Because almost every Colorado deer license is limited, the primary draw is where your deer season is decided. A good application is mostly about choosing the right hunt codes for your points and not missing a step. 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, 11:59 p.m. MT
Payment deadline	June 12, 11:59 p.m. MT
Secondary draw applications	June 18–30 (8 p.m. MT)
Secondary draw results	July 7
Leftover licenses on sale	August 4, 9 a.m. MT

Step 1: Hunter education and ID

Anyone born on or after January 1, 1949, needs a hunter education card before applying. Colorado accepts cards from other states. Applicants 12 and older also need a Social Security number or ITIN.

Step 2: Buy a qualifying license

Every applicant, including youth, must own a current-year qualifying license before applying. You can buy it in the same checkout as your application.

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

The Habitat Stamp ($12.76 for ages 18 to 64) is added to your first purchase.

Step 3: Read the deer hunt codes

Each deer hunt has a hunt code that sets the sex, unit, season, and weapon. The second letter tells you the sex: M is antlered (buck), F is antlerless (doe), and E is either sex. The last letter is the weapon: A for archery, M for muzzleloader, R for rifle. For example, an early high-country rifle buck hunt in the Flat Tops is coded DM012E1R.

Check the brochure for restrictions such as whitetail only, private land only, or youth only.

Step 4: Choose up to four hunts

You can list up to four choices on one deer application, and you can draw only one deer license in the primary draw.

• 1st choice: The hunt you want most. It is the only choice that uses or earns preference points.
• 2nd to 4th choices: Hunts that had licenses left over in past years, doe hunts, or plains hunts. These are your backup plan.
• Point only: If you don’t want to hunt this year, list the preference point code (P-999-99-P) as your first choice.

Check CPW’s draw statistics to see how many points each code took in past years. Deer points are free in 2026 beyond the application fee.

Step 5: Understand preference points

You earn one deer preference point each year you miss your first choice or apply for a point only. Your points reset to zero when you draw your first choice. Points expire if you go 10 straight years without applying for or holding a deer license.

What to expect: Draw odds vary enormously. Many doe, plains, and whitetail hunt codes have historically drawn with few or no points. Popular mountain buck units and late rifle seasons take more, and the most sought-after trophy units take well over a decade. As one example, buck licenses in GMU 512 took 11 resident points and 12 nonresident points in the 2024 draw. Point creep is real, so the points a hunt took last year may not be enough this year.

Step 6: The hybrid draw

For the highest-demand deer hunts, CPW sets aside some licenses for a random hybrid draw. A hunt code qualifies if it took 10 or more resident points to draw the year before and has at least five licenses. You must have at least five deer points, apply on your own (no groups), and list the hybrid code as your first choice. If you win, you lose all your deer points. If you miss, you earn a point.

Step 7: Know the nonresident quotas

Nonresidents compete for a share of each hunt code:

• Hunt codes that took six or more resident points: up to 20% of licenses can go to nonresidents.
• Hunt codes that took fewer than six points: up to 25% can go to nonresidents.

These caps do not apply in the secondary draw or to leftover licenses.

Step 8: Apply alone or as a group

Deer group applications can include any number of hunters. Everyone lists the same hunt codes in the same order, and the group draws at the point level of its lowest member. Youth lose their youth preference in a group, and one member’s error can disqualify everyone.

Step 9: Results and payment

The application fee ($8.93 for residents and $11.49 for nonresidents in 2026) is not refundable. You pay for the license only if you draw. If you draw a license you can’t use, surrender it by the deadline. CPW refunds the license fee and restores your points.

What it costs to apply (nonresident example, 2026)

Item	Cost
Annual small game (qualifying license)	$104.86
Habitat Stamp	$12.76
Deer application fee	$11.49
Due when you apply	$129.11
Adult deer/fishing combo, if drawn	$506.92

Changes coming in 2028

CPW has approved a new draw system that starts with the 2028 draw. Each hunt code will be split between a preference point draw and a bonus draw, nonresidents will get a flat 25% share, the point-only hunt code goes away, and a preference point fee is planned. Existing points carry over, but their value may change.

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 a deer 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 deer 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?

Try the secondary draw in June, leftover licenses in August, an OTC whitetail license, or a landowner voucher hunt. See all your Colorado deer tag options.

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

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