Colorado Hunting Guides
We are an outfitter in Steamboat Springs, sat in the middle of GMUs 14, 15, 131, 161, 211, 214 and 231. Roughly 15,800 hunters work those seven units in a normal year, and Northwest Colorado absorbs about 45% of all Colorado big game hunting days. These are the guides we write for the people who come through the door.
Everything here is built from Colorado Parks and Wildlife primary sources and cited at the foot of each page. Where we cannot verify something, we say so rather than guessing — which is why you will not find waterfowl dates here yet, and why the unit guides quote CPW’s own herd numbers even when they are unflattering.
The one thing worth knowing before you read anything else. Season dates through 2029 are already fixed in CPW’s 2025–2029 Big Game Season Structure. You do not have to wait for next year’s brochure to plan next year’s hunt.
Season dates
2026 Colorado Big Game Season DatesEvery deer, elk, bear, moose, pronghorn and plains deer date, with a live indicator showing what is open today.
2027 Colorado Big Game Season DatesAlready fixed by CPW, and nobody else has published them. Includes the date-setting formula for every season so you can work out 2028 and 2029 yourself.The regulations people get wrong
Colorado’s Blaze Orange Rule — What Actually Counts500 square inches above the waist plus a head covering. Camouflage orange does not count toward it, and the pack you are wearing might be hiding what does.
Are Trail Cameras Legal in Colorado?Yes, year round, with no seasonal ban — whatever the top-ranking blog tells you. Regulation #004(E) quoted in full, plus the drone rule for contrast.
Is Your Muzzleloader Colorado-Legal?Colorado bans sabots, pelletized powder, smokeless powder and any sight that is not open or iron. Caliber and bullet weight minimums, quoted from 2 CCR 406-2-203.Unit guides — the GMUs around Steamboat
One guide per unit, built from CPW’s herd management plans: where the unit is, what the herd is actually doing against CPW’s own population objective, how much of it you can legally walk on, and whether the tag is over the counter. We publish the unflattering numbers too.
GMU 14 — Bear’s Ears CountryOver the counter for 2nd and 3rd rifle. The herd is running roughly 30% below CPW’s own objective, and half the winter range is private. The tag is the easy part.
GMU 161 — North ParkThe only unit of the seven where the herd sits above CPW’s objective — and success still runs below 12%. That contrast is the whole story.
GMU 131 · 211 · 231 — White RiverColorado’s largest elk herd by objective. Three units, 41% private land, and a very different set of odds to Bear’s Ears.
GMU 214 — Bear’s EarsHigher success than its neighbors and only about a quarter public land. Read the access section before you commit a season to it.
GMU 15Steamboat’s other home unit.Get each unit guide as it goes up
One email when a guide publishes, a note before each rifle season opens, and one in February when the next CPW brochure lands. Nothing else, and no noise in between.
Gear guides
We are the last real supply stop before the country gets big
Steamboat Springs is the last full outfitter between the Flat Tops and the Wyoming line. Order online and pick up in store, or call us and we will read the specification off the box before you buy.
Lodging in Craig fills for the whole season and has lost rooms in recent years. More people are camping than used to. Plan for that rather than discovering it.