Colorado mule deer range map
Where mule deer live in Colorado, as Colorado Parks and Wildlife maps it, with separate maps for summer and winter. Free, over unit boundaries, land ownership and the topo map, with no account.
Open the mule deer range map All the map does
The mule deer range maps
9 maps are published for this animal. Switch on one or several. "Show it" opens the hunting map with that range drawn.
| Range | What it is | CPW's name for it | Mapped | Last changed | On the map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year-round range | All the country mule deer are known to use, at any time of year. CPW's definition: Area which encompasses all known seasonal activity areas within the observed range of a mule deer population. | Mule Deer Overall Range | 1 area | July 2016 | Show it |
| Summer range | Where most mule deer spend the summer. CPW's definition: Part of the overall range where 90% of the individuals are located between spring green-up and the first heavy snowfall. Summer range and winter range may overlap. | Mule Deer Summer Range | 12 areas | September 2024 | Show it |
| Winter range | Where most mule deer spend an ordinary winter. CPW's definition: Part of the overall range where 90% of the individuals are located during the average five winters out of ten from the first heavy snowfall to spring green-up, or during a site specific period of winter as defined for each Data Analysis Unit. Only delineated for migratory populations. On the Eastern Plains it is areas that provide thermal cover for deer. | Mule Deer Winter Range | 88 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Winter concentration | The parts of the winter range that hold far more mule deer than the rest of it. CPW's definition: Part of the winter range where densities are at least 200% greater than the surrounding winter range density, in the average five winters out of ten. | Mule Deer Winter Concentration Area | 290 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Severe winter range | Where most mule deer end up in the hardest winters, about two in every ten. CPW's definition: Part of the overall range where 90% of the individuals are located when the annual snowpack is at its maximum and/or temperatures are at a minimum in the two worst winters out of ten. | Mule Deer Severe Winter Range | 218 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Concentration area | Ground that holds more mule deer than the country around it. CPW's definition: Part of the overall range where higher quality habitat supports significantly higher densities than surrounding areas. Typically occupied year round and not necessarily associated with a specific season. | Mule Deer Concentration Area | 208 areas | August 2025 | Show it |
| Highway crossings | Stretches of road that mule deer commonly cross. CPW's definition: Areas where mule deer movements traditionally cross roads or railroads, presenting potential conflicts between mule deer and motorists or trains. | Mule Deer Highway Crossing | 501 areas | November 2025 | Show it |
| Resident ground | Ground where mule deer live all year and do not move with the seasons. CPW's definition: Area that provides year-round range for a population of mule deer. The resident mule deer use all of the area all year; it cannot be subdivided into seasonal ranges. | Mule Deer Resident Population Area | 114 areas | September 2025 | Show it |
| Limited use | Ground mule deer use only now and then, or where only a few live. CPW's definition: An area within the overall range of mule deer that is only occasionally inhabited and/or contains only a small population of scattered mule deer. | Mule Deer Limited Use Area | 18 areas | July 2024 | Show it |
Counts and dates are from Colorado Parks and Wildlife's map service, read October 13, 2026. CPW revises these maps a region at a time, each region about every four years.
How to read a range map
- It is a broad area, not a sighting. Biologists and district wildlife managers draw these areas from what they know of each herd or population. It does not show where an animal is today.
- Weather, hunting pressure and the year all move animals. Winter range is where most are in an ordinary winter. In a mild fall they can be well above it on opening day, and after a hard storm well into it.
- Being inside a mapped range gives no right to hunt the ground. Much winter range is private. Switch on land ownership and tap the spot for the owner on record.
- Your license names the units it is good in. Switch on unit boundaries to see the range and the unit line together.
Nothing on this map promises an animal. It is the published record of where the animal generally lives, and the hunting is still yours to do.
Units, seasons and licenses
Every deer unit has its own page with seasons, licenses and harvest figures: Colorado deer units. Look up any license by its code under Colorado hunt codes, and put units side by side with the unit comparison.
What is left off, on purpose
Colorado Parks and Wildlife also maps single spots an animal comes back to, such as mineral licks, water sources and roost sites, and it maps migration. Those are left off this map. That is part of our fair chase promise: published public maps of broad areas only, and never a hunter's own sightings.
Other big game range maps
Elk, White-tailed deer, Moose, Pronghorn, Bighorn sheep, Mountain goat, Black bear, Mountain lion. Small game and birds: wild turkey, dusky grouse, pheasant.
The map shows the ground. A plan tells you where to go.
The map is free. A FilledTag hunt plan is the paid part: for your tag and where you drive from, one exact plan with a legal place to park, a camp, morning and evening spots and the walk between them, checked against land records.