Here in the state of Colorado big game hunting is pretty much finished till fall.  Coyotes are still out roaming around looking to get shot and turkey season is coming up around the corner.  But for now, besides vehicle traffic, big game is pretty safe. Mule deer and elk are finishing up at their winter range and preparing to head back to their summer habitat.

And it’s time for every hunter to contemplate next season.

Colorado has a very open elk season with Over-The-Counter tags available for archery season and for bull tags in 2nd and 3rd rifle seasons in many units.  If this is your plan, then you don’t need to worry about the draw.  However for certain zones and seasons, you must participate in the draw process in order to get hunting tags.

The Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife provides a ton of data that will help in determine what to put in for and where to do it at.  You can find not only reports on elk populations but also yearly success ratios.  You can also find information on how many preference points were required to draw a certain tag and the numbers on how many hunters with preference points are there.  This information can be very helpful as you plan on how you are going
to hunt.  You can look up a zone and see not only the current elk population, but also the number of tags available and how many preference points it will take to get a tag.  In a later post I will share information on how to access and read these reports.

 

While online resources are helpful, getting a printed copy of your current years big game brochure is crucial.  Brochures are available free of charge and can be found in really any retail store slightly related to hunting.  I usually pick mine up at Walmart when I see a new one come out.  This catalog will give you all the units and hunt codes you will need to do your draw.  I highly recommend however that you fill our your draw on-line!  Do NOT attempt to fill out the paper copy they provide within the catalog. On-line is not only easy to understand, but will also help prevent from any mistakes or errors being made.  They make it very clear that any errors in your paper submission will result in them just throwing out your submission.  Don’t take that chance!

I’m planning out my draw application and I hope you are thinking about it as well.  The Colorado 2016 draw process opened on February 2nd, 2016 and the application deadline is April 5th, 2016.  Draw results will the be posted by June 1st, 2016.  I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about the possibilities  this year!