Written by 11:49 am Blog Entries, Hunting 101

Important Dates for the 2025-26 Colorado Big Game Seasons

If you’re like me, you’re not overly fond of the CPW website redesign. Information on the site, particularly the mobile site, seems way harder to find. When you do find it, the interface seems kludgy and unusable. There’s expands where they don’t need to be, when a table of data will do. That said, I’ve got the important dates for the Colorado 2025-26 Big Game Seasons down below for your reference. Nothing fancy, just dates and what they are.

Important Dates

Primary DrawSecondary Draw
March 1 – Applications are able to be submitted to the draw, and qualifying licenses (small game, fishing, turkey) are available for purchase.June 19 – Applications accepted
April 1 – Application & Correction Deadline 8PM MTJune 30 – Application & Correction Deadline 8PM MT
May 27-30 – Draw results posted onlineJuly 7 – Draw results posted online
June 2 – Surrender Deadline 11:59PM MTJuly 9 – Surrender Deadline 11:59PM MT
June 13 – License Payment Deadline 11:59PM MTJuly 21 – License Payment Deadline 11:59PM MT
June 27 – Licenses in the mailJuly 25 – Licenses in the mail

Also important as you plan for your trip is the 2025 big game season dates for Colorado. Split up by archery, muzzleloader, and rifle we’ve listed them out below for your reference. For the latest, please refer to the CPW Big Game Brochure online, but these dates have been set years in advance by the 5 year planning effort.

Colorado Big Game Seasons 2025

ArcheryMuzzleloaderRifle
Deer
Elk
Bear
Sept 2-30Sep 13 – 21Sept. rifle (bear): Sept. 2–30
1st rifle: Oct. 15–19
2nd rifle: Oct. 25–Nov. 2
3rd rifle: Nov. 8–16
4th rifle: Nov. 19–23
Plains rifle (deer): Oct. 25–Nov. 4
PronghornAug 15 – Sep 20Sep 21 – 29Oct 4 – 12
MooseSep 6 – 30Sep 13 – 21Oct 1 – 14

Bear in mind that for all the seasons listed above the dates are generalization. Different hunt codes will have different dates.

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Tags: Last modified: March 29, 2025
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