Updated on September 7, 2026. Confirm every fee, draw deadline, and hunter-education rule on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife deer hunting page and in the 2026 Big Game Brochure before you apply. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident deer hunters in Colorado (mule deer west of I-25; white-tailed deer on the eastern plains). |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | CPW Shop, by phone at 1-800-244-5613, or a sales agent. |
| Hunter education | Required if born on or after January 1, 1949. Classroom or online plus field conclusion. Age-50 / military test-out. Apprentice waiver twice in a lifetime. |
| What you actually buy | Habitat Stamp (ages 18–64) + qualifying license (usually annual small game) before you apply + a deer hunt-code license. Qualifying license is not a deer tag. Nonresident deer is a deer/fishing combo. |
| OTC vs draw | Mule deer is limited: primary, secondary, leftover. OTC deer is white-tailed deer in listed plains units, not a west-slope rifle walk-up. |
| License year | Qualifying licenses and Habitat Stamps on sale March 1, valid 13 months. Deer licenses follow the hunt code. |
| Antlerless / bonus | List A, B, or C in the brochure tables. List A is one; B can stack with A; C is extra. Read the last column. |
| WMA / public extras | Same GMU deer license on national forest, BLM, and most SWAs. Walk-In Access needs the matching unit tag, not a second permit. Ranching for Wildlife is residents-only. Fishers Peak is a separate permit. |
| Youth / apprentice | Big game at 12. Youth preference on some antlerless/either-sex deer in the primary; first crack in the secondary. Mentor required ages 12–15. |
| Where to hunt next | Colorado deer hunting guide · how to get licensed · mule deer |
Do not book Meeker until the hunt code is in the cart
I have watched people price cabins around second rifle with a Midwest plan: “I’ll buy the tag when I get there.” Colorado does not sell mule deer that way. You apply in March, then you draw, hit leftover in August, hunt plains white-tailed deer OTC, or you stay home.
The national walkthrough lives at how to get a hunting license. This page is only Colorado’s cart. Seasons, blaze orange, baiting, and where to sit are on the Colorado deer hunting guide.
Step 1: Hunter education
If you were born on or after January 1, 1949, Colorado will not let you apply or buy until hunter education is on the account. That is the 1949 cutoff, not Michigan’s 1960 line. Other-state cards are usually accepted if CPW can verify them — bring the card or the number. Do not assume a vendor can look you up.
Classroom is about 10 hours plus a live-fire; the other path is online plus an in-person conclusion. Hunters 50 and older, and U.S. military, can test out once at 90 percent or better. Fail it and you sit the class. The Apprentice Hunter Certificate is a free one-year waiver, twice in a lifetime: age 10 for small game, 12 for deer, mentor in sight and earshot. Colorado’s apprentice paper is not valid in other states.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is not “I have a cabin near Gunnison.” An out-of-state driver’s license, voting elsewhere, a resident license from another state in the last six months, or a guardian who is not a Colorado resident makes you a nonresident. Active-duty military stationed here can qualify — read Colorado residents before you click the cheaper button.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Think in layers. This is not a Michigan base-plus-deer stack.
- Create a CPW Shop account and get a CID. Hunters 12 and older need a Social Security number or ITIN on file.
- Habitat Stamp if you are 18–64. One per person per year, nonrefundable. CPW auto-adds it. Lifetime holders skip it. Posted 2026 price is in the low teens — confirm the cart.
- Qualifying license before you apply. Annual small game is the usual ticket. A fishing license does not count. Fall turkey only qualifies you for the secondary draw. Leftover and OTC deer do not need a qualifying license.
- HIP only if you will actually hunt small game with that card. Skip it if small game is just the draw ticket.
- Deer application — one per species, up to four hunt-code choices. The processing fee is a few dollars resident, low teens nonresident, per species, nonrefundable. If you draw, the card on file is charged the deer license. Miss the pay deadline in the results email and the license is gone.
Cost band, last checked on CPW’s hunting deer page in September 2026: resident adult deer in the $50s, nonresident adult deer/fishing combo in the $500s, qualifying small game in the tens of dollars for residents and around $100 for nonresidents.
Step 4: Draw calendar, leftover, OTC
2026 dates from CPW and the Big Game Brochure: qualifying licenses on sale March 1; primary draw March 1–April 7 at 8 p.m. Mountain Time; secondary draw June 18–30 at 8 p.m. MT; leftover and unlimited OTC August 4, 2026. After leftover day, remaining and reissued codes still rotate onto the leftover list. Apply at CPW Shop or 1-800-244-5613. You can correct hunt codes until the deadline.
The secondary draw is open whether or not you applied in the primary. No groups. Youth 12–17 go first on every hunt code. Deer points only move in the primary draw: fail your first choice, or enter P-999-99-P, and you get one point. Draw first choice and the pile goes to zero. Secondary, leftover, and OTC do not spend points. Groups are primary-draw only and draw on the member with the fewest points. Party hunting is illegal. Ranching for Wildlife “W” codes are residents only.
What a nonresident can actually get this season
In a normal year you can buy a Michigan deer license the week you drive. Colorado mule deer is not that product. A first-year nonresident with zero points can apply in the primary for a low-point or private-land-only hunt code (or take a point), apply in the secondary, sit leftover on and after August 4, or buy an OTC white-tailed deer license in listed plains units. That OTC code is a whitetail, not a mule deer. Nonresident share in the primary is capped (20 percent on hunt codes that took six or more resident points, 25 percent under that). Secondary and leftover ignore that cap. Trip math: planning an out-of-state deer hunt. Neighbor hunts: Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico.
How you carry it, tag it, and get it home
Carry the license. Sign and detach the carcass tag after the deer is down — notching date and sex — and attach it to the carcass, not a loose hide. Signing it before you hunt voids it. Evidence of sex stays naturally attached. Details: CPW’s in-the-field page. Colorado is still a paper carcass-tag state for 2026.
CWD is on the landscape. CPW’s deer pages still list mandatory head submission on some rifle hunt codes; if that page and the brochure disagree, CPW says trust the brochure. Voluntary tests were posted at $25. Symptoms: CWD in deer. If you hit a deer on I-70, start at what to do if you hit a deer.
Public land does not need a second deer license
White River, Gunnison, Uncompahgre, BLM Bookcliffs, and the state wildlife areas take the same GMU deer license. A private-land-only code does not unlock a national-forest two-track. Walk-In Access needs a deer license valid for that unit, not an extra stamp (cpw.state.co.us/wia). Fishers Peak is permit-only. Woods how-to: hunting national forest land and public land deer hunting.
Youth and first-timers
Youth is 12–17. They can apply for a deer point at 11 if they turn 12 by December 31. Primary draw holds at least 15 percent of limited antlerless and either-sex deer licenses in each GMU for youth; mix a non-youth hunt code or apply as a group and you can lose that preference. Ages 12–15 hunt with a mentor.
Common ways this goes wrong
- Waiting until September to buy a mule deer tag like it was Michigan.
- Applying without a qualifying license, or thinking a fishing license counts.
- Signing the carcass tag at breakfast, or a private-land-only code on Forest Service dirt.
- No hunter-ed number on the CID, born 1949 or later.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the Colorado deer hunting guide for seasons, Sunday hunting, baiting, and public land. Species ID: mule deer and mule deer vs whitetail. Woods people skip: where to hunt. Parent hub: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy a Colorado mule deer license over the counter? Not as a statewide walk-up. Leftover limited licenses after both draws, and listed plains OTC white-tailed deer, are the path. Confirm the hunt code on CPW hunting deer.
Do I need hunter education? Born on or after January 1, 1949: yes, unless you qualify for apprentice or the age-50 / military test-out.
Does a Wyoming or Utah license work here? No. A White River hunt needs a Colorado deer license for that GMU, not a second forest permit.