Outside the Denver metro, Logan leads Colorado's Buck Index at 14. Inside the metro, Arapahoe leads at 13. Prowers, Weld and Yuma share Logan's displayed score of 14, and Morgan is fifth at 13. Denver and Broomfield are Not rated because they are mostly inside city limits. On the national scale, Colorado's counties score low; Logan leads at 14. The county order compares documented big-buck history per estimated bow-huntable acre. That gives hunters a specific county comparison, while leaving permits and the actual property to be checked separately.
KEY FINDINGS
- Outside the Denver metro, Logan leads at 14. Inside it, Arapahoe leads at 13. FDR names the leaders on each side of the line, and a big metro means a Census metro area of 1 million people or more.
- Logan, Prowers, Weld and Yuma share a displayed score of 14. Morgan is fifth at 13, and Arapahoe is sixth at 13 inside the Denver metro.
- Cheyenne, Otero, Sedgwick, Boulder, Douglas and Kiowa share a displayed score of 11. Their underlying order is kept, and a rounded tie is not a measured difference in hunting opportunity.
- All 64 Colorado counties are included, with 62 rated. The score is a relative Buck Index, not an official county harvest rate.
Colorado county finder
Where does your county rank?
Derived FDR scores on a national 0 to 100 scale. History: 2011 through 2025. Captured October 17, 2026. Order uses the underlying rate before rounding. Zero is a valid score. Not rated means the county has no qualifying bow-huntable acreage or is mostly inside city limits. Counties marked metro sit inside a Census metro area of 1 million people or more.
10 of 64 entries shown
| State rank | County | Buck Index |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Logan | 14 |
| 2 | Prowers | 14 |
| 3 | Weld | 14 |
| 4 | Yuma | 14 |
| 5 | Morgan | 13 |
| 6 | Arapahoe Denver metro | 13 |
| 7 | Pueblo | 12 |
| 8 | Cheyenne | 11 |
| 9 | Otero | 11 |
| 10 | Sedgwick | 11 |
01County comparison
Logan leads outside the metro and Arapahoe leads inside it
Logan holds first place at 14, and Prowers, Weld and Yuma share that displayed score in second through fourth place. Morgan is fifth at 13. Arapahoe is sixth at 13 inside the Denver metro, which makes it the leading metro county in the rated set.
The denominator is estimated bow-huntable acreage. A county with less qualifying acreage can rank high when its documented big-buck history is concentrated relative to that acreage. The score does not identify which parcel produced that history or whether a hunter can gain access to it.
02County comparison
Six counties share 11 in places eight through thirteen
Cheyenne is eighth at 11, and Otero, Sedgwick, Boulder, Douglas and Kiowa share that displayed score through thirteenth place. Kit Carson and Washington share a displayed score of 10 in fourteenth and fifteenth place. Bent, El Paso and Montezuma share a displayed score of 9 in sixteenth through eighteenth place.
Lincoln is nineteenth at 8, and Mesa is twentieth at 6. Adams is twenty-first at 5 inside the Denver metro, and Jefferson is thirty-sixth at 5 in the same metro. Twenty-eight rated counties share a displayed score of 5, from twenty-first to forty-eighth place.
03County comparison
Lincoln, Adams and Moffat sit in different bands
Routt is fifty-seventh at 4, and Garfield is fifty-eighth at 3. Gunnison is sixtieth at 3, and Rio Blanco is sixty-first at 3. Moffat is sixty-second at 2, the lowest rated county.
Larimer is fifty-third at 4, and Montrose is fifty-fifth at 4, both outside the Denver metro. Bent's 9 is above Lake's 5 and Garfield's 3 under this measure. A gap of that size reflects a documented difference in county history after the acreage adjustment, and explaining it would require evidence beyond the score.
04County comparison
Keep the county, management unit and property together
The state wildlife agency's deer hunting information gives the agency context for this report. This report does not allocate management-unit harvest totals to counties. Before a county becomes a trip, check the unit and permit conditions for the exact ground being considered.
The state wildlife agency's hunting access information is the next step once a county is chosen. Start with a county you can actually hunt, then compare the substitutes that fit the same trip. A move from Logan to Prowers changes the rank number while leaving the displayed Buck Index at 14. Access may make that decision long before the index does.
05Basis of this report
Sources and method
FDR derived this October 17, 2026 snapshot from the 2011 through 2025 history window, estimated bow-huntable acreage and national scaling, 0 to 100, not harvest odds, population density or guaranteed access. Scores are sensitive to reporting and modeled-area choices.
Compare the other states in the FDR county report series.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- Derived FDR scores on a national 0 to 100 scale. History: 2011 through 2025. Captured October 17, 2026. Order uses the underlying rate before rounding. Zero is a valid score. Not rated means the county has no qualifying bow-huntable acreage or is mostly inside city limits. Counties marked metro sit inside a Census metro area of 1 million people or more.
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. FDR county scores and interpretations are independent analysis. A county ranking does not evaluate an individual property.
Keep reading
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