Nebraska Deer Draw Odds
In the 2026 draw Nebraska offered 12 deer hunts to nonresidents, drawn by preference points. At 0 points a nonresident had at least an even chance in 7 hunts open to every hunter.
Open Jun 7 – Jun 11, 2027 (expected)
Kept if you miss. Deer license $397 only if drawn
2026 draw
4,356 nonresident applicants
Point only: $57 nonresident · on the draw application · apply by Jun 11, 2027 (expected) → Buying Points in Nebraska
How the Nebraska Draw Works (30-Second Version)
Preference points.
Tags go to the applicants with the most preference points, one level at a time. If the last level that draws has more applicants than tags remaining, those applicants are chosen at random. Everyone below that level misses and earns a point.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Odds × hunter success × public land, 10 tags or more. Private-land, ranch, landowner and youth hunts left out.
STATEWIDE-ARCHERY
Unit statewide · Either-sex (1 buck bag) archery · Statewide Archery
- Success
- —
- Public
- —
- Season
- Sep 1–Dec 31
LOUP-WEST
Unit LOUP-WEST · Any rifle · Loup West
- Success
- —
- Public
- <1%
- Season
- Sep 1–Dec 31
BUFFALO-MDCA
Unit BUFFALO-MDCA · Any rifle · Buffalo MDCA
- Success
- —
- Public
- <1%
- Season
- Sep 1–Dec 31
CALAMUS-WEST
Unit CALAMUS-WEST · Any rifle · Calamus West
- Success
- —
- Public
- 5%
- Season
- Sep 1–Dec 31
UPPER-PLATTE
Unit UPPER-PLATTE · Any rifle · Upper Platte
- Success
- —
- Public
- <1%
- Season
- Sep 1–Dec 31
PLAINS
Unit PLAINS · Any rifle
- Success
- —
- Public
- 1%
- Season
- Sep 1–Dec 31
Every Hunt at 0 Points
12 hunt codes drawn in 2026 · 7 at 50% or better · first choice · nonresident
Last year's odds were off by about 5 percentage points for applicants near the points needed. How we check
| Hunt | Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUFFALO-MDCA Unit BUFFALO-MDCA · Any rifle · Buffalo MDCA | Any rifle · Buffalo MDCA | BUFFALO-MDCA | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 95% | 0 | 120 / 110 | — |
| CALAMUS-WEST Unit CALAMUS-WEST · Any rifle · Calamus West | Any rifle · Calamus West | CALAMUS-WEST | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 70% | 0 | 210 / 195 | — |
| FRENCHMAN-MDCA Unit FRENCHMAN-MDCA · Any rifle · Frenchman MDCA | Any rifle · Frenchman MDCA | FRENCHMAN-MDCA | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 0% | 1 | 150 / 704 | — |
| LOUP-WEST Unit LOUP-WEST · Any rifle · Loup West | Any rifle · Loup West | LOUP-WEST | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 100% | 0 | 105 / 34 | — |
| PINE-RIDGE-MDCA Unit PINE-RIDGE-MDCA · Any rifle · Pine Ridge MDCA | Any rifle · Pine Ridge MDCA | PINE-RIDGE-MDCA | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 0% | 1▲1 | 135 / 606 | — |
| PLAINS Unit PLAINS · Any rifle | Any rifle | PLAINS | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 57% | 0 | 150 / 164 | — |
| PLATTE-MDCA Unit PLATTE-MDCA · Any rifle · Platte MDCA | Any rifle · Platte MDCA | PLATTE-MDCA | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 6% | 1 | 105 / 224 | — |
| REPUBLICAN-MDCA Unit REPUBLICAN-MDCA · Any rifle · Republican MDCA | Any rifle · Republican MDCA | REPUBLICAN-MDCA | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 0% | 1▲1 | 7 / 98 | — |
| SANDHILLS Unit SANDHILLS · Any rifle | Any rifle | SANDHILLS | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 9% | 0 | 180 / 366 | — |
| STATEWIDE-ARCHERY Unit statewide · Either-sex (1 buck bag) archery · Statewide Archery | Either-sex (1 buck bag) archery · Statewide Archery | statewide | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 100% | 0 | 3,000 / 1,230 | — |
| STATEWIDE-MUZZLELOADER Unit statewide · Either-sex (1 buck bag) muzzleloader · Statewide Muzzleloader | Either-sex (1 buck bag) muzzleloader · Statewide Muzzleloader | statewide | Dec 1–31 | 100% | 0 | 1,000 / 501 | — |
| UPPER-PLATTE Unit UPPER-PLATTE · Any rifle · Upper Platte | Any rifle · Upper Platte | UPPER-PLATTE | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 63% | 0 | 120 / 124 | — |
Showing all 12 · sorted by unit · 1 hunt not offered in 2026 hidden — show discontinued hunts
What These Columns Mean
- Odds at your points —
- the share of first-choice applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year. A badge marked * had under five tags, so one applicant either way swings it.
- Pts needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2026 draw; the ▲ or ▼ is how far that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold. A 0 marks a hunt that went Undersubscribed: fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
- Tags / apps —
- tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them.
- Success —
- the share of hunters in the unit who killed an animal, from the latest harvest report on file. It is the whole unit's figure, not the hunt's.
All 12 Units
Each unit has its own page: where it is on the map, how much of it is public land, what the hunters who went there killed last season, and every license type you can apply for inside it.
Report an error on this page
About These Numbers
Every percentage here is the chance an applicant with that many points had in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results; quotas, applicant numbers and point levels change every year. A dash means the agency did not publish the number. Under five tags the percentage is flagged: one applicant either way swings it. Check the agency's site and apply there; we don't take applications. How we compute these.