Unit 117, Colorado

Level to gently rolling short-grass plains. Elevation ranges from approximately 3,881 ft at the lowest drainages to 4,321 ft on the upland divides — a relief of only about 440 ft. There are no canyons, mountains, or significant topographic breaks; intermittent creek drainages (seasonal draws) provide the only structural variation across the landscape.

The unit is effectively 100 percent privately owned; there is no National Forest, BLM, or state wildlife area with confirmed public big-game access. CPW lists land status as '100 percent private'; approximately 3.6–4% reflects State Land Board trust parcels. The BLM Burlington and Cheyenne Wells district quads cover the area administratively but hold no surface acreage in the unit. Access depends entirely on pre-season permission from private landowners; CPW and GoHunt note that ranchers are more permissive for pronghorn hunting than during deer season. Colorado's Walk-In Access (WIA) program enrolls private lands in Kit Carson and Cheyenne counties on an annual basis; some enrolled parcels permit big-game hunting September 1 through December 31. WIA enrollment is announced annually in July — hunters should consult the CPW Hunting Atlas or downloadable county GeoPDF maps each year for currently enrolled tracts. A private-land-only license designation is available for pronghorn. Major access roads: I-70 (US 24) along the north edge, US 40 along the south edge, US 385 along the western boundary. No trailheads, wilderness areas, or seasonal road closures apply.

Dominant cover is native short-grass prairie (blue grama, buffalo grass) interspersed with dryland and irrigated crop fields. Substantial acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) grows native tall-grass mixes. Riparian corridors along seasonal draws support cottonwood and Russian olive. Scattered yucca and prickly pear cactus appear on sandy uplands. Patchy low sagebrush may occur on sandy upland swales but is not a dominant component. There is no pinyon-juniper, aspen, or conifer component.

Mule deer and white-tailed deer are both present and widely scattered throughout the unit; both species use cropland and CRP fields, with the rut running late October through late December. Pronghorn antelope are distributed throughout the GMU on open prairie and CRP grasslands year-round with no significant seasonal migration out of the unit. Elk hold a minimal to negligible presence — a plains elk license category exists but historical harvest is effectively zero. Black bear and mountain lion are not characteristic of this flat plains unit though listed in some databases with negligible occurrence. Turkey (Rio Grande) are present in riparian cottonwood corridors. Small game includes scaled quail in the southern half, ring-necked pheasant near agricultural areas, cottontail rabbits throughout, and early-season waterfowl along drainages and stock ponds.

1. Harvest statistics for deer and pronghorn come from the CPW 2017 Southeast Colorado Hunting Guide (2016 data) — the most granular GMU-level table from an official CPW PDF source found; treat as multi-year averages rather than current-year figures. 2. Public land percentage: CPW guide states 100% private; GoHunt reports 3.6% public / ~4% state trust land — the profile uses 4% to capture State Land Board parcels. 3. Tag quotas could not be confirmed from accessible sources. 4. GoHunt and HuntScore both list patchy sagebrush in habitat; the vegetation description has been updated to reflect minimal occurrence rather than a blanket exclusion. 5. Turkey (Rio Grande) are listed by HuntScore and consistent with cottonwood riparian habitat; added to wildlife section. 6. Elk presence is nominal; 0 harvest out of ~5 hunters in 2016. 7. Black bear and mountain lion are listed in some aggregator databases but are not characteristic of this flat plains unit. 8. Season dates are from the CPW 2025-2029 Big Game Season Structure document, confirmed applicable to 2026. 9. WIA program details verified via CPW Walk-In Access page: big-game hunting allowed on some enrolled parcels Sep 1–Dec 31; enrollment announced annually in July.