Colorado Hunting License: Cost, Requirements & How to Buy
A Colorado hunting license costs $38.49 for a resident adult and $104.86 for a non-resident adult (fees verified 2026-09-11).
Colorado's small-game license is the qualifying license for big-game draws as well as a hunting license in its own right. The number people remember from a Colorado hunt, though, is almost never the $38.49 small-game fee: it is the elk or deer tag, and for non-residents that is a different sport.
Figures shown are the small-game license, which also qualifies you for big-game draws. Big game tags are separate and expensive (e.g. non-resident elk $845.16). A $12.76 Habitat Stamp is added automatically for ages 18-64.
Fee last verified 2026-09-11.
Heading out for Colorado hunting? Game wardens require carrying physical or digital license proof and valid tags. Equip yourself with a waterproof license and tag pouch, rechargeable wide-beam LED headlamp, and corrosion-resistant multi-tool pliers before your trip.
What a Colorado hunting license costs
The annual small-game license is $38.49 for resident adults and $104.86 for non-residents. A $12.76 Habitat Stamp is added automatically once per year for ages 18–64 on the first license or draw application. Big-game tags are separate and expensive: a non-resident elk license, for example, is in the mid-hundreds of dollars. Youth small-game licenses are $2.53 regardless of residency.
Draws, OTC and hunter education
Most elk, deer and pronghorn hunting in Colorado is a limited license issued through CPW's draw. Some units and manners of take are over-the-counter. Hunter education is required for anyone born on or after January 1, 1949. Preference points accumulate if you apply and are unsuccessful, which is why serious non-resident elk hunters treat the application deadline as the real season opener.
How to buy your Colorado hunting license
CPWShop (cpwshop.com/licensing.page) is the official online store for licenses, draw applications and habitat stamps. Licenses are also sold at CPW offices and authorized agents. You will need government-issued ID and, for residents, proof of residency.
Hunting in Colorado: what to expect
The elk hunt is the state's identity, for better and worse: western-slope public land, high-country weather, and a draw system that concentrates pressure on leftover OTC units. Mule deer hunting follows a similar public-land, unit-by-unit pattern. Small-game and waterfowl hunting on the eastern plains is a different Colorado that does not require a draw, and the small-game license is what actually covers it.
Public land
National forests, BLM, and state wildlife areas give Colorado an unusually large public-land base, which is why leftover OTC elk units see out-of-state pressure that local hunters complain about every October. Walk-in access on the eastern plains (CPW's walk-in program) is the counterpart for pheasant and small game where almost all the land is otherwise private.
Habitat Stamp, OTC leftover and the elk number
The $38.49 resident or $104.86 non-resident small-game license is also what qualifies you to enter big-game draws. It is not an elk tag. Non-resident elk is in another price class entirely (around $845 in the current tables), plus a $12.76 Habitat Stamp that Parks and Wildlife adds automatically for ages 18 to 64. Budget the stamp and the tag, not just the small-game line, or the checkout total will not match the forum post you bookmarked.
Most elk, deer and pronghorn tags go through the draw. Over-the-counter leftover lists exist after the draw, and they are how a late-planning non-resident sometimes still hunts. They are leftovers for a reason: access, pressure, or a unit that is hard to hunt. Read the current brochure for the unit, not a five-year-old YouTube hunt.
Public land, BLM and walk-in
Colorado's public-land base (national forest, BLM, state wildlife areas) is the reason people fly here. It is also crowded on opening weekend in units you can reach from Denver in two hours. Walk-in Access properties add private ground on a walk-in basis; they have their own maps and seasons. A unit you drew is not automatically a place you can park a trailer on a Forest Service road for two weeks without checking stay limits.
Hunter education is required. Colorado will accept many out-of-state certificates, but bring the card to the counter or have it in your CPW account before you try to buy. A license year here is tied to the species and the hunt code, not a single statewide April-to-March clock, which is why leftover OTC lists and draw results both matter more than a calendar reminder.
How to renew a Colorado hunting license
There is no separate renewal process in Colorado. A hunting license is not extended in place; when it expires you buy a new one for the next license year through the same system you used the first time, and your customer profile, hunter or angler ID and any saved payment details carry over so the second purchase takes a couple of minutes.
The fastest route is the official Colorado online licensing portal, which also lets you print or download the new license and add any stamps, tags or endorsements in one transaction. In-person license agents (sporting goods stores, bait shops and, in many states, county clerks) sell the same license at the same price, so use whichever is closer. Buying before the old license lapses is not required, but it avoids an accidental gap if a season opens before you get round to it.
Planning more than one? See the Colorado fishing license page too, see how much a hunting license costs in every state, compare non-resident hunting fees across states, browse every state, or use the state license finder.