Hunt code E-F-043-O4-R: 2026 Colorado cow elk, 4th rifle
E-F-043-O4-R (printed on a license as EF043O4R) is a limited cow elk rifle license for the 4th rifle season, November 18, 2026 to November 22, 2026, valid in units 43 and 431.
Read left to right: E is elk, F is cow, 043 is the hunt area number (it names the license, and is not always a unit number), O4 is the 4th rifle season and R is rifle. How to read any hunt code.
EF043O4R season dates and units
- Dates: November 18, 2026 to November 22, 2026
- Valid in: unit 43, unit 431
- How it is issued: limited: issued through the draw, with any left over sold afterwards
Read from the 2026 Colorado Big Game brochure. Your license and the current brochure are the authority: check both with Colorado Parks and Wildlife before you hunt.
How many preference points did EF043O4R take in the 2026 draw?
In Colorado's 2026 primary draw, all 21 resident first-choice applicants for EF043O4R drew a license, so no preference points were needed.
| Draw year | Licenses | Issued in the draw | Residents drew out at (points) | Resident first choice: drew | Nonresidents drew out at (points) | Nonresident first choice: drew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 55 | 55 | 2nd+ choice | 21 of 21 | none drawn | |
| 2025 | 100 | 95 | leftover | 31 of 31 | leftover | |
| 2024 | 120 | 77 | leftover | 26 of 26 | leftover | 1 of 1 |
"Drew out at" is CPW's own figure: the preference point level of the last license the draw gave that group. "2nd+ choice" means every first-choice applicant drew and the rest went to applicants who listed it lower; "leftover" means licenses were still left after the draw. Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2026 Primary ELK Post Draw Report; 2025 Primary ELK Post Draw Report; 2024 Primary ELK Post Draw Report.
What was EF043O4R's hunter success in 2025?
CPW's 2025 harvest survey estimates that 71 hunters held EF043O4R and took 13 elk (11 cows, 3 calves): 18.3% success, over 251 days in the field.
| 2025 | Bulls | Cows | Calves | Harvest | Hunters | Success | Days hunted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EF043O4R | 0 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 71 | 18.3% | 251 |
CPW's estimates for this license alone (2025 Colorado Elk Harvest Estimates), the first year CPW reports by hunt code rather than by unit.
How did elk hunters do in units 43 and 431 in the 4th rifle season?
- The 2 units of this hunt code together had 146 elk hunters in the 4th rifle season in 2024, who took 50 elk: 34% success.
- This is a cow license. Of the 50 elk taken, 43 were cows and 0 were calves (86% of the elk taken). The 2023 and 2024 unit surveys count animals by sex but not hunters by license; CPW's 2025 report gives this license's own success, above.
EF043O4R is valid in the same 2 units, in the same season, as EE043O4R. The unit-by-unit hunter and harvest table, the ground and legal light on opening day, the other licenses and the State Wildlife Areas in units 43 and 431 are on the EE043O4R page and on each unit's own page: unit 43, unit 431.
See units 43 and 431 on the map
- The unit boundaries for units 43 and 431, over a topo map or an aerial photo.
- Who owns the ground: public and private land, parcel lines and the owner on record.
- Where elk live: the published summer and winter range maps.
- How much of each unit is public, and these units side by side.
Holding EF043O4R?
FilledTag builds one exact plan for this tag: where to park, camp and sit in units 43 and 431, with every pin checked against public land and road rules.
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