The Colorado Secondary Draw: Your Second Shot at a 2026 Tag

The Colorado secondary draw is a second limited-license draw that Colorado Parks and Wildlife holds after the primary draw results post. It is open to any hunter, resident or nonresident, whether or not they applied in the primary, and it covers most elk, deer, pronghorn, and bear licenses that went unclaimed the first time around. For 2026 it opens June 18 and the application deadline is June 30 at 8:00 PM MDT, with results on July 7. This page covers what the secondary draw is, the full 2026 timeline, how it awards licenses without using preference points, which licenses tend to be available, and how to build a strategy around it.

Here is the part most hunters miss: the secondary draw does not use preference points at all. The hunter sitting on zero points has the same shot as the one sitting on twelve. That single rule changes everything about how you should play it, and it is exactly the kind of opening that rewards the hunter who reads the data instead of waiting on it.

What Is the Colorado Secondary Draw?

The secondary draw is Colorado's second pass at issuing limited big game licenses. After the primary draw (April application deadline, results in early June) awards tags to the highest-priority applicants, every license that was not claimed gets pooled and offered again in the secondary draw. Colorado Parks and Wildlife runs it as a randomized draw, not a points race, and it is open to everyone.

That means three groups show up to the secondary draw: hunters who struck out in the primary, hunters who drew a tag but want to add a second species, and hunters who never applied in the primary at all. All of them compete on equal terms. If you have been staring at a primary draw result that did not go your way, the secondary draw is the next move on the board, not a footnote.

When Is the 2026 Colorado Secondary Draw? Key Dates

The entire secondary draw cycle runs from mid-June to late July. These are the official Colorado Parks and Wildlife dates for 2026. The two that matter most are the June 30 application deadline and the July 7 results.

You apply online at CPWShop.com or by phone at 1-800-244-5613. If you are awarded a license, the credit card on file is charged automatically after results post, so it pays to confirm your card is current before July 7.

How Does the Colorado Secondary Draw Work?

The mechanics are simpler than the primary draw, and the simplicity is the whole point. You submit one application per species. Each application can list up to four hunt choices, processed in order, which lets you stack a realistic backup behind a longer-shot first choice. There is no group application option in the secondary draw, so every applicant applies as an individual.

To apply you need the same foundation as any Colorado draw: a qualifying license, a habitat stamp if you are between 18 and 64, proof of hunter education if you were born on or after January 1, 1949, and a Social Security or taxpayer ID number for applicants 12 and older. You are charged a per-species application fee when you apply, and the license fee itself is only charged if you draw.

One group does get an edge: youth hunters ages 12 to 17 hold 100 percent preference in the secondary draw, and the draw processes every youth choice before it touches a single adult application. If you are applying for a youth hunter, that is a meaningful advantage worth building a strategy around. For everyone else, it is a level field.

Do Preference Points Matter in the Secondary Draw?

No. Preference points are neither used nor awarded in the Colorado secondary draw. This is the single most important fact on this page, and it is the one most hunters get wrong.

This is the same logic that powers Colorado's true random opportunities year-round. If you want the deeper version of how no-point and low-point draws can be played across all five western states, that is the entire subject of the draw strategy most hunters ignore.

What Licenses Are Available in the Secondary Draw?

Most elk, deer, pronghorn, and bear licenses not issued in the primary draw flow into the secondary draw. What that looks like in practice is predictable: the hunt codes that appear are the ones that did not sell out in the primary. That is not a knock on them. It is a map of where the opportunity actually is.

Expect to see a lot of antlerless and either-sex elk and deer seasons, plains and private-land pronghorn (Colorado's eastern plains pronghorn units frequently carry leftovers), later rifle seasons, and bear. What you will rarely see are the premium trophy units that clear in the primary draw every year. Those tags are gone before the secondary list is ever printed. Colorado Parks and Wildlife publishes the official Secondary Draw Leftover and Reissued License List before the window opens, and reading it closely is step one of any secondary draw plan.

This is where knowing the primary draw pays off in reverse. If you understand which Colorado hunt codes routinely require points to draw, you also understand which ones routinely do not, and the second group is your secondary draw shortlist. Our breakdown of the current numbers across deer, elk, and pronghorn lives in Colorado draw odds 2026, what the numbers say, and it is the fastest way to separate the units that clear from the units that linger.

Secondary Draw vs. the Leftover List: What's the Difference?

These two get confused constantly, and the difference is timing and method. The secondary draw is a randomized draw: you apply during the June 18 to June 30 window, list your choices, and a computer draws winners on July 7. The Leftover List is what comes after. Any licenses still unclaimed once the secondary draw finishes (Ranching for Wildlife licenses excepted) get placed on the Leftover List, which Colorado sells first-come, first-served in early August.

The strategic implication is straightforward. If a hunt code you want has only a handful of tags and you expect competition, the secondary draw is your shot at it, because it may never reach the open list. If a unit is genuinely overlooked and carries dozens of leftover tags, you can often wait for the first-come list and pick it up without competing in the draw at all. Knowing which situation you are in is the difference between a tag in hand and a missed window.

How to Build a Secondary Draw Strategy

Because points are off the table, a secondary draw strategy comes down to three decisions: which species to apply for, which hunt codes to target, and how to order your four choices. Get those right and you have done everything within your control.

Start by pulling the official leftover list the day it drops and cross-referencing it against units you would actually hunt. Put your genuine first choice (the one you most want, even if the tag count is thin) in slot one, then back it with progressively safer choices that carry more tags. Because the choices are processed in order, a strong first choice costs you nothing if it does not hit, as long as your later slots are realistic. Treat species you did not draw in the primary as live options here, since a hunter who whiffed on elk can still walk away with a pronghorn or a second-season deer tag.

This kind of where-to-burn, where-to-build thinking is exactly what TTP's analysis is built for across the full season, not just the secondary window. The Tag Report is a personalized draw odds report for a single state and species, showing point-specific odds, point creep trends, and harvest statistics at your exact point level, for $9.99 with no subscription. For hunters juggling multiple states and a multi-year plan, The Prospectors Playbook maps your point balances across up to 15 state and species entries into a personalized 5-year roadmap, priced from $25.99. Both run on the Hunt Quality Score, TTP's composite scoring model that weighs a sampling of factors including draw odds at your point level, historical harvest success, herd health indicators, and point trajectory, so you see not just whether you can draw a hunt but whether it is worth drawing. If you want the wider context on how Colorado fits a five-state plan, start with the western draw strategy guide.

One more piece of timing worth knowing: Colorado's draw system itself is changing in 2028. The pure preference primary draw is being replaced, and if you hold Colorado points the math is already shifting. The secondary draw is unaffected, but the bigger picture is not, and we cover it in Colorado's 2028 draw overhaul and what it means.

Frequently Asked Questions

Secondary draw dates, deadlines, and rules sourced from Colorado Parks and Wildlife as of June 2026. Dates and regulations can change. Always verify current details and the official leftover license list at cpw.state.co.us before applying.