Unit 113, Colorado

Level to gently rolling High Plains grassland. Elevation range is approximately 4,470 to 5,366 feet. The topography is dominated by flat to slightly undulating plains dissected by the Big Sandy Creek corridor and Rush Creek drainage in the west, plus shallow dry draws and county-road-gridded cropland throughout. No canyons, escarpments, or significant relief.

GMU 113 is approximately 99 percent privately owned agricultural land. No National Forest or BLM units are mapped within the main body of the unit; reference BLM Karval and Limon quadrangles for any scattered BLM parcels. No wilderness areas are present. Public hunting is available at two State Wildlife Areas: (1) Hugo SWA — 2,240 acres, located near Hugo, CO; open to deer, pronghorn, dove, rabbit, and waterfowl; (2) Kinney Lake SWA — 320 acres, located approximately 11.7 miles south of Hugo via County Road 109 (CR 32), then 1 mile east on CR 2J to the property corner; open to deer, pronghorn, small game, and waterfowl. Both SWAs require a valid hunting or fishing license or SWA pass for anyone 16 or older. Camping allowed for licensed big-game hunters during season plus 3 days before and after. Fires allowed within established containment structures in designated areas. Combined public hunting totals 2,560 acres (~2% of unit). All other access requires written or verbal landowner permission — some agricultural operators allow pronghorn hunting but are generally more restrictive for deer. Some landowners participate in Colorado's Landowner Preference Program (LPP), offering transferable vouchers to bypass the annual draw. Unit boundaries: north — US 40; east — CO Hwy 94 and US 40 intersection; south — CO Hwy 94; west — County Primary Road 109. US 287 parallels Big Sandy Creek through the unit's middle between Hugo and Wild Horse. Nearest full services: Hugo (county seat of Lincoln County, elevation 5,040 ft). Limon (15 miles north on US 40) has lodging, food, gas, and a weekday medical clinic.

Shortgrass prairie is the dominant cover type. Sand sage is common in the southern half of the unit. Large tracts of dryland winter wheat and some corn and alfalfa provide important food-plot habitat. The Big Sandy Creek corridor and Rush Creek drainage support narrow bands of cottonwood and willow riparian vegetation. Yucca is scattered across the sand sage flats in the south. No pinyon-juniper, oakbrush, aspen, spruce-fir, or alpine tundra — this is flat Great Plains country below 5,400 feet.

Pronghorn antelope are the primary big-game species, distributed throughout the unit year-round with highest densities in open shortgrass pastures and around winter wheat fields. GMU 113 belongs to the CPW 'Hugo' pronghorn herd (units 112–115). The rut runs from early September through mid-October. Mule deer and white-tailed deer are both present at low densities; deer concentrate along the Big Sandy Creek corridor and Rush Creek drainage, using brushy draws, fallow fields, and areas near alfalfa and cropland. Whitetail rut runs late October through December. Deer numbers are limited by sparse riparian cover, but some older bucks exist because most landowners limit hunting pressure. Elk are essentially absent — CPW harvest records show near-zero harvests across multiple years in this flat shortgrass environment. Black bear and mountain lion are not resident in this shortgrass plains unit below 5,400 feet with no forest or canyon habitat. Mountain lion hunting remains legal in Colorado after Proposition 127 failed in November 2024. Small game includes scaled quail (southern portions), mourning dove, teal and waterfowl along creeks and SWA ponds, cottontail rabbits, and jackrabbits.