TagMath

Colorado leftover licenses

What they are, where to buy, and the weekly reissue clock.

Still looking after the draw?

Primary draw is closed. If you are still looking for a Colorado limited big-game tag in September 2026, the open window is leftover (remaining limited licenses) plus the weekly reissue release onto that same leftover list. CPW leftover license sales started on August 4, 2026. TagMath will not tell you that you will get a tag.

Hunt-code research lives on Explore. Odds live on Methodology. The leftover list itself stays on CPW — we are not an inventory.

Sources: Leftover, remaining, and reissued licenses and the CPW Big Game page, which also notes leftover sales started August 4, 2026.

What leftover is

Limited licenses that were not issued in the primary or secondary draws go on the Leftover List. Reissued licenses also go there. That is CPW's wording, not ours.

CPW's glossary calls leftover limited licenses that remain after secondary “over-the-counter leftover limited licenses.” That is still limited leftover — a leftover hunt code with a remaining quota — not unlimited OTC. See limited draw vs leftover vs unlimited OTC if those three products are getting mashed together.

The Big Game page is blunt: purchasing a leftover license does not use preference points.

Buying from the leftover list

Leftover or reissued licenses on the leftover list can be purchased without a qualifying license, application, or preference points. That is the deer / elk / pronghorn / bear path for hunt codes that took four or fewer resident preference points.

A separate path exists for returned codes that took five or more resident preference points. Those get reissued next-in-line and require points if accepted. Do not mash the two. Details are in Weekly reissue clock.

Where to buy

TagMath does not sell licenses. We will not take your card, and we will not hold a hunt code for you.

How to use the CPW leftover list

  1. Open the CPW leftover list PDF — the “View Leftover List” link on CPW's leftover page.
  2. CPW's own disclaimer: that data may be up to one hour old. Treat it as a scout, not a lock.
  3. Look up hunt codes on Explore. Odds and how we calculate them live on Methodology.
  4. Buy only on CPWShop, by phone, or at a sales agent. Re-check the live PDF before you pay — TagMath is not an inventory and we do not print remaining-tag totals.

Weekly reissue clock (Tuesday preview → Wednesday release)

From CPW leftover page, “The Reissue Process”:

  • Preview list posts Tuesdays at 11 a.m. Mountain Time.
  • Wednesdays: hunt codes from that preview are released for sale as close to 11 a.m. as the system allows. Unsold Preview List licenses are added to the Leftover List as it refreshes.
  • No new hunt codes after 1 p.m. Mountain Time on Wednesdays.
  • Preview is cleared after Wednesday sales and repopulates the next Tuesday.
  • First big-game reissue preview: August 11 (the week after leftover day).

That weekly clock is not leftover day. Leftover / OTC went on sale August 4, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. — already past — per the CPW refunds, reversals, and exchanges page. Do not treat 9:00 a.m. as the Tuesday/Wednesday reissue time.

Two paths. Do not mash them.

Path A — leftover-list purchase (4 or fewer)

Returned deer, elk, pronghorn, and bear hunt codes that took four or fewer resident preference points land on the leftover list. Buy them there without a qualifying license, application, or preference points.

Path B — 5+ resident-point returned codes

Returned deer, elk, pronghorn, and bear hunt codes that took five or more resident preference points are reissued next-in-line and require preference points if accepted. If the first five hunters contacted decline, the code goes to the preview list, then the leftover list.

Sheep, goat, and moose

Those species continue next-in-line. If the first five decline, the license goes to the preview list, then leftover. We do not invent inventory for those codes.

Live preview PDF: CPW Reissue Preview List.

Also see