Colorado 3rd Rifle Elk Season 2026

Colorado 3rd rifle elk 2026 runs Nov. 7 to 15. OTC bull units, prices, antler rules, orange and CWD rules, plus a free hunt plan for your tag.

Colorado's third rifle elk season runs Nov. 7 to 15, 2026. Like second rifle, it has an over-the-counter bull elk license that is unlimited and valid in the same long list of units, so you can still buy a tag without a draw. This page sums up the dates, the license, and the rules from the 2026 Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Big Game brochure. Always check your own license and the brochure before you hunt.

2026 rifle elk season dates

Plains either-sex OTC elk (eastern plains units only): Sept. 1, 2026 to Jan. 31, 2027.

The 3rd rifle over-the-counter bull license

The brochure lists no residency limit on the OTC rifle bull license. The nonresident OTC limit in 2026 applies to archery elk west of I-25 and GMU 140, not to rifle.

The 2nd and 3rd rifle OTC bull licenses are both List A, so you can hold only one of them, and not if you already hold another List A elk license.

Buy before opening day if you can. The brochure gives two different answers on where List A rifle licenses can be bought after a season starts, so call CPW at 1-800-244-5613 if you are buying late.

Valid units for 3rd rifle OTC bulls

The brochure says the 3rd season units are the same as 2nd season:

3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 52, 53, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 85, 86, 131, 133, 134, 140, 141, 142, 161, 171, 181, 211, 214, 231, 301, 361, 371, 411, 421, 431, 441, 444, 471, 511, 521, 581, 591, 681, 691, 711, 741, 751, 771, 851, 861.

• Unit 82: public land only.
• Unit 851: not valid on Bosque del Oso SWA.
• Units 54, 55 and 551 are no longer OTC. In 2026 their 2nd and 3rd rifle bull licenses moved to the draw.

See the full list on our Colorado OTC elk units 2026 page.

Antler point restrictions

In almost every OTC unit, a legal bull must have four points or more on one antler, or a brow tine at least 5 inches long. A point must be at least 1 inch long and longer than the width of its base.

The units in the OTC list that are not on CPW's restricted list are 82 (restriction removed for 2026), 133, 134, 141 and 142. Check the brochure's antler point section for your unit before you shoot.

Rules you must not miss

• Orange or pink. At least 500 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange or pink on an outer garment above the waist, plus an orange or pink hat visible from all directions. Camo orange does not count. Archers hunting during rifle season must wear it too.
• Hours. One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Days are short in mid-November, so check sunrise and sunset for your unit.
• Rifle. Centerfire, at least .24 caliber, expanding bullets of at least 85 grains for elk.
• Carcass tag. Sign and detach it only after the kill, and attach it to the carcass, not the head or antlers.
• Evidence of sex. Keep the head with antlers, or the testicles, scrotum or penis, naturally attached to the carcass. A detached head does not count.
• Mandatory CWD testing (new in 2026). Elk taken in any rifle season on selected hunt codes must have the head submitted for testing, at no charge. Many OTC units are in the selected GMUs, but not every hunt code in a unit was selected. Check whether your hunt code is shaded green in the brochure tables (pages 41 to 52) or ask CPW. If you submit the head, leave other evidence of sex on the carcass.
• Vehicles. No loaded chamber in or on any vehicle. Long guns on an OHV must be unloaded and fully cased. No shooting from or across a public road. Most public land does not allow off-trail game retrieval with a motor vehicle.
• Harvest survey. No mandatory harvest report for elk is listed. CPW may call or email you for its harvest survey; answering helps set future seasons.

Get an exact plan for your 3rd rifle tag

FilledTag builds a free, exact plan for your tag: where to park, where to camp, and where to sit for the 3rd rifle season in your unit. It is free for the first 75 hunters this season.

This is our first season, so the plans are unproven. Treat the plan as a starting point and verify everything on the ground, including access, snow, closures and land ownership. No plan can promise an elk.

Get my free plan

Sources

• Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2026 Colorado Big Game Hunting brochure: season dates (At a Glance, page 35), OTC 2nd and 3rd rifle bull licenses and valid units (page 40), new for 2026 and units 54, 55, 551 (pages 1, 35), List A rules and antler point restrictions (page 36), fees (page 5), hunter education and qualifying licenses (page 6), harvest surveys and CWD (page 13), legal methods and hunter orange and pink (pages 14, 15), carcass tags and evidence of sex (page 16), CWD mandatory GMUs (page 41).
• Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Chronic Wasting Disease: https://cpw.state.co.us/cwd
• Colorado Outdoors (CPW), "2026 Colorado Big Game Hunting: Why GMUs 54, 55, 551 Move to Limited," Feb. 17, 2026: https://coloradooutdoorsmag.com/2026/02/17/2026-colorado-big-game-hunting-why-gmus-54-55-551-move-to-limited/