RIDGELINEMOUNTAIN HUNT PLANNING APPFIELD NOTES
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Field Notes is published by Ridgeline, the mountain-hunt planning app for terrain, routes, camps, gear, and offline field plans.

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DATA ANALYSIS / COLORADO

Colorado leftover big-game licenses, 2026

Compare 2026 OTC opportunities with leftover elk, deer, pronghorn and bear licenses by game management unit.

Ridgeline data teamSource snapshot Sep 25 2026 8:24:01 PM MDT8 min read

Summary

Colorado Parks and Wildlife published 13,324 available quota across 156 elk hunt codes in this snapshot. Those hunt codes reference 85 game management units.

The report is not a live inventory. CPW states that processing delays can make it up to one hour old, and licenses can be purchased after the report is generated.

Available quota
13,324
Hunt codes
156
GMUs represented
85
Private-land-only codes
59

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Choose a game management unit

Filter the map, then select a numbered GMU to see its matching hunt codes below.

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Opportunity OTC · both residencies Resident OTC Non-resident OTC Leftover only Gold border = leftover tags
Sources: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2026 Big Game Hunting Brochure and Limited Licensing Leftover, generated Sep 25 2026 8:24:01 PM MDT. Map boundaries: Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Basemap: USGS The National Map.

FILTERS

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7 OTC options · 156 leftover hunt codes · 13,324 available licenses · 154 GMUs

NEXT STEP

Select a GMU on the map

Its matching hunt codes will appear below.

RESULTS

Select a GMU to see licenses

Tap a numbered unit on the map or use the GMU picker directly below it.

Start with the map.Select a numbered GMU to see its OTC options and leftover hunt codes here.

METHOD

Data and methodology

Ridgeline extracted hunt code, valid GMUs, list, season dates, description and available quota from CPW's 11-page report. Turkey rows are outside the scope of this big-game analysis.

The OTC layer uses CPW's 2026 license groups and unit tables for the chosen residency; it does not treat every unit as generic OTC territory. The leftover layer counts matching hunt codes by valid GMU and does not divide a multi-unit hunt code's quota among those units. Readers should confirm current availability, exceptions and restrictions with CPW before purchasing a license.

CPW leftover-license information ↗
Current CPW source document ↗
2026 CPW OTC license source ↗