ok so I've never hunted Colorado, I don't really have much going on this fall and I've heard that otc opportunities exist there. however, I've spent a few hours now looking thru the Colorado game and parks website trying to find some units that are over the counter and i'm very confused. I can and do plan to bowhunt muleys here in nd so i'd only want to go rifle. my guess is i'd be looking at 2nd season, probably in October, other options may be available but from what I understand this would be pretty typical. i'd just like to get an idea of what units have over the counter opportunites so I can start looking into them. thanks anyone for your help.
a little colorado help please
- Thread starter 2nasty4u
- Start date
Colorado T
Active Member
There are no over the counter deer licenses in Colorado, they are draw only. Leftover licenses went on sale this morning (if you were lucky enough to be able to log in). You could look through the leftover list and see if anything is available but that is your only option for deer.
JimP
Administrator
There are no OTC mule deer units in Colorado, they are all draw. However there are some that a non resident can draw with 0-1 points for rifle and a lot more that one can draw with 0 points for archery.
What you are going to want to do is to go to unit map and find a unit that you might be interested in along with 3 or 4 others. Then go to the statistics page and take a look at those units for the season that you are interested in and see what it takes to draw a tag.
http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics-Deer.aspx
There are some units where you can hunt the surrounding units that are listed and then there are those where you can only hunt in that one specific unit. You can find that information in the Big Game Guide Book that can be downloaded from the CP$W web site.
What you are going to want to do is to go to unit map and find a unit that you might be interested in along with 3 or 4 others. Then go to the statistics page and take a look at those units for the season that you are interested in and see what it takes to draw a tag.
http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics-Deer.aspx
There are some units where you can hunt the surrounding units that are listed and then there are those where you can only hunt in that one specific unit. You can find that information in the Big Game Guide Book that can be downloaded from the CP$W web site.
There's a lot of confusion about this. Just to clarify, people often say "OTC" when they mean "unlimited". OTC means "over the counter" of course, but what it really means is "not from the draw." You buy a tag "at the counter" (or online) - that's all. You can absolutely buy deer tags this way, and there are some available right now. I just bought one this morning.
With elk, the herds are so numerous and hunter success is so low that they have a set of GMUs (see Big Game Hunting Brochure here http://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/RegulationsBrochures.aspx, pages 34 and 36, anything in yellow) set aside as "unlimited" zones. It doesn't matter when you buy these, because they'll sell an unlimited number of them. You can buy them the week you drive in for the hunt. Or that morning. They'll be there.
The difference with deer is that there are no UNLIMITED units. All deer units have quotas. In normal circumstances you have three chances to get one. 1. The draw, but you've missed this for this year. 2. The leftover draw, also missed. (To get this you have to enter in the draw.) 3. The leftover lists. Those are what's "left over" after the draw, and you can buy them any time after they go on sale.
THAT'S TODAY. They're going fast and mostly sold out because they're in high demand but there are still some left! The leftover list is at https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Leftover.pdf and updates every few minutes. They'll all be gone in the next day or two I'm sure but right now there are a few like DM038O1M (Deer, Male, GMU 038, Public Land Muzzle-loader) still available. If you move fast you could get one.
For those who don't understand "lists," those only really apply if you want more than one tag. There's a table on Page 19 that walks through this, but basically if you want two tags, you can get an A and a B, or a B and a B. You can't have two A tags.
Speaking of preference points there's a little confusing detail here that's worth knowing. You're allowed to put a special code (e.g. D-P-999-99-P for deer) as your "first choice" in the draw. If you do, you're guaranteed a preference point, AND you can still add more codes, AND also mark you'd like to be entered in the leftover draw. This does reduce your chances over just making your first choice your first pick, but if you plan to hunt in units with high quotas/draw percentages you can often get a preference point AND draw an A-list tag AND buy a leftover B list tag.
I did that this year, so I now have the trifecta: a preference point, an A-list tag, and a B-list tag. My tags are for lower-chance, higher-pressure zones (but still good ones), but I can still hunt two zones and save points for better draws in the future.
With elk, the herds are so numerous and hunter success is so low that they have a set of GMUs (see Big Game Hunting Brochure here http://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/RegulationsBrochures.aspx, pages 34 and 36, anything in yellow) set aside as "unlimited" zones. It doesn't matter when you buy these, because they'll sell an unlimited number of them. You can buy them the week you drive in for the hunt. Or that morning. They'll be there.
The difference with deer is that there are no UNLIMITED units. All deer units have quotas. In normal circumstances you have three chances to get one. 1. The draw, but you've missed this for this year. 2. The leftover draw, also missed. (To get this you have to enter in the draw.) 3. The leftover lists. Those are what's "left over" after the draw, and you can buy them any time after they go on sale.
THAT'S TODAY. They're going fast and mostly sold out because they're in high demand but there are still some left! The leftover list is at https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Leftover.pdf and updates every few minutes. They'll all be gone in the next day or two I'm sure but right now there are a few like DM038O1M (Deer, Male, GMU 038, Public Land Muzzle-loader) still available. If you move fast you could get one.
For those who don't understand "lists," those only really apply if you want more than one tag. There's a table on Page 19 that walks through this, but basically if you want two tags, you can get an A and a B, or a B and a B. You can't have two A tags.
Speaking of preference points there's a little confusing detail here that's worth knowing. You're allowed to put a special code (e.g. D-P-999-99-P for deer) as your "first choice" in the draw. If you do, you're guaranteed a preference point, AND you can still add more codes, AND also mark you'd like to be entered in the leftover draw. This does reduce your chances over just making your first choice your first pick, but if you plan to hunt in units with high quotas/draw percentages you can often get a preference point AND draw an A-list tag AND buy a leftover B list tag.
I did that this year, so I now have the trifecta: a preference point, an A-list tag, and a B-list tag. My tags are for lower-chance, higher-pressure zones (but still good ones), but I can still hunt two zones and save points for better draws in the future.
Very good information. Thanks for taking the time to clarify. I was actually confused by some of the very things you mentioned. Best of luck this season!
My pleasure! I'm kind of a data geek but even after a few years, I still feel like I have some tricks left to learn. It's a huge flood of information to process.
Here are some tips I might distill down (maybe I should write a thread just for this?):
1. Colorado publishes "Recap" reports (see http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspx, pick your species). They're pretty dense, but a really good place to start if you're doing some research. IMHO the best way to plan a hunt is to start with some general areas you might be interested in traveling to, then using the recap reports to get that down to a "short list". I believe the three biggest stats for most public-land, non-guided hunters will be:
a. "Draw Recap Report" -> "Post Draw Successful" (orange box, lower right) -> Adult 1st Choice 0 Preference Point
b. "Draw Recap Report" -> "Total Quota" (red box, upper left) -> Remaining Balance
c. "Estimated Harvest" -> Your season / manner of take -> Percent Success (by sex)
Bear in mind all the stats are for the previous year and things change!
2. Either-sex tags are hard to come by and often private-land-only. But if you use the trick above with some careful planning you can buy doe/buck or cow/bull tags separately. For elk, in many zones there are unlimited bull tags available. File for a cow, buy the bull later if it's an "Unlimited" zone. This is better for in-state residents obviously, because the cost is more reasonable.
3. If you're out of state and can afford it, file for a preference point for a year or two even if you aren't ready to hunt. They don't last forever, but you have a bunch of years to use them. The thing is, there are lots of zones you need points to draw in, but it's a myth that you need 20. There are very few zones like that. In a lot of areas, just 1-2 points is enough to give you a much higher draw chance.
For example, in the popular GMU 3 near Craig, DM003O3R (Deer, Male, GMU 003, Rifle 3, which is Nov 3-11 this year), only 12% of residents successfully drew a tag with 0 points this year. But if you have even a single preference point, non-residents drew at 52%! That's a big boost for the cost of a single point...
Food for thought...
Here are some tips I might distill down (maybe I should write a thread just for this?):
1. Colorado publishes "Recap" reports (see http://cpw.state.co.us/thingstodo/Pages/Statistics.aspx, pick your species). They're pretty dense, but a really good place to start if you're doing some research. IMHO the best way to plan a hunt is to start with some general areas you might be interested in traveling to, then using the recap reports to get that down to a "short list". I believe the three biggest stats for most public-land, non-guided hunters will be:
a. "Draw Recap Report" -> "Post Draw Successful" (orange box, lower right) -> Adult 1st Choice 0 Preference Point
b. "Draw Recap Report" -> "Total Quota" (red box, upper left) -> Remaining Balance
c. "Estimated Harvest" -> Your season / manner of take -> Percent Success (by sex)
Bear in mind all the stats are for the previous year and things change!
2. Either-sex tags are hard to come by and often private-land-only. But if you use the trick above with some careful planning you can buy doe/buck or cow/bull tags separately. For elk, in many zones there are unlimited bull tags available. File for a cow, buy the bull later if it's an "Unlimited" zone. This is better for in-state residents obviously, because the cost is more reasonable.
3. If you're out of state and can afford it, file for a preference point for a year or two even if you aren't ready to hunt. They don't last forever, but you have a bunch of years to use them. The thing is, there are lots of zones you need points to draw in, but it's a myth that you need 20. There are very few zones like that. In a lot of areas, just 1-2 points is enough to give you a much higher draw chance.
For example, in the popular GMU 3 near Craig, DM003O3R (Deer, Male, GMU 003, Rifle 3, which is Nov 3-11 this year), only 12% of residents successfully drew a tag with 0 points this year. But if you have even a single preference point, non-residents drew at 52%! That's a big boost for the cost of a single point...
Food for thought...