Photo by © Tony Gurzick/CPW.

For hunters who missed the April primary draw, you still have a chance to get a Colorado big game hunting limited license. Most of the elk, deer, pronghorn and bear licenses that were not issued through the primary draw will now be made available in a secondary draw that is open to anyone, whether they applied for the primary draw or not.

What’s different?

The new 2020 secondary draw means increased opportunity for all hunters. Colorado’s old leftover draw offered only deer and elk licenses and was only available to customers who participated in the primary draw. The new secondary draw offers two additional species: bear and pronghorn.

Additional changes include:

Preference for youth hunters. Youth hunters will have 100% preference in the secondary draw. What does this mean? During the secondary draw, all youth choices will be processed prior to processing adult choices, so this is an outstanding opportunity to get our young hunters out in the field this year.

No preference points. You cannot apply for and you will not use preference points during the secondary draw.

No group hunts. You cannot apply as a group in the secondary draw.

What still applies?

The application fee. You’ll still be charged a fee for applying, whether or not you draw a license. The $7 resident and $9 nonresident application fees applies per species for the secondary draw.

The qualifying license requirement. All applicants, including youth ages 12-17, must purchase a qualifying license prior to applying. For more information, please visit the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website.

When can you apply?

Secondary draw applications are accepted beginning on June 5 and the deadline to apply is July 7, 8 p.m. MT. A list of hunt codes eligible for the secondary draw will be posted on the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website on June 5.

Any licenses remaining after the secondary draw (except for Ranching for Wildlife licenses) will be placed on the leftover list and will be available for purchase on leftover day, starting on August 4, 2020, at 9 a.m. MT. Over-the-counter unlimited licenses will be available for purchase starting August 6, 2020, at 9 a.m. MT.

For more information, please see the 2020 Colorado Big Game Brochure.