The Colorado Hunting Guide

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Colorado hunting regulations, plain English

Colorado's hunting law lives in two layers: the Code of Colorado Regulations (2 CCR 406), set by the Parks and Wildlife Commission, and Colorado Revised Statutes Title 33 — and CPW republishes both, every license year, as free brochures. This section translates the parts that trip people up most: legal weapons, blaze orange, shooting hours, and where you're allowed to drive to hunt. CPW · Rules and Regulations

None of this is our law — it's CPW's and the state legislature's, written here for people who don't want to parse regulation-speak before opening weekend. Every number on these pages traces back to an actual statute or regulation, cited inline, and every page carries the date we last checked it against the source. When a rule turns on your specific unit, season, or license type, we say so and point you to the page that has the real answer.

Start with the official brochures

CPW publishes the underlying rules as free, annually updated brochures — the single best plain-language source, and the one this section leans on hardest. Every current brochure lives on CPW's Rules and Regulations hub:

CPW reissues these every license year and posts corrections when a rule changes mid-cycle, so a brochure saved from a prior season isn't something to hunt from. If a rule on this site and the current brochure ever disagree, the brochure — and the underlying code — wins.

What's in this section

These four pages cover the rules most likely to actually stop a legal hunt: weapon and equipment legality, the orange requirement, timing, and motorized access. They don't replace the brochure for your specific unit and season — they're the fast, sourced answer to "wait, is that actually legal?"

Common questions

Where do I find Colorado's official hunting regulations?

CPW's Rules and Regulations page links every current brochure — big game, sheep/goat, mountain lion, small game & waterfowl, and turkey — plus the full Code of Colorado Regulations (2 CCR 406) for anyone who wants the underlying legal text.

Are Colorado's hunting regulations the same every year?

No. The Parks and Wildlife Commission revisits chapters of 2 CCR 406 on a rolling schedule and can change equipment rules, orange requirements, or access policy year to year. CPW reissues its brochures annually to match — always confirm against the current-year brochure before you hunt.

What's the difference between a CPW brochure and the actual law?

The brochure is CPW's plain-English summary built for hunters; the Code of Colorado Regulations (2 CCR 406) and Colorado Revised Statutes Title 33 are the legal text a wildlife officer or court would cite. The brochure is written to match the code, but the code controls if the two ever conflict.

Primary sources

Never miss a deadline

The Colorado draw application closes in early April, and season dates shift a little each year. Leave your email and we'll send one short reminder before the draw deadline and a note whenever the season dates change — nothing else.