List A, B & C elk licenses
Every Colorado elk license is List A, B or C. The list tells you how many you can stack in one year.
| List | You can hold | 2026 draw hunts |
|---|---|---|
| A | Only one List A elk license | 785 |
| B | One A + one B, or two B | 249 |
| C | Any number, on top of A+B or B+B | 5 |
The one-application rule
You can submit only one elk application per draw. So if your primary-draw application lands an A tag, your B or C tag must come from somewhere else:
- Secondary draw (applications in June) for licenses left after the primary draw. 108 List B/C elk hunts had licenses left after the 2026 primary draw.
- Leftover sale in early August — first come, first served.
- Over the counter: resident archery cow licenses (List B) in many units, plus private-land-only antlerless licenses.
- Reissued licenses that other hunters surrender.
What's usually List B?
Mostly antlerless (cow) licenses in units where CPW wants more harvest, private-land-only cow hunts, and over-the-counter archery cow licenses. Each hunt page on this site shows its list.
Questions
Can I have two elk tags in Colorado?
Yes. You can hold one List A plus one List B elk license, or two List B licenses, plus any number of List C licenses.
Can I apply for an A tag and a B tag in the same draw?
No — CPW allows one application per species per draw. Your second elk license has to come from the secondary draw, leftovers, reissued licenses or over the counter.
Updated 2026-11-07. Rules summarized from the CPW Big Game Brochure and Parks and Wildlife Commission documents — the brochure is the final word.