Douglas County for Hunters

Douglas County units, point rules and CWD

Seasons here follow 3 game management units, not the county line; GMU 51 is the biggest piece at near 60%. GMU 51 lies wholly inside the county, so any license for it is a Douglas County hunt. Unit edges are roads, drainages and divides named in the brochure text; the percentages here are GIS measures, and the written description decides where a unit stops. Part of the county is plains country (GMU 104); the other units sit against the mountains.

Bull licenses in Douglas County have no point minimum, since no unit here is an APR unit. CWD testing is optional for hunts in Douglas County: its units are not on the mandatory elk list, and deer testing is not required in 2026. Mountain lion hunting runs November 23, 2026 to March 31, 2027 in harvest-limit groups; the county touches group 5 (limit 19) and group 20 (limit 22), and each group closes when its limit is reached. Leave sheds on public ground west of I-25 until May 1. OTC spring gobbler hunting is open in GMUs 51, 104, 391.

GMU shares from the CPW GMU boundary layer over Census county lines; boundaries in the 2026 Big Game brochure GMU descriptions; point rule from brochure p. 36; CWD units from brochure p. 41; lion groups from the 2026-2027 Mountain Lion brochure; turkey lists from the 2026 Turkey brochure; shed closure from brochure p. 12. Checked November 5, 2026.

Douglas County SWAs, trust land and federal acres

The overlay finds about 142,530 public acres here, or 26.5% of the land area; the top category is forest Service land. Do not assume State Land Board land is open: only the CPW-leased parcels are. Acres with a star are left out of the public figure; hunting there depends on park, base or lease rules. Acreages come from overlaying map polygons and will not match agency totals exactly.

Douglas County public ground, largest first

Next-county ground for Douglas County

• U.S. Air Force Academy (GMU 512)23 miles, military installation, El Paso County
• Crooked Top STL33 miles, state trust land parcel, Park County
• Mueller State Park33 miles, state park, Teller County
• Mcarthur Gulch STL33 miles, state trust land parcel, Park County
• Bergen Peak SWA34 miles, state wildlife area, Clear Creek County
• Badger Flats STL35 miles, state trust land parcel, Park County

Carry a Colorado hunting or fishing license, or buy the SWA Pass, before stepping onto an SWA or trust parcel if you are 16 or older. Dates and restrictions vary property by property; the land pages carry the CPW wording.

Acres from the CPW managed properties layer (SWA and STL), USGS PAD-US 4.1 (Forest Service, BLM, refuges, parks, military) and the BLM field office layer; places from the CPW SWA finder, the STL finder and each land page; access rules from the CPW property pages. Checked November 5, 2026.

Hunting dates in Douglas County

County total as of November 4, 2026: 1 listing ahead (RMEF banquet).

Is your committee night missing? Submit it

Douglas County area office, outfitters and stores

CPW Area 5 is led by area wildlife manager Matt Martinez, which covers Douglas County. Lion hunters phone CPW within 48 hours of a kill and present the head and hide within five days.

Trailhead towns of Douglas County

Remaining towns and CDPs, Douglas County:

• Castle Pines15,162
• Lone Tree14,061
• Larkspur223
• Acres Green
• Castle Pines Village
• Franktown
• Grand View Estates
• Highlands Ranch
• Louviers
• Meridian
• Meridian Village
• Perry Park
• Roxborough Park
• Sedalia

Within Douglas County the directory holds 1 taxidermist, 22 gun and outdoor stores and 13 outfitters and guides and lacks game processors. Listings mix DORA outfitter records with chain locators and Yellow Pages; ring before you go.

Douglas County meat cutters

Taxidermy around Douglas County

Douglas County gun counters

Registered outfitters, Douglas County

Offices and area wildlife managers from the CPW Contact Us page and the CPW area layer; towns and places from the 2024 Census gazetteer; outfitters from the DORA licence data; other services from store locators and Yellow Pages listings. Checked November 5, 2026.

Douglas County hours on key season dates

The sun rises about twenty minutes later at Grand Junction than at Burlington, so use the times worked out for Douglas County.

Turkey hours end at sunset.

Hours rules from the 2026 Colorado Big Game brochure and the Small Game and Waterfowl brochure; sunrise and sunset worked out for this location with the NOAA solar formula (Mountain Time); checked November 5, 2026. Legal hours for every county.

Around Douglas County

The four closest county pages by distance between county centres, plus three statewide guides.

Douglas County trip reminders

This page covers the 2026-27 seasons only; where it and the CPW brochures differ, the brochures govern.

Sources: 2026 Colorado Big Game brochure, CPW hunting, Census and the sources in each section. Checked November 5, 2026.