The Colorado 2026 hunting brochures are out. Colorado issues two sets of regulations: one for big game (antelope, bear, deer, elk, and moose) and one for sheep and goat. You can request a hard copy by calling 303-297-1192, or view them online at https://www.wildlife.state.co.us/ and https://cpw.state.co.us/. The application deadline is 8 p.m. MT on April 7, 2026. Sheep and goat licenses must be paid for by May 7. Deer, elk, antelope, and moose licenses must be paid for by June 12. Failure to pay will result in forfeiture of any accumulated preference points used to draw said permit as well as loss of the license.

Visa, MasterCard, or Discover will be accepted. Corrections or modifications to applications are accepted in Colorado and can be made until the April 7th application deadline.

Group applications are accepted for all species, except for moose and Desert bighorn sheep. The number of applicants allowed within a group application is unlimited for all species except Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and mountain goat, which allow a maximum number of two applicants. Non-residents and residents may not apply together for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep or mountain goat. If non-residents and residents apply together and draw, the permits will count against the non-resident allocation total. Group applicants go into the draw with the lowest number of points held by any individual in the group. For example, three applicants in a group with one, six, and seven points will enter the draw with a group preference point total of one. Group members must apply for the same species, hunt code (in the same order), season, and method of take.

You can choose to only build points, but you still have to pay the non-refundable hunting license, application, habitat stamp, and point fees (if required). The preference point only code is S-P-999-99-P for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, G-P-999-99-P for mountain goat, M-P-999-99-P for moose, D-P-999-99-P for deer, E-P-999-99-P for elk, and A-P-999-99-P for antelope. The preference point fee is $100 for sheep, moose, and mountain goat, but it is free for youth.

Deer, elk, antelope, and bear non-resident hunters are limited to up to 25% of the total permit numbers per hunt code unless the hunt has taken residents 6 or more points to draw on average for a previous three-year period. For those units, non-residents will be limited to 20% of those permits. The old non-resident quota for non-high-demand hunts was 35%. Non-residents are limited to 10% of the total number of sheep, mountain goat, and moose permits.

Colorado has a true preference point system for elk, deer, antelope, and bear. For those species, permits are allocated to applicants with the most preference points within the non-resident quota. There is no maximum number of preference points for these species.

The odds we list for sheep, moose, and goat are based upon the number of non-resident applicants with three preference points. The odds are simple odds and are calculated without consideration of weighted points. If you want to see your exact draw odds based on the number of weighted points you have, go to https://www.huntinfool.com/drawodds/viewer and select the hunt you wish to apply for. In put your weighted point total to receive your exact draw odds from the previous year.

Elk, deer, and antelope odds are listed as the minimum number of preference points an applicant needed to draw a permit in 2025.

Any eligible hunter aged twelve through seventeen will receive preference in the secondary draw for elk, deer, antelope, and bear licenses. Preference point fees are waived for all species for youth applicants. Youth hunters may receive up to fifteen percent of the limited doe antelope, antlerless and either-sex deer, or antlerless elk licenses established for each unit. These licenses are available by draw for all seasons and methods of take, including early and late rifle seasons. Group applications will not be accepted. Licenses not drawn by youth will be made available to the public. Permit prices for youth are considerably less expensive.

In-line muzzleloaders are legal. Muzzleloader hunters cannot use pelletized powder, smokeless powder, or sabots. Open or “iron” sights are mandatory with no scopes of any kind. Fiber optic sights or fluorescent paint incorporated into or on open or iron sights are legal. Electronic or battery-powered devices cannot be incorporated onto or attached to the muzzleloading firearm. A minimum of .40 caliber is required to hunt deer and antelope, and a minimum of .50 caliber is required to hunt elk and moose. Archery equipment may not be used during muzzleloader seasons.

Only hand-held bows may be used during the archery season; this excludes crossbows from being used during the archery seasons. Scopes or magnifying sights cannot be used on bows in the archery-only season. Bows must be drawn or held by hand without the aid of any mechanical device. The bow’s draw weight must be a minimum of 35 pounds, and broadheads must have at least two steel cutting edges.

Firearms and bows carried on an OHV must be fully enclosed in a hard or soft case, and rifles must be unloaded in the chamber and magazine when on an OHV. A muzzleloader is considered unloaded when it does not have a primer or percussion cap on.

Whether you’re looking at easy-to-draw tags or over-the-counter options, Colorado remains a land of opportunity when it comes to accessible hunting. The state has only recently started releasing wolves, and while the impact is yet to fully play out, the state’s wildlife commission still has a couple members who believe in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and understand the importance of hunting to the state’s economy and wildlife management. For the time being, Colorado continues to support healthy populations of bear, deer, elk, and antelope, offering a wide range of hunting opportunities—particularly for those who value the experience of the hunt itself, rather than just the harvest.

However, the sentiment among many residents is shifting toward limiting non-resident hunting as game populations start to decline and the effort required to bag an animal increases. As hunting becomes more challenging, the push to prioritize residents over non-residents grows stronger. The landscape of hunting in Colorado is evolving, and it’s something hunters will need to pay attention to in the coming years, especially as wildlife management decisions continue to shift.

The decision to make all non-resident archery elk tags draw-only was a slight blow to non-residents, but it wasn’t an end to hunting elk in Colorado every year, if that’s what you like to do. Only one of those units hit quota in the primary draw, and 3,899 licenses went to the leftover list. You can easily put an archery elk license in your pocket if you are wanting to chase rutting bulls in September. You can also continue to build points with your first choice, put one of those -VIA hunt codes down as a second choice, draw that second choice license, and go hunt. Or, if you don’t care about building points, you can put a -VIA code down as a first choice to solidify grabbing one with near 100% odds. Keep in mind, however, that you don’t need to do any of that to get one of those tags; there will be leftover tags to pick up over the counter.

Colorado has raffle and auction Governor-type permits. For more information, go to https://cpw.state.co.us/activities/hunting/big-game/auction-and-raffle-licenses. You can also refer to the article “Governor, Commissioner, and Conservation Tags” in our January 2026 issue.

Colorado has a good landowner permit program, and we have hundreds of landowners who list their tags with us every year. Go to https://www.huntinfool.com/adventures/landowner to see the available tags. Colorado has many opportunities to go hunting. If you find yourself without a tag this fall, let us help you find something that suits your needs in Colorado.

Throughout much of Western Colorado, there is ample public land to hunt. The Eastern Plains have very little public land by comparison. onX mapping is highly recommended if you are planning to hunt anywhere in Colorado.

CPW has a big game pilot program. This allows public access to some Walk-In Access (WIA) properties for deer, elk, and antelope hunting. Specific information will be available in the WIA brochure coming out in August.

Money from the sale of habitat stamps is used to acquire and manage habitat for hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing—an endeavor that is overseen by the Colorado Parks and Wildlife program. Additional funding for that program comes from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) and federal dollars.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife participates in the State Trust Lands Public Access Program. Not all state trust land is in this program. CPW has a brochure identifying properties open for wildlife recreation that will be out in August. Colorado is currently at 973,000 acres of state trust land and hoping to expand this program to over one million acres in the future. For a current map of acres enrolled in this program, go to https://ndismaps.nrel.colostate.edu/index.html?app=HuntingAtlas.