Unit 135

Key terrain features include the Purgatoire River forming the eastern boundary and serving as a major drainage corridor, Bear Springs Hills and Iron Springs Hills offering slightly elevated vantage points, and Dixie Bluffs and Jack Point providing visual landmarks across the flatter sections. The canyon systems—particularly Jack Canyon, Plum Canyon, and Vogel Canyon—serve as natural travel routes with reliable water and concentrated game. Packers Gap and Shale Hills help orient navigation in the rolling terrain.

The Apishapa River channel and numerous arroyos like McMahon Arroyo and Big Arroyo create the drainage pattern hunters follow to find water and concentrate their search.

This is low-elevation country dominated by grassland, sagebrush, and scattered pinyon-juniper. The entire unit sits between roughly 4,000 and 5,700 feet, creating a consistent semi-arid climate with limited forest canopy. Vegetation follows the drainage systems and slightly higher ridges, with the most reliable timber concentrated in the valleys and on south-facing slopes where moisture collects.

Open plains dominate the eastern and southern portions, while the western reaches offer more pinyon cover and slightly greener foothills. The sparse forest means big open glassing country broken by drainages and canyon systems—a mix that rewards both spot-and-stalk hunting and drainage-walking strategies.

Road density is fair with roughly 583 miles of total roads providing grid-like access across the unit. County roads and ranch routes web the country, though private land interspersed throughout requires finding public routes or gaining permission. The vast scale and straightforward terrain mean pressure distributes across a large area, leaving opportunities for hunters willing to push away from the main access corridors.

The Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site to the south is off-limits. Early season and weekday hunting sees lighter pressure; weekend access points near La Junta and along major routes see more activity. The terrain's openness makes it easy to spot other hunters, so navigation toward lesser-used drainages pays dividends.

GMU 135 sprawls across Las Animas, Pueblo, and Otero counties in south-central Colorado. The unit is bounded north by Colorado 10 and U.S. 50, east by Colorado 109 and the Purgatoire River, south by the Las Animas-Otero county line and Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site boundary, and west by U.S. 350 and the Colo. Interstate Gas Pipeline Road.

The unit encompasses a massive footprint that transitions from higher foothill country in the west to lower plains terrain in the east. Towns like La Junta, Bloom, Timpas, and Whiterock provide access points and resupply options around the unit's perimeter.

Water is the limiting factor here. The Purgatoire River runs along the eastern border but isn't always easily accessed from hunting country. Instead, hunters rely on scattered reservoirs—Fultz, Lambing Camp, Larson, Anderson, Smith, and others—and reliable springs like Hixon Spring, Iron Springs, Good Pasture Spring, and Rock Waterhole.

Creeks including West Dry Creek, Turkey Creek, and the various arroyos flow seasonally but provide water in their upper reaches and canyon bottoms. The Ninemile Canal offers another water source in limited areas. Strategic knowledge of which water sources hold up through the season is critical—this isn't a unit where water is abundant, so finding reliable sources makes or breaks a hunt.

GMU 135 holds elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, and occasional moose across its vast expanse. Early season elk hunting focuses on higher ridges and canyon systems where animals seek cooler terrain—the Bear Springs Arroyo and surrounding canyons are logical concentration areas. Mule deer are throughout, from the open plains to the scattered timber, with bucks favoring drainage bottoms and slight elevation changes.

White-tails concentrate in riparian vegetation along the Purgatoire and in pinyon-juniper thickets. Pronghorn hunt the open flats and grasslands, glassable from any slight elevation. The sparse timber and rolling terrain make this a glassing-heavy unit—find water, glass the surrounding country, and move into canyons and drainages that funnel game.

Later in the season, focus on remaining water sources as animals concentrate there.