If you didn't draw a tag for the 2021 season in Colorado, there is still hope!

The application period for the Second Draw is June 16 and through June 30 at 8 p.m. MT. Apply online here. Draw results should be available the middle of July.

Hunters who didn't draw a license in the primary draw should be aware they still have the opportunity to draw a license in the secondary big game draw. Most elk, deer, pronghorn and bear licenses 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. So if you draw results weren't on your side earlier this month, and you still want to hunt Colorado, this is a great opportunity!

Note: As of June 16, according to Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW), deer applications are currently unavailable for the secondary draw in order to address issues with certain hunt codes. CPW will post updates as they come available.

A list of licenses can be found by clicking the blue links below:

Elk Deer Bear Antelope

Once again for 2021, I have uploaded the original PDF document of all the tags available for the secondary draw. This is a great tool to use for 2022, to sort of gauge which tags might be available as leftovers which can help when decided how to use your first and second choice on your Colorado application and to track trends on what tags were available.

Important information

• There is an application fee
  • You’ll still be charged a fee for applying, whether or not you draw a license.
  • The fee is $7 for a resident and $9 for a nonresident application fee. This applies per species for the secondary draw.
• You did not have to apply in the primary big game draw to apply in the second draw.
• A qualifying license is required. See the info below.
• Note on preference points: you cannot use or apply for a preference point in the secondary draw.
• No group hunts. You cannot apply as a group in the secondary draw.
• Note: Youth hunters have 100% preference in the secondary draw.
  • What this means is that the secondary draw will processes all youth application choices prior to processing adult choices.
  • A hunt could be completely drawn by youth before the adult application stage of the draw.
• If you draw a license on the second draw, your credit card on file will be charged after the draw for the license fee.
  • The payment deadline is July 16, 2021.

2021 qualifying licenses are:

Resident and nonresident

• 2021 annual spring turkey license
• 2021 annual youth spring turkey license
• NEW in 2021 annual fall turkey license (valid for the secondary draw ONLY)
• NEW in 2021 annual youth fall turkey license (valid for the secondary draw ONLY)
• 2021 annual small game license
• 2021 annual youth small game license

Resident Only

• 2021 annual resident combination small game/fishing license
• 2021 annual resident senior combination small game/fishing license
• Resident disabled veteran lifetime combination small game/fishing license
• Resident disabled first responder lifetime combination small game/fishing license
• NEW in 2021: Annual small-game license for resident senior lifetime fishing license holders

The list of tags

Once again, click each link to access that species leftover list.

Elk Deer Bear Antelope

Researching these second draw hunts

You can easily research these second draw hunt options on INSIDER. Below are links to each species on Filtering 2.0. From there you can jump into each Unit Profile.

• Elk research on Filtering 2.0
• Mule deer research on Filtering 2.0
• Whitetail deer research on Filtering 2.0
• Bear research on Filtering 2.0
• Antelope on Filtering 2.0

If you're a visual person, you can check out the video Brandon Evan's did before the list of tags came out below.

Other options for tags in Colorado

Leftover day - Aug. 3

Any licenses remaining after the secondary draw (except for Ranching for Wildlife licenses) will be placed on the leftover list and available for purchase on leftover day, starting August 3 at 9 a.m. MT. Also, over the counter licenses will also be available on August 3 at 9 a.m. MT.

Reissue list - new process

Note that CPW has a new process for reissuing returned limited licenses. Instead of hunts being randomly released Tuesday through Friday as in the past, a new REISSUE PREVIEW LIST will be posted online every Tuesday at 11 a.m., and those hunt codes will be moved to the Leftover List and available for purchase every Wednesday starting at 11 a.m. All hunt codes will be released 11 a.m.–1 p.m. on Wednesday of every week, starting the week after leftover licenses go on sale. No new hunt codes will be added to the list after 1 p.m. each Wednesday. Keep checking the Leftover List, available in late July to pick up a tag on the reissue list.

Best of luck in the second draw!