Colorado’s antelope populations can be divided into two main areas: the eastern and western regions. Much like the state’s mule deer, antelope on the eastern side are easier to draw a tag for, while the western units require a lot more points. Public land on the Eastern Plains is limited, primarily made up of federal grasslands and some state land available for public hunting. While the overall quality is fairly similar between the two regions, hunting on the eastern side is typically more successful with an outfitter due to the mix of private land and higher-quality areas. Keep in mind that, in Colorado, the points required to draw a tag don’t necessarily translate into bigger or more mature bucks.

The 2022/2023 winterkill in northwest Colorado is relevant, but populations look to be rebounding with the aid of light winters the last three years. There are still fewer tags than there were prior to the winterkill, but numbers have started to slowly increase, which will take some of the pressure off point creep. Antelope numbers in the northwest region are still good enough to warrant drawing a tag, but applicants must remember that some of these units are only a few years removed from population losses of up to fifty percent.

This year, some populations are above objective, and new hunts and licenses increases are coming. GMU 30 will have an archery and rifle hunt. The habitat’s carrying capacity has been reached, and antelope are being pushed onto alfalfa fields and devastating crops. The GMUs around Walden also have an above objective population. The buck-to-doe ratio is where they want it, but they need to thin the herds. They are creating a second rifle doe hunt this year to do just that. Populations in GMU 15 and 26 are near the high end of the objective range, so a buck and doe muzzleloader hunt is being added there. However, the majority of antelope are found on private land. To help redistribute them, CPW is creating a private-land-only doe hunt in hopes of pushing them onto public land. This should also benefit late rifle hunters on public land. Harvest success rates in those units have not been great, so we do not report them. That said, there is a tag or two that goes to non-residents each year for 5 to 6 points.

Colorado has a reissue policy for limited licenses that are turned in after the draw. A returned license that took five or more preference points to draw will be manually reissued to the next eligible person. CPW will start by contacting the next five people from the current year’s draw order and attempt to reissue it. If none of those five accept, the license will be added to the leftover list. If a non-resident returns a license, it will be reallocated to a non-resident. Any returned license that took fewer than five preference points to draw will be placed on the leftover list. Colorado will issue any tag surrendered after the initial leftover license availability webpage. They will release a list of available permits each Tuesday and transfer them to the leftover list for purchase each Wednesday at 11 a.m. MT.

At Huntin' Fool, we are always looking for ways to improve our service and help out members to the very best of our abilities. We believe communication is what makes our Huntin' Fool community great!