Colorado Elk 2026 Applications

[John87]

I am in the planning stage of my second trip to Colorado for elk, went in 2022 1st rifle and seen elk but didn’t take a shot. Was a good learning experience, and definitely learned a lot, but it’s been 4 years and I know things have changed with the draw. Me and a buddy are planning on trying to draw an Archery tag, and I’m not asking for specific details, but some general info on which units I can draw without any points. I have been going through GoHunt and OnX and trying to decide on units to apply to, but since the draw changed this past year, I’m not sure that all that info will be correct. I don’t want to mention units or areas, if anyone has any info pertaining specifically to certain areas, just pm me. Thanks for any info.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Keep looking at the CPW stats or the “pay for” services. All info you need in there, if people are blabbing about great low point or no point units, they are dumb dumbs and deserve to have their units creep

 

[guylaga]

Its really easy to find this info out just looking at CPW website, and if your using goHunt its even easier.

Pick a part of the state you want to hunt and there should be a 0 point unit you can draw.

 

[Jaden Bales]

I am in the planning stage of my second trip to Colorado for elk, went in 2022 1st rifle and seen elk but didn’t take a shot. Was a good learning experience, and definitely learned a lot, but it’s been 4 years and I know things have changed with the draw. Me and a buddy are planning on trying to draw an Archery tag, and I’m not asking for specific details, but some general info on which units I can draw without any points. I have been going through GoHunt and OnX and trying to decide on units to apply to, but since the draw changed this past year, I’m not sure that all that info will be correct. I don’t want to mention units or areas, if anyone has any info pertaining specifically to certain areas, just pm me. Thanks for any info.

The other guys in here are right. There's probably too many options once you realize all you could draw right now for archery. I'd suggest making sure the hunt has the right terrain/style for you.

Like, if you want to call and pound timber, don't end up in the junipers and sage. If you want to glass, make sure you have some burns or alpine to glass. If you want to backpack in, make sure it's got that kind of country and not too many roads everywhere. I'd be much more concerned with finding a unit that fits the style you want, and that's usually just a factor of matching up draw odds with flying around e-scouting.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Open the 2025 Drawn Out At Report and search for "O1A" (public land archery tags). Scroll through the tags ending with O1A and look at the drawn out info. Any tag that says 0 points, Choice 2, Choice 3, or Leftover you could have drawn last year with 0 points. Last year's draw results are not a guarantee of what will happen this year, but they give you a good idea of what tags/units are attainable.

 

[John87]

Open the 2025 Drawn Out At Report and search for "O1A" (public land archery tags). Scroll through the tags ending with O1A and look at the drawn out info. Any tag that says 0 points, Choice 2, Choice 3, or Leftover you could have drawn last year with 0 points. Last year's draw results are not a guarantee of what will happen this year, but they give you a good idea of what tags/units are attainable.View attachment 1027694

Thanks, that is something I was wondering about, if I could draw a unit as second choice and get a preference point

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Thanks, that is something I was wondering about, if I could draw a unit as second choice and get a preference point

Yes. Preference points are only spent if you draw your 1st choice tag. If your 1st choice is unsuccessful, you will gain a preference point and are still eligible to draw a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th choice tag (or get a tag later on from the secondary draw or leftover list).

 

[cnelk]

Open the 2025 Drawn Out At Report and search for "O1A" (public land archery tags). Scroll through the tags ending with O1A and look at the drawn out info. Any tag that says 0 points, Choice 2, Choice 3, or Leftover you could have drawn last year with 0 points. Last year's draw results are not a guarantee of what will happen this year, but they give you a good idea of what tags/units are attainable.View attachment 1027694

A faster way is to select ‘ctrl f’ and enter O1A
Or any Hunt Code to see the results

 

[cnelk]

Thanks, that is something I was wondering about, if I could draw a unit as second choice and get a preference point

As a NonRes, every unit is now a draw unit (west of I25)
Even units that are otc for Res are now draw for NonRes (archery elk)

Study, study the stats

The big question is did you apply for any PPs in the past 4 years?

 

[John87]

As a NonRes, every unit is now a draw unit (west of I25)
Even units that are otc for Res are now draw for NonRes (archery elk)

Study, study the stats

The big question is did you apply for any PPs in the past 4 years?

No, I haven’t applied for any since hunting in 2022, and my hunting partner has never applied

 

[Mighty Mouse]

A faster way is to select ‘ctrl f’ and enter O1A
Or any Hunt Code to see the results

Agreed, that's exactly what I do to minimize scrolling.

 

[bz_711]

If you can go back to the same area you hunted before I would...that experience goes a long way even if switching to archery. Good Luck!

 

[Chris in TN]

If you can go back to the same area you hunted before I would...that experience goes a long way even if switching to archery. Good Luck!

Yes. It's a certainty that you learned stuff in that unit that would still apply to some extent. And the 'secret of life' in public elk hunting, not surprisingly, is that there are no secrets. There's no unit out there that's an unknown sleeper that you can discern through internet research because everyone else is looking for it too. Learn one set of terrain and learn how other people hunt there and learn how the elk seem to respond and think of your past experience there as a big puzzle and now you have 3-4 pieces in place. That's not the whole puzzle but you don't have enough time in one lifetime to put together all the pieces for all the units.

There are places I'd love to go back and hunt for nostalgia's sake and that may be an option for me at some future point and there are places I'd hunt if drawn - I mean premium units with less pressure - but for the most part I am very likely to just go back where we went last year, warts and all.