Colorado Deer Season 2026-27: Archery & Gun Dates

Q: When does deer season open in Colorado in 2026-27?

It depends which season you mean, which is why this page splits them. Archery: September 2, 2026 to September 30, 2026. Rifle seasons: October 14, 2026 to November 22, 2026. Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes both, and the full zone tables on this page were read from its own page on September 2, 2026.

Q: When is rifle seasons season in Colorado?

October 14, 2026 to November 22, 2026, varying by zone across 5 rows in the agency table. Colorado Parks and Wildlife calls it the Rifle seasons season; the exact wording matters because states name the same thing differently, and this page keeps the agency's own name for it.

Q: Does Colorado have a separate muzzleloader or youth deer season?

Muzzleloader: September 12, 2026 to September 20, 2026. Youth deer season: no separate season. Where a state holds no separate season, that is how the agency structures it, and the reason is stated on the page above.

Q: Which deer zone am I in, in Colorado?

Colorado sets different dates by zone, and the boundaries are the agency's own, drawn along highways, rivers and county fragments, and they can differ between weapon seasons inside the same state. Your zone is determined from the agency's own map: Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes the official zone map and boundary descriptions, linked from this page.

Q: Where are the bag limits, antler restrictions and license rules for Colorado?

At Colorado Parks and Wildlife, whose regulations page is linked on this page. Those rules are legally binding, change annually and vary by zone and by land ownership. This page carries the season windows themselves, with source and read date attached.

Q: Can these Colorado deer dates change?

Yes. Agencies amend proclamations, add or drop zones, and occasionally correct their own published tables mid season. This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026, says so in the copy, and links the exact Colorado Parks and Wildlife page it read on September 2, 2026. Treat the agency page as the final word on the morning you hunt.

This page covers the 2026-27 season year. Dates were read from the agency sources linked below, last checked September 2, 2026. Seasons change annually and agencies correct their own pages; confirm against the linked agency page before you hunt.

September 2, 2026 to September 30, 2026

Archery

published

October 14, 2026 to November 22, 2026

Rifle seasons

published

September 12, 2026 to September 20, 2026

Muzzleloader

published

5 zone rows

Zone structure

as the agency draws it

The four questions in one

Colorado deer seasons, 2026-27

“When does deer season open” is four questions wearing one coat. Colorado Parks and Wildlife dates mule deer and white-tailed deer seasons separately by weapon, so each one is below under the agency’s own name for it, with the zone rows exactly as the agency lists them.

Archery

published

Archery has closed for the season year; the last segment ended September 30, 2026.

Colorado archery, as published by Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Statewide, unless a hunt code says otherwise	September 2, 2026	September 30, 2026	The brochure's own qualifier is unless otherwise noted in the hunt code tables

Dates read from 2026 Colorado Big Game Hunting Brochure, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-02.

Colorado publishes one statewide archery window in its brochure's Season Dates table and then varies it by hunt code. Which units and dates a licence actually covers is printed on the licence itself, which is why the brochure tells hunters to check both.

Rifle seasons

published

Rifle seasons opens in 5 days, on October 24, 2026 (2nd rifle).

Colorado rifle seasons, as published by Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
1st rifle	October 14, 2026	October 18, 2026	The brochure notes the first rifle season is limited to deer, elk and bear
2nd rifle	October 24, 2026	November 1, 2026
3rd rifle	November 7, 2026	November 15, 2026
4th rifle	November 18, 2026	November 22, 2026
Plains rifle (deer)	October 24, 2026	November 3, 2026	The eastern plains season, dated separately from the four mountain rifle seasons

Dates read from 2026 Colorado Big Game Hunting Brochure, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-02.

Colorado runs four numbered rifle seasons rather than one, plus a separate plains rifle deer season on the eastern side of the state. Every row above is a row of the brochure's own statewide Season Dates table; the hunt code tables carry the unit by unit exceptions.

Muzzleloader

published

Muzzleloader has closed for the season year; the last segment ended September 20, 2026.

Colorado muzzleloader, as published by Colorado Parks and Wildlife
Zone	Opens	Closes	Notes
Statewide, unless a hunt code says otherwise	September 12, 2026	September 20, 2026

Dates read from 2026 Colorado Big Game Hunting Brochure, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, accessed 2026-09-02.

Nine days in the middle of the archery season, as the brochure describes the structure: archery opens first, muzzleloader falls inside it, and the four rifle seasons follow.

Youth deer season

no season

Colorado holds no separate youth deer season. The brochure's statewide Season Dates table carries no separate youth deer season. Colorado runs its youth deer opportunities through hunt codes and through the youth extended season hunts it maps in the same brochure, each dated with the hunt it belongs to rather than as one statewide window. Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

For which days to sit, the Colorado deer movement forecast rates the next 7 days Slow to Prime from the weather and first light.

In general for deer, elk and bear hunting, archery season starts in early September and lasts almost a month. Muzzleloader season starts in the middle of archery season, and four rifle seasons follow that.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife, read September 2, 2026. Read it at the source

Zones

Colorado deer zones

Colorado does not have a deer season. It has 5 of them, and the boundaries between them were drawn by Colorado Parks and Wildlife along highways, rivers and county fragments rather than anything you can see from a stand. In several states those boundaries are not even the same from one weapon season to the next.

This page publishes the agency’s zone names and links the agency’s own zone map, which is where a hunter’s zone is determined. A wrong zone answer is a wrong season date.

Heavy antlered mule deer buck standing shoulder deep in snowy sagebrush in Wyoming — A mule deer buck in Wyoming sagebrush. Western general seasons run by unit and draw. Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS. “Mule Deer Buck in Southwest Wyoming (23007137314)” — Tom Koerner / USFWS Mountain-Prairie — Public domain

Rules

Colorado deer hunting regulations

Season windows are carried here with their source and read date attached. Everything else a hunter is bound by is set by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and its regulations page is linked below.

Current Colorado regulations

Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours, tagging and reporting, and license and permit requirements for Colorado are set by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, are legally binding and change annually. Its current regulations page is linked here.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife: current regulations

Two hunters in blaze orange and camouflage beside a wheelchair at the edge of bare winter woods, one helping the other with gear — Getting ready at the edge of the winter woods on a mobility assisted deer hunt. Many states date a season specifically for hunters with disabilities, and those windows are on the state pages. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps. “USMC-11410” — U.S. Marine Corps (official photo, marines.mil) — Public domain

Deer season dates in other states

Colorado deer movement forecastThe next 7 days rated Slow to Prime for deer movement, from the forecast and first light.Colorado deer rutThe biology beside the calendar: when deer actually breed here, from the agency conception studies. Dates are this page; the rut is that one.Colorado turkey seasonSpring and fall wild turkey windows for 2026-27, under the same sourcing rules.Colorado duck seasonDuck and goose season dates by zone and flyway, read from the same agency.Colorado fall foliagePeak color and the archery weeks overlap. Plan the same trip.

Colorado deer season questions

When does deer season open in Colorado in 2026-27?

When is rifle seasons season in Colorado?

Does Colorado have a separate muzzleloader or youth deer season?

Which deer zone am I in, in Colorado?

Where are the bag limits, antler restrictions and license rules for Colorado?

Can these Colorado deer dates change?

Buck with antlers in velvet standing in tall summer grass in golden light — A buck still in velvet in late summer. The earliest archery openers land within weeks of antlers hardening. “White-tailed Deer Buck in Velvet (48804848567)” — USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain

This page covers the 2026-27 season year with data as of September 2, 2026. Every season window is republished from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife page linked beside it, read on September 2, 2026; windows the agency had not yet published are labelled not yet published. Harvest limits, antler restrictions, permitted arms, shooting hours and license rules are set by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, whose page is the final word on the day you hunt. See also the national deer season guide and the Colorado rut timing page.