CO Seasons Question

Joe2Kool

Very Active Member
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2,726
I've hunted CO a few times, but have a couple questions about season dates.

1) Do season dates for deer and elk align with each other? In other words, for a given GMU, are the dates the same for 'first rifle" elk and deer?

2) Are there standard opening dates and season lengths for each season? If so, what are they?

Thanks.
 
Ready to be confused?

The eastern plains is set up different than units West of I25. West of I25 the archery and muzzleloader seasons are pretty consistent. There are 4 rifle seasons west of I25. The first rifle season is just elk without deer. There are 2nd and 3rd seasons in just about every deer unit west of I25; however, some units don't have 4th seasons. With that said, there are a few exceptions such as elk in units 2, 10, and 201. Some units may also have private land only seasons that are outside of the 4 seasons. There also are a plethora of cow elk seasons that overlap these seasons.

Your best bet is to look in the regs at the unit/s you are interested in and all the different seasons. It also lists the season opening dates for each. You may also notice that the season opening dates generally change by 1 day each year.

If you aren't already confused, the CPW runs on a 5 year season structure plan. After 5 years the season dates change.
 
Ready to be confused?

The eastern plains is set up different than units West of I25. West of I25 the archery and muzzleloader seasons are pretty consistent. There are 4 rifle seasons west of I25. The first rifle season is just elk without deer. There are 2nd and 3rd seasons in just about every deer unit west of I25; however, some units don't have 4th seasons. With that said, there are a few exceptions such as elk in units 2, 10, and 201. Some units may also have private land only seasons that are outside of the 4 seasons. There also are a plethora of cow elk seasons that overlap these seasons.

Your best bet is to look in the regs at the unit/s you are interested in and all the different seasons. It also lists the season opening dates for each. You may also notice that the season opening dates generally change by 1 day each year.

If you aren't already confused, the CPW runs on a 5 year season structure plan. After 5 years the season dates change.
Thanks Jims. That helps. Seriously, it does. Thanks again.
 
No
And No.
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You should see our waterfowl regs.
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What are you looking or would like to do JoeK? And when?
Easy part first, when. 2024 season. In 2023, I will likely hunt mule deer in WY and Nebraska.

The what, I'm sitting on 10 CO points for deer, and 6 for elk, and trying to figure out what I'm going to do with them. I hunted first season elk this year, on a second choice tag. LOTS of hunters, but saw some nice mule deer. But no 1st season there. As Jims pointed out, 1st season is elk only. Anyway, I'm trying to understand the season structure, and start studying the draw odds to see what is available to me.

In the perfect world, I'll find a unit with limited elk tags to hunt mule deer. I'll either draw a second choice, or burn my mule deer points.

Yea, I know, that's probably hope at a high level, but understanding the season structure was the first step. Want to do some legwork and narrow it down to a few options before asking for input! :) :)
 
The 1st season opens on a certain day. Then all of the opening days fall in in to place after that.

It reads something like this....the 1st season starts on x day and is x days long, the 2nd season starts on the 1st saturday after that and is 8 days long....and so on, and on.

So, the seasons are in stone for a few years to go
 
If I understand what you're asking correctly, this should help. The dates vary from year to year, but the durations are the same. 1st and 4th season are only 5 days, 3rd is 7 days, 2nd is 9 days.

Deer & Elk hunts are concurrent for all seasons except for 1st season (muzzleloader, archery, 2nd, 3rd, 4th). 1st season is elk only.

Disclaimer, I'm only talking about west of i-25. There will be discrepancies between the season structures for the plains units east of i-25, but if you're trying to hunt public land elk (and deer for that matter), the only part of the state you'll want to focus on is west of i-25.

2024.JPG
 

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