OutdoorNebraska.org | 7
Planning Your Hunt
Big game in Nebraska primarily are managed through selective hunting harvest; species-specific permits
allow a harvest that often is limited to the sex of the animal within a given location. Social and biological
tolerances are the basis for permit allocations, and permits are issued through Game and Parks' public
process. Take a look at the following questions and answers to help you understand Nebraska's big game
permitting system and process.
What species do you want to hunt?
Nebraska has five species of big game: white-tailed deer, mule deer, antelope, elk and
bighorn sheep. This guide addresses seasons for those five species. Turkeys have their
own guide. See the Turkey Guide for details at OutdoorNebraska.gov/guides.
Where do you want to hunt?
Each of Nebraska's big game species has specific permits and
management units with permit quotas and specific regulations.
Each species section has maps detailing management units.
Nebraska is 97% privately owned and landowner permission
is required to hunt on private land. For details on public
lands, see our Public Access Atlas at OutdoorNebraska.gov/
publicaccessatlas.
When do you want to hunt?
Each permit has specific season dates, so please take care to follow those dates. Some seasons, like
archery, are long in duration and allow a lot of opportunity to be in the field, while others can last only a
few days to a week.
With which method would you like to hunt?
Each permit has specific methods (firearm, archery, muzzleloader) that are
allowed to be used for the take of an animal under that permit. Some permits
allow only one method, some allow all. Each method (firearm, archery,
muzzleloader) has specific minimums, and those details may be found in the
table on page 38 toward the back of this guide.
How are big game permits distributed?
Some permits are distributed in a drawing; some are available for purchase over
the counter. Some permit quotas are unlimited, but many have limited quotas to
the total available. Once those limited permits sell out, no more are available
for the hunting season. There also are personal limits to the numbers of permits
individual hunters may have per year:
• two deer permits that allow the harvest of a buck
• one elk permit
• one antelope permit
Additional details follow in each species section.
What are the other requirements?
Hunter education, blaze orange requirements, permit carrying, method-of-take restrictions and mandatory
check-in of all harvested big game animals are covered in detail in this guide.
Read this guide
Now that you know the questions to ask, use this guide to choose a permit(s) to apply for and help you
prepare for your hunt.
