Applications

• Every year, the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) has an open application period for limited-entry hunts that closes in early April. If you miss the application period, there are several Game Management Units (GMU's) that have unlimited over-the-counter (OTC) archery elk tags. Some of the limited-entry units require that hunters collect 15 to 20 preference points before they have a chance at drawing the tag. All GMU's have unlimited either-sex archery elk tags except 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 19, 20, 23, 24, 29, 33, 39, 40, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 61, 66, 67, 69, 76, 84, 104, 191, 201, 391, 441, 461, 481, 500, 551, 501, 512, 561, 682, 791 and 851.
  
  

Tag Fees

• Tag fees are divided into two categories--resident and nonresident. For 2010, resident elk tags are $49, and the nonresident must pay $544 for a bull or either-sex tag and $354 for a cow tag. A $5 habitat stamp also must be purchased to validate the elk tag.
  
  

Seasons

• Colorado big-game hunting seasons are based on a five-year plan. For 2010, the archery elk season (west of Interstate 25) corresponds with the archery deer season and is open from Aug. 28 to Sept. 26. The archery season overlaps with the muzzle-loader season, but archery hunters are still allowed to hunt during this time.
  
  

Regulations

• The CDOW enforces several regulations as a way to track hunters' success and maintain trophy quality. To shoot a legal bull, the antlers must be at least 5 inches long, and a legal cow or antlerless elk must have no antlers or antlers less than 5 inches in length. Legal shooting hours take place one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Nonresidents are limited to one elk per year. Any hunter born on or after Jan. 1, 1949 must have an approved hunter or bowhunter education card. Bows must have a minimum draw weight of 35 pounds with a max let-off of 80 percent.
  
  

Public Land

• More than one-third of Colorado offers public hunting land for the do-it-yourself hunter, covering more than 22.7 million acres. The public land includes 8.4 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management and 14.3 million acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Other public hunting lands are managed by federal and state agencies and local governments. Consult maps provided the BLM, USFS or CDOW to determine land boundaries. Private land in Colorado is not required to be posted or fenced, so obtain permission before trespassing.