Colorado Draw Report - Elk 2025

[IrkedCitizen]

Record number of tag applicants this year according to local CPW office. I think it has a lot to do with other states increasing prices / limiting out of state tags and also people that are holding tags starting to dump them in anticipation of 2028 changes.

Record number for NR. There has been a decrease of 7,915 RES since 2021 and an increase of 27,338 NR since 2021. Of that NR increase, 15,680 were this year.

2025


2021

 

[IrkedCitizen]

I'm glad I used my RES 13pp in 2022. The unit and season I applied for was 10pp/73%. This year was 10pp/58% so there was very little change for residents from 2022 to 2025. NR has gone up 3pp.

I have no regrets as I killed a 304" 6x6 on my hunt. When I started collecting points my goal was to have a better chance at a 300" bull. I succeeded. Then in 2023 my Sister drew the same unit with RES 12pp. She killed one that had he not been broke off would have also been over 300". She one upped me though as her's is a 7 point...

We did pretty good with our points

 

[Wapiti66]

The report makes me puke. Dudes burning 11 points on units that used to be OTC. Unit I’ve been chasing and had the points to draw, just wasn’t the lucky one now jumped two points. And the new system in 28 with the random lottery that will further screw the loyal NRs that have been in the game the longest makes me want the wolves to take over and kill every elk in the state. CPW has become a crooked money grabbing institution for the state. They think the new system will incentivize new hunter recruitment?? I’m the opposite, I’m realizing that my young kids will never get to experience average elk hunting and there’s no reason to waste the money and hope of drawing a tag. I’d rather sell all my elk hunting shit and invest in a new boat. Why wait in line for decades to hunt elk in a bunch of below average units overrun with hippies hiking their dogs all over the backcountry? Waste of time for the money and time invested to do it.

Ok, rant is over, but I can’t stop puking.

 

[tboltz34]

Record number for NR. There has been a decrease of 7,915 RES since 2021 and an increase of 27,338 NR since 2021. Of that NR increase, 15,680 were this year.

2025
View attachment 889308

2021
View attachment 889310

Year to year comparisons do not paint the whole picture for the last few years since many units have went from OTC to draw. Especially this year, there are no non-resident OTC archery. In the past people did not need to submit application to hunt OTC and now they do.

 

[PredatoronthePrairie]

The report makes me puke. Dudes burning 11 points on units that used to be OTC. Unit I’ve been chasing and had the points to draw, just wasn’t the lucky one now jumped two points. And the new system in 28 with the random lottery that will further screw the loyal NRs that have been in the game the longest makes me want the wolves to take over and kill every elk in the state. CPW has become a crooked money grabbing institution for the state. They think the new system will incentivize new hunter recruitment?? I’m the opposite, I’m realizing that my young kids will never get to experience average elk hunting and there’s no reason to waste the money and hope of drawing a tag. I’d rather sell all my elk hunting shit and invest in a new boat. Why wait in line for decades to hunt elk in a bunch of below average units overrun with hippies hiking their dogs all over the backcountry? Waste of time for the money and time invested to do it.

Ok, rant is over, but I can’t stop puking.

Ha. Thanks for the laugh.

 

[NICKJ]

CPW says they sold 13,000 NR OTC archery tags in 2024

 

[tboltz34]

CPW says they sold 13,000 NR OTC archery tags in 2024

The best measure of total demand would be the number of applications plus the number of OTC sold. However it’s not perfect because some people applied for a point and then purchased an OTC license at a later date. So these people would be double counted.

 

[IrkedCitizen]

Year to year comparisons do not paint the whole picture for the last few years since many units have went from OTC to draw. Especially this year, there are no non-resident OTC archery. In the past people did not need to submit application to hunt OTC and now they do.

I talked about this in another thread. There was 15,680 more NR applicants this year versus last. There was a 7,404 increase in 0pp NR applicants versus 2024. Meaning roughly 8,000 of applicants had 1pp or more and they were sitting idle not applying for points just hunting OTC. The idleness could have started when the CPW implemented qualifying licenses. Who knows. Either way there were 130,056 first choice NR applicants this 2025 big game draw for elk.

 

[Coveyleader]

I thought I underrstood the draw pretty well.

100 tags offerred in the unit.

14 first choice, everyone got a tag.
13 second choice, 4 drew a tag
11 third choice, only 2 got a tag

The question is, why aren't all those tags as second, third, and so on beeing drawn out as there were plenty ot tags still to fill the demand?

 

[IrkedCitizen]

I thought I underrstood the draw pretty well.

100 tags offerred in the unit.

14 first choice, everyone got a tag.
13 second choice, 4 drew a tag
11 third choice, only 2 got a tag

The question is, why aren't all those tags as second, third, 4th beeing drawn out as there were plenty ot tags still to fill the demand?




View attachment 889336

So the difference with the 13/4 2nd and 11/2 3rd applicants is that they drew their 1st or 2nd choice.

Also to add on, if someone with high enough preference points to draw DID NOT draw is they were part of a group and their point level was matched to the lowest point holder.

 

[Coveyleader]

Interesting, It seemed that the math always added up in the past and it was a way to anticpate 2nd choice 3rd choice odds.

 

[IrkedCitizen]

It is always a gamble when you choose a 2/3/4 choice. I havent successfully drawn a second choice tag since 2016. I pretty much only do first choice and then play the leftover game

 

[35WhelenAI]

The report makes me puke. Dudes burning 11 points on units that used to be OTC. Unit I’ve been chasing and had the points to draw, just wasn’t the lucky one now jumped two points. And the new system in 28 with the random lottery that will further screw the loyal NRs that have been in the game the longest makes me want the wolves to take over and kill every elk in the state. CPW has become a crooked money grabbing institution for the state. They think the new system will incentivize new hunter recruitment?? I’m the opposite, I’m realizing that my young kids will never get to experience average elk hunting and there’s no reason to waste the money and hope of drawing a tag. I’d rather sell all my elk hunting shit and invest in a new boat. Why wait in line for decades to hunt elk in a bunch of below average units overrun with hippies hiking their dogs all over the backcountry? Waste of time for the money and time invested to do it.

Ok, rant is over, but I can’t stop puking.

How do I become a loyal nonresident in a state other than my own which happens to be Colorado? There are 1 million or more deer in some states and, generously, a third of that number of elk in Colorado. Seriously, elk are a finite resource. To wish the wolves would just end it all, even in a rant, is infantile and sour grapes, because you have to play by the rules that you don't want to. And I would not say, for example, a state other than Colorado with 1 million or more deer makes deer a finite resource. Those states welcome out-of-state hunters to thin the herd. For crap sakes, I lived in NC for a year but timing of it had me buying a NR license, and could take 6 deer and 2 turkeys on a license.

If elk hunting is going to define the experience for young hunters, I would disagree and re think what are you trying to have your kids experience. Get them in the woods in their home state hunting. Spend time in the Colorado woods during the summer and give them an experience. Doesn't have to go hand-in-hand with hunting.

 

[Wapiti66]

How do I become a loyal nonresident in a state other than my own which happens to be Colorado? There are 1 million or more deer in some states and, generously, a third of that number of elk in Colorado. Seriously, elk are a finite resource. To wish the wolves would just end it all, even in a rant, is infantile and sour grapes, because you have to play by the rules that you don't want to. And I would not say, for example, a state other than Colorado with 1 million or more deer makes deer a finite resource. Those states welcome out-of-state hunters to thin the herd. For crap sakes, I lived in NC for a year but timing of it had me buying a NR license, and could take 6 deer and 2 turkeys on a license.

If elk hunting is going to define the experience for young hunters, I would disagree and re think what are you trying to have your kids experience. Get them in the woods in their home state hunting. Spend time in the Colorado woods during the summer and give them an experience. Doesn't have to go hand-in-hand with hunting.

By loyal I mean people that have been applying for points and buying tags for decades. They signed on to the point system years ago believing eventually you will have enough points to guarantee you draw, the rules were changed and it feels like the rug has been pulled out from beneath us. Nobody likes buying into the system and then have the rules changed.

I may be wrong but one of the main reasons stated for the change was for new hunter recruitments to have a chance at great units from the start…my point is this new system discourages me from wanting to invest in points for my kids. Drawing a decent tag is now much harder and your points basically got cut in half when they took half the tags away from BP draws. I’m not talking about getting my kids outdoors and enjoying nature, that’s already established, I’m talking about hunting elk with my kids. I don’t feel there was any reason to recruit new elk hunters when the demand already exceeded the supply. Especially at the expense of the loyal NRs that have invested in the system.

Saying I want the wolves to eat all the elk is a sour grape rant not to be taken literally.

NC Inviting NRs to hunt an overpopulated nuisance, whitetail deer, is not relative to this issue. Colorado also is very inviting to NRs to come hunt there, they fund the department, it just happens to be they’ve threw the middle finger to the “loyal NRs”that have been doing it for decades in hopes of attracting the dude that bought his first bow yesterday and enjoys elk hunting videos on YouTube

 

[IrkedCitizen]

By loyal I mean people that have been applying for points and buying tags for decades. They signed on to the point system years ago believing eventually you will have enough points to guarantee you draw,

You don't have enough points to guarantee yourself a tag? Pretty sure there are plenty of units that draw with 0pp. The issue is that you do not want to hunt those units.

 

[35WhelenAI]

I get it, it was a rant. Are you then able to say there haven't been changes in hunting regulations in your state in the same period of time for NR's that Colorado has been "misleading" folks with the status quo?

With respect, what's the "draw" of building up years of points when as said above by another poster, there are units that could draw every year with 0 points or go OTC bull? Because there is less crowding in the high point areas?

If there was a grandfather clause to Colorado hunting regulations at some point that stated there would never be changes to address overuse and crowding I missed it.

I am sure you enjoy hunting Colorado as much as me, but there has to be a line drawn and game belongs to the state and the people that live in it as a first priority.

I was coming back because there are so many non-resident applications that Colorado is trying to do something (whether helpful or not, the future will tell) to serve those that live here and NR's have issue with something that is not part of the state they live in.

Are NR's complaining about the Colorado newly passed restrictions on detacheable magazines that affects a CONSTITUTIONAL right? Not seeing it. NR's want support in hunting, won't throw it towards other things in the same state.

As I said, there is a somewhat infinite resource like eastern states with over 1 million deer, no one complains they can hunt or can't hunt whitetails in those states.

In Colorado there are 280,00-300,000 elk for residents and non-residents to pursue. Applications for said available elk are higher percentage wise than in any state that has a surplus of deer. There is a surplus of millions of deer in the eastern and southern part of the country.

It's the information age and the internet that's caused the problem you speak of. It's riotous and sad how many out-of-state folks get rescued on the search and rescue fee Hunters pay in Colorado for tags. And it's not even during hunting season. It's folks that show and think they know how to do stuff from a YouTube video. It's pointing the finger in the wrong direction at the state of Colorado when that's not where the problem exists.

It exists with an overuse of a resource folks wouldn't have known about if they couldn't twiddle their thumbs over a phone screen and do a search. Then, in my opinion, folks are willing to take part in the over use and when they are excluded by the rules they are put out.

NR money or not, elk are going to live in Colorado and propagate. That's what animals like elk do and elk don't need the NR money to figure out how to get around in the woods. If there weren't as many hunters in the woods then they wouldn't need as much money to fund the Rangers that drive around in their trucks. Potentially NR's aren't as important in the grand scheme. It would be a great day in Colorado when a resident could take multiple elk statewide like many eastern states allow multiple deer for not only residents but non-residents as well.

 

[Machingeaneer]

As I said, for the NR, there are 280,00-300,000 elk in Co. Applications for said available elk are higher percentage wise than in any state that has a surplus of deer.

This had me curious and I checked for Minnesota and it's closer than you might think.
Roughly 101k tags were drawn for CO Elk meaning tags issued for ~35% of the estimated 290k elk in the state.
Roughly 329k tags were issued for MN deer meaning tags issued for ~33% of the estimated 1 million deer in the state.

 

[35WhelenAI]

I appreciate your response. I wasn't clear in what I was saying. I'm saying the number of applicants for elk in Colorado is a much higher percentage when compared to the actual tags available than most any other state.

It makes sense that the percentages of tags allocated versus the number of animals in the state is very similar, but how many were denied a Minnesota tag versus the number denied a Colorado elk tag?

 

[Roger17]

It makes sense that the percentages of tags allocated versus the number of animals in the state is very similar, but how many were denied a Minnesota tag versus the number denied a Colorado elk tag?

I'm not sure it's genuine to say anyone was denied an elk tag in CO. They may have been denied a specific unit or hunt they are after, but if they wanted an elk tag in CO they could have gotten one. Still can, for that matter.

 

[well_known_rokslider]

Don't forget that they bring back preference point fees in 2028. That everyone will have to pay $40 each species to accrue points after an unsuccessful first choice. If you opt out you keep your current preference point level.

Who knows how many will opt out?

I don't think many, but I've been wrong once or twice.