Camping in Colorado during rifle season: the 2026 dates, who must wear orange, and the 150-yard rule around your campsite

If you are camping on Colorado public land between now and November 22, you are camping in rifle season. The second rifle season for deer, elk and bear runs October 24 to November 1, the third November 7 to 15, and the fourth November 18 to 22. Those dates are from the 2026 Colorado Big Game brochure, checked October 26, 2026. Plains rifle deer season runs October 24 to November 3.

The brochure says the second, third and fourth seasons are for “elk, bear and deer hunters, who will be in the field at the same time.” Two rules decide how that touches your camp.

The orange law covers hunters

Colorado law, as the brochure states it, requires hunters to wear “at least 500 square inches of solid daylight fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink material on an outer garment above the waist” plus an orange or pink hat, while hunting deer, elk, pronghorn, moose or bear with any firearm license. Camouflage orange does not count.

Nothing in it applies to someone who is camping or hiking. Colorado Parks and Wildlife still “recommends wearing fluorescent orange or pink clothes in the field, even if not hunting.” We agree with CPW. A cheap orange vest or hat is the easiest safety step a camper can take during rifle season.

Legal hunting hours are a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset, so expect shots at first light.

The 150-yard rule protects a campsite on national forest land

On National Forest System land, 36 CFR 261.10(d) prohibits discharging a firearm “in or within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area,” and also “across or on a National Forest System road.” We read the text on eCFR, current as of October 22, 2026.

The rule binds everyone. A hunter cannot shoot within 150 yards of your camp, and you cannot target shoot from it either. The definitions in 36 CFR 261.2 cover “camping” but not “campsite,” so make yours easy to recognize from a distance.

The catch

That 150-yard rule is a Forest Service regulation. It does not follow you onto BLM or state land, and we have not verified a matching rule for either, so we are not going to claim one. On BLM land, read the field office page and the signs where you camp.

The dates are the general seasons. The brochure’s deer table runs first rifle only in select units, and individual hunt codes can carry different dates.

What to do this week

1. Wear orange or pink when you leave camp on foot. A hat and a vest cover it.
2. On a national forest, set up camp so it reads as a camp from a distance: tent or awning up, vehicle parked beside it.
3. Check the posted signs and the forest’s current orders where you camp. They beat this page and any other website. Our Colorado free camping page covers the stay rules by land manager, and a state wildlife area needs a license or pass just to enter.