Archery

Colorado unlimited over-the-counter archery elk license sales by residency 2001-2023

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Early High Country Rifle Deer

Muzzleloader

First Season Rifle Elk

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Second Season Rifle

Third Season Rifle

Fourth Season Rifle

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has changed the hunting season structures for elk and deer for 2025 through 2029 during their annual 5-year big game season structure process. That season structure was approved on their June 12-13, 2024 meeting.

Watch the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission Meeting from June 12, 2024, below:

Start watching the commission meeting around the two-hour, 38-minute mark.

These new season structures might impact how you apply in the coming years and definitely have a chance to impact draw odds, as certain seasons and even certain years could now become more coveted for people wanting to try to draw a tag based on the season dates and the change to nonresident archery licenses that were previously over-the-counter West of I-25 and GMU 140.

Remember, in 2024, Colorado changed the nonresident license allocation for bear, deer, elk, and antelope to 75% for residents and 25% for nonresidents for most hunt codes (previously, it was 65% for residents and 35% for nonresidents). High-demand hunt codes remain at 80% for residents and 20% for nonresidents.

Also, Colorado has made all over-the-counter archery elk hunts for nonresidents a draw West of I-25 and GMU 140. More on this in the archery section below.

NOTE: Don't forget that Colorado is discussing changing its draw system to a hybrid model, possibly by 2028. That will definitely change everyone's approach to applications.

If you want a refresher before diving into the new information, you can check out the 2020-2024 Colorado season structure article that I published back in 2019 when the last season structure changes were moving through the commission.

Colorado's elk and deer population

Below are graphs that show the post-hunt populations of Colorado elk and deer.

In the tables below, you will find the historical and new season structure dates

The information below does not include any of the eastern plains hunts. I left those off due to the amount of private land.

The archery hunt for elk and deer will continue to be a 29-day season for 2025 through 2029, with exact annual dates of September 2 – September 30, West of I-25 and GMU 140. This season date structure is the same as the recent 2020-2024 season dates.

This structure creates a rotating opening date. These archery season dates potentially lead to a better elk hunt, as you can hunt the entire month of September, but they could very slightly impact a velvet mule deer hunt, as these hunts no longer have the chance of starting in late August.

No more over-the-counter nonresident archery elk licenses

Nonresident archery elk licenses are no longer available as over-the-counter licenses West of I-25 and GMU 140 and are now limited. So, for any hunt that was previously over-the-counter for archery elk West of I-25 and GMU 140, a nonresident will now need to apply for those hunts. This motion passed with nine commissioners in favor and one against. Commissioner Marie Haskett was the only one to vote no.

Residents will still be able to pick up over-the-counter archery elk licenses for units West of I-25 and GMU 140.

If you're a resident of Colorado, this change toward nonresidents will probably be welcomed. This change arose from the public regarding crowding on the over-the-counter archery elk hunts and the overall hunting experience of these over-the-counter archery elk hunts. Also, there was lots of chatter about more nonresidents buying over-the-counter archery elk licenses than residents in recent years.

The source of the above graphic can be found in the memo for the 2025-2029 Colorado Big Game Season structure PDF document here. I've also seen some other graphics obtained through CORA requests by Brandon Siegfried that show even more nonresident over-the-counter archery hunters in a 2014-2021 dataset.

If I counted correctly, this new nonresident change will impact 57 "over-the-counter" archery elk units west of I-25 and Unit 140.

License quotas for nonresident archery elk hunts won't be set until later commission meetings. But I'm sure it's at the top of everyone's minds.

It's uncertain at this time how this will change nonresidents' willingness to burn preference points they may have already built up for elk in years past. But it will definitely change the game. In a sense, nonresidents will now have to burn points to hunt elk on these archery hunts that used to be over-the-counter, so it will push people to use points more often, which could put some relief on overall point creep. Or these hunts might go underapplied for (if people aren't willing to burn points for a few years as people wait to see how it plays out), and you might see these licenses show up as hunts available in the Second Draw or leftovers.

Or possibly, more nonresident hunters who used to hunt the archery over-the-counter elk season will elect to keep their points and decide to hunt the second and third rifle over-the-counter hunts.

License distribution

Elk: Limited either-sex, antlered and antlerless elk licenses are issued by Game Management Unit (GMU)/Data Analysis Unit (DAU). Unlimited Over-the-Counter (OTC) either-sex, antlered, and antlerless archery elk licenses can be made available to residents in certain units. Resident OTC List B archery elk antlerless licenses are only valid in units that also have List B rifle elk antlerless licenses. Nonresident archery elk licenses are limited either-sex, antlered or antlerless and issued by GMU/DAU.

Deer: All archery deer licenses are limited either-sex or limited buck and issued by Game Management Unit (GMU)/Data Analysis Unit (DAU).

There is no major change in the date structure for the early high country rifle deer for the 2025-2029 seasons.

The early high country rifle deer hunt is a 9-day antlered buck deer season, in high country or wilderness portions of select deer units. The season opens the first Saturday of September or the second Saturday of September to avoid opening Labor Day weekend.

There is no real season structure change for the 2025 through 2029 seasons. Muzzleloader season will continue to open on the second Saturday of September and run for a total of nine days.

The one benefit of the 2025 to 2029 season dates for a muzzleloader deer hunter is that the opening day gets earlier and earlier each year, increasing the chances for a potentially better high-country hunt.

License distribution

NEW: A 5-day season opening the first Wednesday after October 8th, followed by a 5-day break. Deer and elk combined season, but deer hunting is optional.

Colorado is once again returning to a 5-day break between first and second rifle instead of a 9-day break like during the 2020-2024 seasons.

Potential first season rifle deer hunt

The deer hunting portion is also new for this 2025 to 2029 season structure. However, the deer season on the first rifle season still needs to be approved and will be discussed at Colorado's commission meeting on November 14-15, 2024. This first season rifle deer hunt can be proposed on a case by case basis when necessary to meet management objectives.

See pages 6 through 10 of the following document for more information.

License Distribution:

The Second season rifle hunt will continue to be a 9-day season, followed by a 5-day break, which is essentially the same as the old system. The season will open on a Saturday and includes two full weekends. Deer and elk seasons are combined.

The second season rifle dates are now going to be earlier than the previous 2020 to 2024 season structure.

This could be a downside to second-season rifle deer hunts, as the chance for a decent rut hunt and cold weather and snow might be less. To capitalize on potentially better draw odds than third-season rifle deer hunts, hunters might want to focus on the 2025 and 2026 seasons, as both of those years have hunts that go into November. But keep in mind, these season dates are nowhere near where they were back in 2021, for example, when the second season rifle hunt went until November 7.

License Distribution:

The third season rifle hunts saw some changes. The third rifle season hunt now has been placed back on a 9-day season, followed by a 2-day break. The season will open on a Saturday and includes two full weekends. Deer and elk seasons are combined.

The 2020-2024 season was a 7-day season followed by a four-day break and only included one weekend.

Big change to be aware of... just like other seasons, the third season rifle hunts are going to be getting earlier and earlier. So gone are the days of a super late third season rifle hunt with better chances of hitting the mule deer rut and cold weather and snow. So the best chance for late dates are 2025 followed by 2026. The dates are still later than historical dates, but not what we saw during the 2020 to 2024 season structure.

License Distribution:

For 2025 through 2029, Colorado's fourth season rifle hunt is still a 5-day season that opens on a Wednesday.

Note: The season dates are now not as late as the 2020 to 2024 season structure. Fourth season rifle hunts no longer go into Thanksgiving like some of the years past.

License Distribution:

Researching for these hunts in coming years

Be sure to dive into all of our Colorado research tools on Insider prior to each application season. Each year draw data is updated, along with all of the other data such as harvest success, tag allocations, and more. Be sure to check out our Colorado State Profile, Colorado Species Profiles, Draw Odds, Filtering and How does the Colorado draw system work article for even more information.

Below is a link to the official 2025-2029 Big Game Season Structure if you want to examine other species' season dates.