Colorado’s primary draw is how you get into the best elk units and seasons. It is not hard once you understand the pieces, but missing one step, like buying your qualifying license, can knock you out of the draw for the year. Here is how it works.

Key dates

These are CPW’s dates for the 2026 draw. The 2027 dates will be in next year’s Big Game brochure, but the calendar has followed the same pattern for years.

Step	2026 date
Applications open	March 1
Application and correction deadline	April 7, 8 p.m. MT
Results posted	May 26–29
Deadline to surrender a drawn license	June 1
Payment deadline	June 12
Secondary draw applications	June 18–30
Secondary draw results	July 7
Leftover and OTC licenses on sale	August 4, 9 a.m. MT

Step 1: Get your hunter education card

Anyone born on or after January 1, 1949, must have completed hunter education before applying. Colorado accepts hunter education cards from other states. You will also need a valid ID and, if you are 12 or older, a Social Security number or ITIN.

Step 2: Buy a qualifying license

You cannot apply for the draw until you own a current-year qualifying license. You can buy it in the same online checkout as your application, but it has to go in your cart first.

The cheapest qualifying license for most people is the annual small game license:

Qualifying license (2026)	Resident	Nonresident
Annual small game (adult)	$38.49	$104.86
Spring turkey (adult)	$38.49	$194.21

The small game license is useful in its own right. It covers small game like grouse and rabbits, so bring a shotgun on your elk trip.

Step 3: Choose up to four hunt codes

Every elk hunt in Colorado has a hunt code that sets the unit, season, sex, and weapon. For example, a code tells you whether a license is for a bull, a cow, or either sex, and whether it is for archery, muzzleloader, or a specific rifle season.

You can list up to four choices on one elk application. You can draw only one elk license in the primary draw.

How to think about your four choices:

• 1st choice: The hunt you really want. This is the only choice that uses your preference points.
• 2nd to 4th choices: Hunts with leftover licenses in past years, or cow tags, so you still get to hunt if your first choice does not come through.
• Points only: If you want to build points for a future hunt, you can apply for a preference point only and not hunt this year.

CPW publishes draw statistics showing how many points it took to draw each hunt code in past years. Check them before you choose.

Step 4: Understand preference points

If you do not draw your first choice, you earn a preference point for elk. Points only come from the primary draw. When you do draw your first choice, your points reset to zero.

Some hunt codes can be drawn with zero points. Premium units can take 20 or more years. Most hunters build points for a few years while hunting OTC or leftover tags in the meantime.

Nonresident quotas: Nonresidents compete for a share of the licenses. For hunt codes that took six or more points for residents to draw, up to 20% can go to nonresidents. For elk hunts that took fewer than six points, up to 25% can go to nonresidents.

Step 5: Apply alone or as a group

Elk group applications can have any number of hunters. Everyone in the group must list the same hunt choices, and the group draws together or not at all. Groups do not improve your odds.

Be careful with groups. If one member makes an error on their application, the whole group is disqualified. Groups that mix residents and nonresidents will not get licenses if the nonresident cap for that hunt has already been reached.

Step 6: Pay and confirm

Application fees ($11.49 per species for nonresidents and $8.93 for residents in 2026) are not refundable. You pay for the elk license itself only if you draw. Check your results in your CPW account in late May. If you drew a license you can no longer use, you can surrender it by the deadline and get your points back.

What it costs to apply (nonresident example, 2026)

Item	Cost
Annual small game (qualifying license)	$104.86
Habitat Stamp	$12.76
Elk application fee	$11.49
Due when you apply	$129.11
Adult elk/fishing combo, if drawn	$845.16

Point rules at a glance

• System: Preference points. First-choice licenses go to the applicants with the most points. Hunt codes that took 10 or more resident points the year before also run a small random hybrid draw for applicants with 5 or more points.
• Nonresident share: Up to 20% of licenses in hunt codes that took 6 or more points, and up to 25% in codes that took fewer. The caps don’t apply to the secondary draw or leftovers.
• You lose your points if: you draw your first choice (hybrid licenses included), or go 10 straight years without applying for or holding an elk license.
• Waiting period: None.
• Groups: No size limit, but the whole group draws at the point level of the member with the fewest points. Hybrid codes don’t allow groups.
• Point only: List hunt code P-999-99-P as your first choice. There’s no point fee for elk in 2026, but you still need the qualifying license and application fee.

Full breakdown: how the draw works, with examples · check last year’s odds for every hunt

Didn’t draw? You still have options

• Secondary draw (June): Licenses left over from the primary draw. It does not use your preference points, and nonresident caps do not apply.
• Leftover licenses (August): Anything left after the secondary draw goes on sale first-come, first-served.
• Over-the-counter tags: Residents can buy OTC tags in many units, and nonresidents still have some OTC options. See what is still available.
• Landowner vouchers: Some outfitters offer hunts on private land with landowner preference vouchers. These are not sold by CPW and can be transferred only once, from the landowner to the hunter.

Let an outfitter help

Many Colorado outfitters will tell you which hunt codes they guide and what your draw odds look like, and some help clients apply. If you’re booking a guided hunt, call them before the April deadline.

Related: How Colorado draw points work · Draw odds by unit · Colorado Elk Hunting Guide · Season dates · OTC elk tags · Cost of a Colorado elk hunt

Fees and dates are from Colorado Parks and Wildlife for 2026. Always confirm in the current CPW Big Game brochure before you apply.