Colorado is an "opportunity state" for residents and non-residents alike. The largest state elk population and over-the-counter tags gives Colorado a deserved reputation for providing lots of hunters with annual chances at animals. Its central location also makes it convenient for Midwestern and Western out-of-state hunters. The sheer number of available tags can be overwhelming to first-time applicants, but read on to get an understanding of the basics of applying for elk, deer, sheep, goat, pronghorn and moose in Colorado. While not known as a trophy state, record animals are taken each year and not exclusively in "trophy" units.

deer, elk, pronghorn, bear, moose, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, desert bighorn sheep, mountain goat

Application Period Open: Around March 1
Applications Due: Around April 1
Licenses Issued: beginning early June
Over the Counter license sale starts: early August
Refund Deadline: 30 days before license starts

A nonrefundable small game license (Nonres: $80, Res: $28) and a habitat stamp ($10) is a requirement to apply.

With the Eastern portion of the state residing in the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains rising abruptly to the West, weather and topography varies widely. Most hunting opportunities for big game are in the mountains and fall weather can be highly variable. Snow in September isn’t uncommon and it’s nearly guaranteed by November. Elevation and slope angle can be challenging for sea-level hunters.

The state is divided into Game Management Units and deer, elk, moose, pronghorn and bear share the same GMU structure, while sheep and goats get their own GMU breakdowns.

Some tags issued are for a single GMU, while others group together multiple GMUs into one tag permitting you to hunt all listed GMUS.

Elk, deer, pronghorn and bear tags in Colorado that are part of the limited license draw are subject to the preference point lottery system. This is a non-weighted point system that awards points to applicants every year that they are unsuccessful until they draw a first-choice tag, thereby using the points they have accumulated. You do not need a minimum number of points to be eligible to draw a tag and there are some tags given out to applicants with zero points. Depending on the species, there also may be over-the-counter and leftover tags that are available outside of the draw and point system

Moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat tags are part of a weighted point system in which you may accumulate up to three preference points, after which you are awarded a weighted point each year until you draw. Applicants are assigned a random number which is then divided by the number of weighted points. The result of this randomization plus weighted points is that more weighted points increases your chances of drawing, but the randomization means that licenses are distributed more evenly across the pool of applicants. However, in practice, licenses are rarely if ever awarded to applicants with fewer than the maximum of three preference points.

Hunters can apply for a point only as their first choice to use another year and there is no longer a fee for points only for elk, deer, bear and pronghorn. Moose, sheep and goat points accrued are subject to a point fee: $50 for residents, $100 for non-residents. Second, third and fourth choice entries (see below) can be used to apply for licenses and won’t use or generate points but will only be successful for licenses with a quota not met in the first round of draws.

Points are forfeited only if you have not applied for a license or point for that species in ten consecutive years.

Overall quotas of licenses are divvied up between residents and non-residents following a formula based on point required for a particular license historically which prioritizes residents.

Elk and deer tags that required six or more points are limited to 20% to non-residents while tags that took less than 6 points to draw permit up to 35% allocation to non-residents. These percentages can be exceeded if all first-choice resident applications are granted and licenses still remain.

Group applications are accepted for deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep and mountain goat.

There are no group applications for moose or desert sheep, and youth only group applications are not accepted.

Every group application will be entered into the drawing with the same number of preference points as the member with the fewest points. For example, if any member of the group has 0 points, the entire group will be entered into the drawing with 0 points.

There is no limit on group size for deer, elk and antelope. For bighorn sheep and mountain goat, the maximum group size is 2.

The group leader must apply first. All group members must use the same person as the leader in order to go through the draw as a group.

While there is a growing whitetail population in the state, especially on the Eastern plains and along river drainages, most Colorado deer hunters are chasing mule deer found in the mountains and alpine parks. Most deer licenses are good for either species, however, with the exception of a few whitetail-only tags. Unlike for elk, there are no over-the-counter tags for deer in Colorado, so you must enter the draw system or find a leftover tag post-draw if you want to hunt muley.

Colorado limits deer tags for each hunter by classifying licenses as either List A, B or C. As a general rule you can get two tags: either one List A and one List B tag or two List B tags. You cannot get two List A tags, nor can you get one List A and two List B. The only way to get three tags or more is to pursue List C tags which are a limited set of special tags and aren’t realistic for most.

While this isn’t always true, many List A tags are buck tags and the majority of List B tags are doe tags, so for the vast majority of hunters, a realistic opportunity set is one buck tag and one doe tag.

Deer archery and rifle seasons overlap exactly with corresponding elk seasons in Colorado. The Colorado combined elk and deer archery season is fixed through 2026 at Sept. 2-30. Rifle seasons begin in mid- to late-October, although there is a shorter elk-only rifle season that precedes the first deer rifle season. Muzzleloader is also a combined deer and elk 9-day season that lands in the middle of archery season. There are also a limited number of early high country deer-only rifle tags restricted to Wilderness areas around the state and that season coincides with muzzleloader.

The limited draw permits you to apply for one limited license per species in the draw (you can get additional licenses from OTC and leftover license pools). However, in that single application per species, you are given option second, third and fourth choice blanks.

Because the draw looks at all applicants’ first choices before moving on to second-choice applications, it only makes sense to enter a license choice in those blanks that has a good chance to not meet its quota in the initial round.

To find options for these later choices, use our Mule Deer Draw Odds to find licenses that have been drawn with 0 points. Sorting your license options by draw odds (in ascending order) for the various seasons will show you that there are dozens of zero-point licenses available for both residents and non-residents. You can see in the draw odds table the total number of tags issued as well as the number of first-choice applications to see how many tags were historically leftover for later-choice applicants.

Note: many of these zero-point licenses are in the Eastern Plains and will be de facto whitetail licenses since tags are technically good for either species of deer and the plains are mostly whitetail regions.

Colorado boasts the biggest elk population in the nation and offers hunter opportunity to match. There are over-the-counter tags available for residents and non-residents alike and while you will share public hunting lands with many other hunters for these tags, the large amount of public land overall means you can generally find space and animals both.

Colorado limits elk tags for each hunter by classifying licenses as either List A, B or C. As a general rule you can get two tags: either one List A and one List B tag or two List B tags. You cannot get two List A tags, nor can you get one List A and two List B. The only way to get three tags or more is to pursue one of the limited set of List C tags.

While this isn’t universally true, many List A tags are bull tags and many List B tags are cow tags, so for most hunters, a realistic opportunity set is one bull tag and one cow tag.

Elk archery and rifle seasons overlap exactly with corresponding deer seasons in Colorado. The Colorado combined elk and deer archery season is fixed through 2026 at Sept. 2-30. Rifle seasons begin in mid-October and there is an elk-only 5-day first season to kick it all off on Oct. 10. Muzzleloader is also a combined deer and elk 9-day season that lands in the middle of archery season.

The limited draw permits you to apply for one limited license per species in the draw (you can get additional licenses from OTC and leftover license pools after getting the results of the limited draw). However, in that single application per species, you are given option second, third and fourth choice blanks.

Because the draw looks at all applicants’ first choices before moving on to second-choice applications, it only makes sense to enter a license choice in those blanks that has a good chance to not meet its quota in the initial round.

To find options for these later choices, use Colorado Elk Draw Odds to find licenses that have been drawn with 0 points. Sorting your license options by draw odds (in ascending order) for the various seasons will show you that there are dozens of zero-point licenses available for both residents and non-residents in each season. You can see in the draw odds table the total number of tags issued as well as the number of first-choice applications to see how many tags were historically leftover for later-choice applicants.

Colorado is not as well-known for antelope as its northern neighbor Wyoming, but it provides plenty of opportunity in its several high-elevation parks. There are over-the-counter archery-only tags available for residents and non-residents alike, but muzzleloader and rifle tags are only available through the draw.

As with elk and deer, Colorado limits pronghorn tags for each hunter by classifying licenses as either List A, B or C. As a general rule you can get two tags: either one List A and one List B tag or two List B tags. You cannot get two List A tags, nor can you get one List A and two List B. The only way to get three tags or more is to pursue one of the limited set of List C tags.

While this isn’t universally true, many List A tags are buck tags and the majority of List B tags are doe tags, so for most hunters, a realistic opportunity set is one buck tag and one doe tag.

Pronghorn seasons depart from the combined deer and elk seasons in Colorado with the archery season starting early in mid-August. The 9-day muzzleloader season doesn’t overlap with any of the other pronghorn tags and the rifle season is a 7-day tag in early October.

The limited draw permits you to apply for one limited license per species in the draw (you can get additional licenses from OTC and leftover license pools after getting the results of the limited draw). However, in that single application per species, you are given option second, third and fourth choice blanks.

Because the draw looks at all applicants’ first choices before moving on to second-choice applications, it only makes sense to enter a license choice in those blanks that has a good chance to not meet its quota in the initial round.

To find options for these later choices, use Colorado Pronghorn Draw Odds to find licenses that have been drawn with 0 points. Sorting your license options by draw odds (in ascending order) for the various seasons will show you that there are a few zero-point licenses available for both residents and non-residents. If applying for licenses using your second, third or fourth choices, select only licenses that have a decent chance of being available after first choices are fulfilled.

Note: many of the zero-point licenses available are East of I-25 where most land is private, so be sure to evaluate ownership of units using maps linked above before applying.

Colorado boasts a healthy and growing moose population and offers decent hunter opportunity though, as with most states, you’ll have to wait a few years to get one of the roughly 500 available tags. Drawing a bull moose tag is likely a multi-decade wait for most hunters, but randomization in the weighted draw means you could get a tag sooner with luck and cow moose tags generally can be drawn sooner than bulls, though you’ll need a minimum of three points to even stand a chance. Success rates in 2019 were around 1% for all applicants, but you can use Colorado Moose Draw Odds to see the tags that had better than average odds.

Moose tags are limited and all moose licenses are List A, effectively meaning you can only draw one moose tag per year (if you’re lucky!) unless you also draw one of the special List C tags via auction or special availability.

Moose archery tags are limited compared to rifle tags, but offer a nearly month-long September season. Muzzleloader tags are a 9-day season during the archery period and rifle tags run for 14 days in early October.

The limited draw permits you to apply for one limited license per species in the draw, however, in that single application per species, you are given the option to make second, third and fourth choices should your first choice be unsuccessful.

Because there are always many more applications than moose licenses available, there’s no point in utilizing the blanks beyond your first choice.

Like most Western states, Colorado offers a limited number of sheep tags annually and large numbers of applicants for ram tags means these are effectively once-in-a-lifetime hunts. In 2019, 299 bighorn sheep tags were given out and 27 of those (9%) were given to non-residents in the draw. Despite the rabid desire for any and all ram tags, ewe tags are easier to come by with several dozen tags each year being drawn with zero, one and two points.

Sheep tags are limited and you can only draw one tag per year. All tags are distributed in the draw and any rescinded licenses get offered to unsuccessful applicants from the draw following the draw order.

Most sheep archery and rifle tags are close to a month long (some are limited to two weeks) but there is a wide variation in season dates, as the tags are dictated by local weather. Some tags begin in early August and others don’t start until December. See the sheep and goat brochure when it’s released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife for specific dates for specific units.

The limited draw permits you to apply for one limited license per species in the draw, however, in that single application per species, you are given the option to make second, third and fourth choices should your first choice be unsuccessful.

Because there are always many more applications than sheep licenses available, there’s no point in utilizing the blanks beyond your first choice.

Colorado offers a limited number of goat tags annually and because of the difficulty in discerning between the sexes, most are either-sex tags, though there are nanny-only (female) tags in several units. In 2019, 236 mountain goat tags were given out and 23 of those (10%) were given to non-residents in the draw. Overall application success rates are around 2% for residents and a fraction of a percent for non-residents. However, certain less-popular tags offer double-digit odds for those with the three-preference point maximum.

Mountain goat tags are limited and you can only draw one tag per year. All tags are distributed in the draw and any rescinded licenses get offered to unsuccessful applicants from the draw following the draw order.

Most of the few goat archery tags run for at least a month starting in early September and the rifle tags are staggered throughout September and October. See the sheep and goat brochure when it’s released by Colorado Parks and Wildlife for specific dates for specific units.

The limited draw permits you to apply for one limited license per species in the draw, however, in that single application per species, you are given the option to make second, third and fourth choices should your first choice be unsuccessful.

Because there are always many more applications than goat licenses available, there’s no point in utilizing the blanks beyond your first choice.