Colorado · Deer · 2026 Edition
Colorado Deer Season 2026: Dates, Zones & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons by method
| Method | Zones | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Archery | Statewide, unless otherwise noted in the brochure hunt tables | Sep 2 – Sep 30 |
| Muzzleloader | Statewide, unless otherwise noted in the brochure hunt tables | Sep 12 – Sep 20 |
| First Rifle | Select GMUs only — see the rifle hunt code tables | Oct 14 – Oct 18 |
| Second Rifle | Statewide | Oct 24 – Nov 1 |
| Plains Rifle | Plains units | Oct 24 – Nov 3 |
| Third Rifle | Statewide | Nov 7 – Nov 15 |
| Fourth Rifle | Statewide | Nov 18 – Nov 22 |
02 — Bag limits
| Statewide | Set by licence, not by a statewide daily bag. Most deer licences are limited and drawn; over-the-counter white-tailed deer licences exist in selected units with lower populations. How many licences one hunter may hold is governed by CPW's List A/B/C system — see the Big Game Brochure. |
|---|
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 2, 2026) 06:03 — 20:02
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset — Colorado's general big-game rule. Not re-read from the brochure on 2026-09-01; the season dates were the object of that check.. (Shooting-hours rule not yet independently verified against the agency.) Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Colorado sun times for any other date.
04 — License
A Colorado hunting license and deer permit are required. For now, buy and read the rules straight from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
05 — Scouting gear
Scouting a property before Colorado's opener usually means glassing terrain and running a trail camera through the summer and early fall.
- Hunting binoculars on Amazon →
- Trail cameras on Amazon →
- Trail camera SD cards — class, capacity & format explained →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. These are category links, not a single named pick — we run no product tests of our own.
06 — FAQ
When does deer season start in Colorado?
The earliest 2026 opener is September 2, 2026 — Archery, limited to Statewide, unless otherwise noted in the brochure hunt tables. Other weapons and zones start later — see the table above.
When does deer season end in Colorado?
The latest 2026 closing date is November 22, 2026. Individual methods and zones close on their own dates.
When does bow season start for deer in Colorado?
Archery opens September 2, 2026 (Statewide, unless otherwise noted in the brochure hunt tables). Later segments may follow — see the seasons table.
When does rifle season start for deer in Colorado?
First Rifle opens October 14, 2026 (Select GMUs only — see the rifle hunt code tables). Later segments may follow — see the seasons table.
When does muzzleloader season start for deer in Colorado?
Muzzleloader opens September 12, 2026 (Statewide, unless otherwise noted in the brochure hunt tables). Later segments may follow — see the seasons table.
How many deer can you shoot in Colorado?
2026 bag limits: Statewide — Set by licence, not by a statewide daily bag. Most deer licences are limited and drawn; over-the-counter white-tailed deer licences exist in selected units with lower populations. How many licences one hunter may hold is governed by CPW's List A/B/C system — see the Big Game Brochure. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting deer in Colorado?
On opening day (September 2, 2026) legal light runs 06:03 to 20:02. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset — Colorado's general big-game rule. Not re-read from the brochure on 2026-09-01; the season dates were the object of that check. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Colorado sun times for any other date.
Verified · Colorado Parks and Wildlife · Last verified 2026-09-01
Publisher's note. Built 2026-09-01. CPW's own deer page deliberately carries no date table — it says instead: 'Hunt dates for deer vary by license type and hunt location. Download the Big Game Brochure for specific hunting dates.' The dates here therefore come from the Big Game Brochure it links (cpw.widen.net/s/5wvx7rggrd/colorado-big-game-hunting-brochure), 106.8 MB, downloaded in full and read with pdftotext. Its 'Deer Season Dates' table reads: Archery Sept. 2-30, Muzzleloader Sept. 12-20, First Rifle Oct. 14-18, Second Rifle Oct. 24-Nov. 1, Third Rifle Nov. 7-15, Fourth Rifle Nov. 18-22, Plains Rifle Oct. 24-Nov. 3. WARNING FOR LATER CHECKS: a search-engine summary gave the third rifle season as Nov. 7-17. The brochure says Nov. 7-15 — the secondary source was off by two hunting days. Two footnotes from that table are carried in the zones fields here because they narrow the dates: archery and muzzleloader apply 'unless otherwise noted in the brochure tables', and the first rifle season only 'In select GMUs. See the rifle hunt code tables.' Access is the real story, and the brochure states it plainly: 'Most deer licenses are limited and available only through the draw(s). Over-the-counter licenses for white-tailed deer are available in certain units with lower populations.' Colorado is therefore a draw state much like eastern Oregon; this file models the statewide date bands, not what is available in any given GMU. New for 2026 and flagged by CPW itself: 'There will be no mandatory CWD testing for harvested deer in the 2026 seasons', and the private-land-only archery doe and buck hunts were dropped for GMUs 4, 13 and 301. Not modelled here: the List A/B/C system that governs how many licences one hunter may hold, and the per-GMU hunt code tables. A correction notice at the front of the brochure also flags hunt code D-F-092-P5-X, whose archery dates were printed wrong.