DENVER — Elk hunting has opened for the first time at Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, the former Cold War nuclear weapons site, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) says in a draft plan that there are no restrictions on eating wildlife taken there.
The agency’s draft hunt plan, dated January 2026, also recommends that hunters not eat elk liver because of chemical findings in testing.
Archery season ran Sept. 17-28, and firearm season runs Oct. 1 through Dec. 14, according to the refuge’s hunting tear sheet. Hunting is not allowed on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Hunters must apply for a permit through the Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) lottery system, and the plan says a limited number of tags may be issued…