Last verified
About the guide
The Colorado Hunting Guide is a plain-English, always-current reference for planning a hunt in Colorado: season dates, how the draw and licenses work, unit and regulation basics, and the only outfitter directory built on official state registration data. It exists because Colorado publishes excellent hunting information — and buries it in a 50-page PDF that changes every year.
Why this exists
Colorado Parks & Wildlife does the hard part well: it sets clear seasons, keeps detailed records, and publishes them. But it publishes them the way an agency does — as dense brochures and reg tables that assume you already know the vocabulary. If you've ever tried to answer a simple question like "when does rifle elk season start" or "can I still buy an over-the-counter tag" from the official PDF, you know the gap.
This site fills that gap: it reads the brochure so you don't have to, answers the question in the first sentence, and shows its work with a citation and a date. It is the plain-English companion to CPW — not a replacement for it.
What makes it different
- Answer-first and current. Every page leads with the answer and shows when it was last verified. The what's-open-now board is computed fresh every night.
- Sourced. Dates, fees, and rules carry a chip linking the CPW or statutory source. See how we source and verify.
- An honest outfitter directory. Every outfitter listing shows its official Colorado registration number and the date we verified it — and we list only operations whose own website confirms guided hunting.
- No slop. No stock photos, no affiliate gear spam, no rankings for sale, no "epic adventure" filler.
Staying current
Season dates change once a year when CPW drops the new brochure each spring, and rules can change mid-year. We update in place and re-date the page. Want the important dates to come to you? The season & deadline alerts send one reminder before the April draw deadline and a note when the dates change.
Corrections
Accuracy is the product. If something here is wrong, send a correction — ideally with a source — to corrections@thecoloradohuntingguide.com.