The short version. Hunting deer, elk, pronghorn, moose or bear on a rifle or muzzleloader license? You need 500 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange or pink on an outer garment above the waist, plus a hat in the same color, visible from every direction.
Camo orange doesn’t count. A hat alone doesn’t count. A vest alone usually does.
This is the Colorado rule that trips up out-of-state hunters most. Get it exactly right. Not because a ticket is likely. Because the whole point of the color is that somebody sees you.
What CPW says
“Hunters must wear at least 500 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink material on an outer garment above the waist while hunting deer, elk, pronghorn, moose or bear with any firearm license.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
A fluorescent orange or pink hat or head covering is also required, visible from all directions. CPW is clear on two more points: camouflage orange or pink doesn’t qualify, and mesh is legal but not recommended.
Counts
- Solid blaze orange or fluorescent pink
- On an outer garment
- Above the waist
- Vest, jacket, hoodie or shirt
- Mesh. Legal, though CPW discourages it.
Doesn’t count
- Camo patterns with orange in them
- Orange worn under a jacket
- Anything below the waist
- A hat on its own
- Red, or “hunter’s red”
How much is 500 square inches?
Nobody can picture it. That’s why people get it wrong. It’s a rectangle about 25 inches by 20 inches. Roughly a large trash bag laid flat.
- A standard adult vest clears it easily. Front and back panels together are well past 500 on any full-size vest. That’s why the vest is the default answer.
- A hat alone is nowhere close. And the hat is its own requirement. It doesn’t count toward the 500.
- A youth vest may not clear it on a smaller frame. Check it. Don’t assume.
- Orange gloves, gaiters and boot panels do nothing. Below the waist doesn’t count.
Who has to wear it
Anyone hunting deer, elk, pronghorn, moose or bear on a rifle or muzzleloader license. That includes archers hunting during any rifle season. Bowhunters miss that part.
Archers on an archery-only license during archery season are exempt. So are hunters in the Ranching for Wildlife program. CPW asks both to wear it anyway.
Hunting from a ground blind? CPW says to show orange or pink on the outside of the blind, visible from all directions. A dark pop-up blind in the timber during rifle season is exactly what this rule is for.
The pack problem
The most common failure we see isn’t in the regulation text. You put on a legal vest. Then you put a big pack on over it. From behind, which is the direction another hunter is most likely seeing you from, your orange is now mostly pack.
Hunter education materials warn about it, and it comes up every fall. CPW’s published guidance doesn’t spell out a pack rule, so we won’t call it the law. We’ll call it pointless. Wear the vest over the pack, run an orange pack cover, or clip orange to the back of it.
Sort it out before you drive
Every piece of solid blaze orange we carry is in one place. Vests, hats and hoodies that count toward the 500.
Camo with orange in it is left out of that category on purpose. It doesn’t satisfy the rule.
Sources. Quotes and requirements from Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s in-the-field guidance for elk and deer. The pack section is practical advice, not regulation. CPW’s guidance doesn’t cover it. Confirm against the current CPW big game brochure before you hunt. Something wrong here? Tell us and we’ll fix it the same day.
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One email when a new guide goes up. A note before each elk season opens. That’s it.
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