Last verified

About the guide

The Colorado Hunting Guide is a plain-English, always-current reference for planning a hunt in Colorado: season dates, how the draw and licenses work, unit and regulation basics, and an outfitter directory built on official state registration data. It exists because Colorado publishes excellent hunting information — and buries it in a dense brochure that changes every year.

Why this exists

Colorado Parks & Wildlife does the hard part well: it sets clear seasons, keeps detailed records, and publishes them. But it publishes them the way an agency does — as dense brochures and reg tables that assume you already know the vocabulary. If you've ever tried to answer a simple question like "when does rifle elk season start" or "can I still buy an over-the-counter tag" from the official PDF, you know the gap.

This site fills that gap: it reads the brochure so you don't have to, answers the question in the first sentence, and shows its work with a citation and a date. It is the plain-English companion to CPW — not a replacement for it.

What makes it different

  • Answer-first and current. Every page leads with the answer and shows when it was last verified. The what's-open-now board is computed fresh every night.
  • Sourced. Dates, fees, and rules carry a chip linking the CPW or statutory source. See how we source and verify.
  • An honest outfitter directory. Every outfitter listing shows its official Colorado registration number and the date we verified it — and we list only operations whose own website confirms guided hunting.
  • No slop. No stock photos, no affiliate gear spam, no rankings for sale, no "epic adventure" filler.

Staying current

Season dates change once a year when CPW drops the new brochure each spring, and rules can change mid-year. We update in place and re-date the page. Want the important dates to come to you? The season & deadline alerts send one reminder before the April draw deadline and a note when the dates change.

Corrections

Accuracy is the product. If something here is wrong, send a correction — ideally with a source — to [email protected].

Never miss a deadline

The Colorado draw application closes in early April, and season dates shift a little each year. Leave your email and we'll send one short reminder before the draw deadline and a note whenever the season dates change — nothing else.