntScore reports 8% nominal public (state school sections, 92% private); GoHunt has reported a higher figure. Virtually all public parcels are landlocked with no road access — treat all land as requiring permission. 2. HARVEST STATISTICS: Unit-level harvest numbers for GMU 106 per HuntScore aggregate (2022): 510 total hunters, 311 total harvest, 39.7% success across all species combined; not broken out by species. Per-species harvest/quota/success fields are null pending CPW draw recap PDFs. 3. SEASON DATES: Plains deer archery is Sep 2–Sep 30 (statewide), not Oct 1–Dec 31 as some draft sources indicated. Plains early rifle Oct 24–Nov 1 and late rifle Dec 1–14 confirmed across multiple 2026 sources. Plains muzzleloader runs from second Saturday of October for 9 days per CPW 2025-2029 season structure. Pronghorn and elk dates follow 2026 statewide framework; unit-specific hunt codes must be verified in official CPW Big Game Brochure. 4. ELK: GMU 106 is not a recognized elk unit; dedicated elk hunt codes may not exist. 5. GMU 106 is in CPW Southeast Region. 6. Elk rifle dates corrected from draft (1st Oct 14–18; 2nd Oct 24–Nov 1; 3rd Nov 7–15; 4th Nov 18–22 per multiple 2026 outfitter/framework sources).