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Herd Management Plans (HMP)
Herd Management Plans (HMP)
Bull elk with cow herd
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​​​​​​Draft Herd Management Plans - seeking public comment

Traditionally, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff have presented one Herd Management Plan at a time for approval to the Parks and Wildlife Commission. In order to address the large numbers of HMPS that need to be updated, staff have taken a new approach to develop a Regional roll-up of all HMPs in a CPW region for a single big game species to update or establish new population and sex ration objectives. The Regional plans also describe the significant management issue for herds within each Region, what public input was used to develop proposed objectives, and the individual HMPs for each herd.

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There are currently no draft plans open for public comment. 

When comment periods are ava​​ilable, they are open for 30 days.

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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​About Big Game Herd Management (HMP) Plans

Big game populations are managed to achieve population and sex ratio objectives established for Data Analysis Units. A Data Analysis Unit (DAU) is the geographic area that represents the year-around range of a big game herd and includes all of the seasonal ranges of a specific herd. Each DAU usually is composed of several Game Management Units (GMUs), but in some cases only one GMU makes up a DAU.

The purpose of an HMP plan is to integrate the plans and intentions of Colorado Parks and Wildlife with the concerns and ideas of land management agencies and interested public to determine how a big game herd in a DAU should be managed.

In preparing n HMP plan, agency personnel attempt to balance the biological capabilities of the herd and its habitat with the public's demand for wildlife recreational opportunities.

The primary decisions needed for each HMP plan are how many animals should exist in the DAU and what is the desired sex ratio for the population of big game animals (e.g., the number of males per 100 females). 

The selection of population​ and sex ratio objectives (which are set for a 10-year period of time) drive important decisions in the big game season setting process, namely: 

  • How many animals must be harvested to maintain or move toward the objectives 

  • What types of hunting seasons are required to achieve the harvest objective

Finalized Herd Management Plans

Bear

Map

Bighorn Sheep

Map

Deer

Map

Elk

Map

Moose

Map

Pron​ghorn

Map

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