Published April 7, 2026 | huntNotes
There is a specific kind of anxiety that hits you this time of year. Turkey season is right around the corner, the woods are calling, and then somewhere in the back of your head a little alarm goes off. Did you get your western applications in? Is that deadline today?
For Colorado, the answer is yes. Today is the day.
If you are chasing western big game, this is the part of the year that separates the guys who eventually draw from the guys who perpetually mean to. Application season does not care how bad you want to go. It cares whether you submitted before the deadline.
So let's talk about where things stand right now, what is already gone, and what you still have time to do something about.
No sugarcoating here. Several major draws have already shut down for 2026.
Arizona's elk and pronghorn draw closed in early February. New Mexico's application window for deer, elk, and pronghorn closed in mid-March. Wyoming nonresident elk closed February 2. Montana's deer and elk draw closed April 1. If you missed those, mark your calendar for next January and start earlier. That is the only fix.
New Mexico stings a little differently than the others because they run a pure random draw with no preference points. Everyone starts over every year. You can draw one of the best elk tags in the West on your first application, or you can apply ten straight years and never pull one. The odds do not improve with time the way they do in other states, which makes missing the window hurt even more. Put it on the calendar now and do not miss it again.
The Colorado first draw deadline is tonight, April 7, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. Mountain Time.
Colorado covers bear, deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, sheep, and mountain goat in this draw. If you have not submitted yet, stop reading and go do it. You have hours, not days. Applications go through cpwshop.com, and the full regulations and hunt code information are at cpw.state.co.us.
If you already submitted, Colorado Parks and Wildlife recommends logging back in and reviewing your receipt to confirm everything went through correctly. You can still make corrections through your cpwshop.com account up to the 8:00 p.m. deadline tonight, so take five minutes to double-check before the window closes.
A few things worth knowing about how the Colorado system works. The preference point draw rewards patience in a real way. Points accumulate year over year, and the more competitive the unit, the more years it takes to build into position. Some hunters have been stacking points for a decade chasing specific mule deer or elk units. Others hit an elk tag every few years once they have enough points built. The point is that every application cycle matters, even in years where you know you will not draw. You are either building toward something or falling behind.
That calculus is about to shift. Starting with the 2028 application season, Colorado is moving to a split draw for deer, elk, bear, pronghorn, and turkey. Half the tags in each hunt code will still go through the preference point system. The other half will go through a bonus draw where every applicant has a chance regardless of points. For sheep, goat, and moose, the weighted system goes away entirely and gets replaced with a full bonus draw. CPW is also adding a preference point fee starting in 2028, $15 per species for residents and $30 for nonresidents, just to bank a point each year. If you are sitting on a strong point total in a competitive unit, 2026 and 2027 are the last two years the current system runs. That is worth factoring into your application strategy right now. Full details at cpw.state.co.us/2028-draw.
If you do not draw in the first round, Colorado also runs a secondary draw in late June for licenses not filled in the primary draw. The secondary draw does not use or award preference points, so it is a legitimate second chance worth checking into if you come up empty in May.
Once the Colorado deadline passes, your attention shifts to the next wave of states still accepting applications.
Utah closes April 23 for deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, and bison. Results are typically available by the end of May. Utah runs a bonus point system and has some of the best mule deer units in the western United States, particularly in the southern and central parts of the state. If you have never applied, this is a good year to start banking points. Applications go through utahdraws.com and information lives at wildlife.utah.gov.
Wyoming has multiple deadlines depending on species. Moose, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat applications close April 30. Deer and pronghorn close June 1. Wyoming is a state that genuinely rewards the patient application strategy. Put in enough years on the right species and you can eventually land a tag that changes what you think hunting can be. All applications go through wgfd.wyo.gov.
Montana still has sheep, goat, moose, and bison applications open through May 1, with antelope running through June 1. Montana is one of the more accessible western states for nonresidents from a draw standpoint, and the elk hunting there ranks among the best country in the West. Apply and check draw odds at fwp.mt.gov.
Nevada closes its main draw for deer, elk, pronghorn, sheep, goat, bear, and moose in early May, with results expected before the middle of that month. Nevada uses a bonus point system where points are squared during the draw, meaning every additional point gives you a meaningful mathematical advantage. Populations across most species have been trending up the last couple of years after some mild winters, which makes this a particularly good time to be in the mix. The Nevada Department of Wildlife runs applications at ndowlicensing.com, with regulations and information at ndow.org.
Arizona still has a wide window open for deer, bighorn sheep, bison, and javelina, with that draw expected to close in early June. Arizona is known for being a long-game state. Some sheep units require serious point accumulation over many years. But deer and elk can come faster than most people expect if you are smart about unit selection and willing to prioritize opportunity over trophy. The Arizona Game and Fish Department handles all draw applications at azgfd.com.
It is not just the hunt you miss. In states with preference or bonus point systems, missing an application year means you lose ground. You are not just standing still. Everyone else who applied is pulling ahead of you. In a state like Colorado where some of the top mule deer units require fifteen or more points, a missed year is a year that cannot be recovered. That is the part of this that stings long-term.
The hunters who eventually draw the tags everyone talks about are almost never the ones who figured it out overnight. They are the ones who got organized early, applied every single year without fail, and treated the process like the long investment it actually is.
Most of the energy in application season goes into the applying. The research, the deadlines, the point math. But the hunters who make the most of a western tag are the ones who treat the draw as the starting gun, not the finish line. Results hit and the real work begins.
That is where huntNotes earns its place. Before you ever set foot in the unit, drop waypoints on water sources, wallows, and glassing points from your map research. Download offline topo and satellite maps of the area while you still have a connection at home. Log your scouting notes and build a picture of the country before you fly or drive out. When you are finally standing in a unit you have been building toward for years, you want to be organized and locked in, not starting from scratch.
That tag gets built one application at a time. Make sure you are ready to do it justice when it comes through.
Colorado — Tonight, April 7 at 8:00 p.m. MT (deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, sheep, mountain goat, bear)
Utah — April 23 (deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, sheep, mountain goat, bison)
Wyoming — April 30 for moose, sheep, and mountain goat; June 1 for deer and pronghorn
Montana — May 1 for sheep, goat, moose, and bison; June 1 for antelope
Nevada — Early May (deer, elk, pronghorn, sheep, goat, bear, moose)
Arizona — Early June (deer, sheep, bison, javelina)
All deadlines sourced directly from official state wildlife agency websites. Links to each agency are included above. Confirm current deadlines before applying, as dates can change.
Plan your western hunt in huntNotes. Drop waypoints, download offline topo and satellite maps, and log every scouting session before you ever leave home. Available on iOS and Android.