Colorado dabbling ducks season 2026-27: dates, units and bag limits

Dabbling ducks is open in Colorado from October 17, 2026 to January 31, 2027, in the areas listed below. This page has the 2026-27 dates, the daily bag and possession limits, the licences you need and the rules that apply, read from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife brochure.

2026-27 season dates and limits

Shooting hours: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset. Non-toxic shot is required.

Units we can plan for dabbling ducks

The legal area is as the brochure words it in the table above. These are the units inside it that our maps cover: a unit missing from a list may still be open, so check the brochure.

Central Flyway Northeast zone, first split: east of I-25 and north of I-70

10 units: 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98.

Inside the 6: at most 5 mallards (2 hens), 3 pintail, 2 canvasback, 2 redhead, 3 wood duck, 1 scaup. Mergansers count in the 6. Coots: 15 a day.

Central Flyway Northeast zone, second split: east of I-25 and north of I-70

10 units: 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98.

Inside the 6: at most 5 mallards (2 hens), 3 pintail, 2 canvasback, 2 redhead, 3 wood duck, 1 scaup. Mergansers count in the 6. Coots: 15 a day.

Central Flyway Southeast zone: east of I-25 and south of I-70 (all of El Paso, Pueblo, Huerfano and Las Animas counties are also in this zone, and are not mapped)

22 units: 113, 119, 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130, 132, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147.

Inside the 6: at most 5 mallards (2 hens), 3 pintail, 2 canvasback, 2 redhead, 3 wood duck, 1 scaup. Mergansers count in the 6. Coots: 15 a day.

Licences and stamps

• Colorado small game licence
• Colorado Habitat Stamp
• Harvest Information Program (HIP) number for this season
• Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp (duck stamp)
• Colorado waterfowl stamp

Rules for dabbling ducks

• Non-toxic shot no larger than size T. You may not carry lead shot while hunting ducks, geese or coots.
• Shotgun holding no more than three shells.
• At 16 and older you need the federal duck stamp and the Colorado waterfowl stamp as well as the licence and HIP.
• Keep the head or one fully feathered wing on each bird until you are home, so the species can be told.
• In the northern Front Range area and in Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Mesa, Otero and Prowers counties, no waterfowl hunting within 50 yards of the centre line of a public road or within 150 yards of a dwelling without the occupant's permission.
• No baiting. Make every effort to retrieve a downed bird, and keep it.

Do not mistake these for dabbling ducks

• Swans, grebes, loons, cormorants, pelicans, herons and cranes (protected or closed: never shoot): A big white bird is not a snow goose until you have seen black wing tips, a short neck and no trailing legs. Grebes and loons sit low and dive. None may be shot under a duck licence.
• Scaup (lower limit): A diving duck with a white band along the trailing edge of the wing. Limit 1 in the Central Flyway zones. A ring-necked duck looks alike but has an all-dark wing.
• Hen mallard, pintail, canvasback, redhead and wood duck (lower limit): Each has its own limit inside the daily bag. If you cannot name the duck, do not shoot. Poor light at the start of shooting hours is when mistakes happen.

How to hunt dabbling ducks

• Ducks land into the wind. Set up on the upwind shore with the wind at your back, and the sun behind you or to the side.
• Hide in cattails, brush or shadow, with a pocket of calm water 15 to 35 yards in front.
• Flooded and river ground is cold and deep. Wear a wading belt, do not wade ice, and agree shooting arcs with partners before light.
• Check that the fall zone is water you or a dog can reach and is not across a property line.

What a map cannot tell you

• River beds and banks through private land are private in Colorado. the planner offers only public ground and does not offer floating through private land.
• Many State Wildlife Areas need a waterfowl reservation or hunt only on set days. National wildlife refuges are not in the planner. Read the property's rules.
• The planner cannot see water depth, ice, wind, or where the birds are feeding this week.
• The road and dwelling setbacks are not masked. The parking and trail distances help, but check them on the ground.
• Only the two eastern plains zones are mapped to units. Elsewhere only an owner's draft can be made.

Source

2026 Colorado Small Game & Waterfowl brochure (corrections 21 Aug 2026), pages 6 to 8 and 12 to 13; CPW regulations chapter W-5 (03/04/2026): https://cpw.widen.net/s/bklvf2bjmw/colorado-small-game--waterfowl-brochure. Read October 2, 2026. Rules change every year, and corrections are issued during the season: read the current brochure before you hunt.