Nebraska Deer · Buffalo

Nebraska Buffalo spans 3,197,665 acres, centered 21 miles north-west of Kearney. 0% of it is public land. In 2025, hunters took 1,962 white-tailed deer here (sum of published hunt rows); hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, BUFFALO-MDCA, put up 120 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 110 first-choice applicants.

NR Tags, 2026
120

1 license

Applicants
110

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
0%
Size
4,996 mi²

3,197,665 acres

Kearney Minden St. Paul Grand Island Broken Bow BUFFALO-MDCA

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Best Bets at 0 Points

Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.

Every License in Buffalo

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
BUFFALO-MDCA 95% 0

First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.

Draw results: Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Draw Results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.

If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $404 ($7 to apply). Open Jun 7 – Jun 11, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

Harvest

White-tailed Deer

Year Deer
2025 (summed) 1,962
2024 (summed) 2,280
2023 (summed) 2,578
2022 (summed) 2,995
2021 (summed) 3,265
2020 (summed) 729
2019 (summed) 849
2018 3,727
2017 3,868

Mule Deer

Year Deer
2025 (summed) 401
2024 (summed) 362
2023 (summed) 352
2022 (summed) 374
2021 (summed) 404
2020 (summed) 174
2019 (summed) 288
2018 750
2017 770
2025 by LicenseHuntersDeerSuccess
Mule deer · 507 licenses — 0 25%
Mule deer · 800 licenses — 166 39%
Mule deer · 50 licenses — 20 52%
Mule deer · 1,200 licenses — 1 35%
Mule deer (hunt 1 of 9) — 105 —
Mule deer (hunt 2 of 9) — 12 —
Mule deer (hunt 3 of 9) — 1 —
Mule deer (hunt 4 of 9) — 0 —
Mule deer · archery — 16 —
Mule deer (hunt 5 of 9) — 0 —
Mule deer · muzzleloader — 2 —
Mule deer (hunt 6 of 9) — 0 —
Mule deer (hunt 7 of 9) — 56 —
Mule deer (hunt 8 of 9) — 22 —
Mule deer (hunt 9 of 9) — 0 —
White-tailed deer · 507 licenses — 126 25%
White-tailed deer · 800 licenses — 149 39%
White-tailed deer · 50 licenses — 6 52%
White-tailed deer · 1,200 licenses — 419 35%
White-tailed deer (hunt 1 of 9) — 269 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 2 of 9) — 2 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 3 of 9) — 16 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 4 of 9) — 242 —
White-tailed deer · archery — 185 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 5 of 9) — 1 —
White-tailed deer · muzzleloader — 53 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 6 of 9) — 101 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 7 of 9) — 146 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 8 of 9) — 52 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 9 of 9) — 195 —

2025 split: archery 185 (78%), muzzleloader 53 (22%)

What Nebraska Game and Parks Commission publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission publishes no whole-unit line for 2025; a year's total is the sum of published hunt rows, added only where the lines do not overlap. Hunter counts not published for 2025. Source: Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Big Game Recommendation Book; Nebraska Game and Parks 2025 Big Game Recommendation Book; Nebraska Game and Parks 2024 Big Game Recommendation Book.

The Ground

Private 3,182,355 ac 100%
State land 8,430 ac <1%
National Wildlife Refuge 6,879 ac <1%

Source: Nebraska Game and Parks 2024-2025 NGPC Public Access Atlas land….

What the Agency Says About the Area

NGPC deer management unit "Buffalo"; permits drawn as Buffalo MDCA

Source: Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Big Game Guide.

▸ Sources 13
  1. Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Draw Results, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  2. Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Big Game Guide fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  3. Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Permit Pricing fees, retrieved Oct 12, 2026
  4. Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Big Game Recommendation Book harvest, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  5. Nebraska Game and Parks 2025 Big Game Recommendation Book harvest, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  6. Nebraska Game and Parks 2024 Big Game Recommendation Book harvest, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  7. Nebraska Game and Parks 2023 Big Game Recommendations book harvest, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  8. Nebraska Game and Parks 2022 Big Game Recommendations book harvest, retrieved Sep 2, 2026
  9. Nebraska Game and Parks 2020 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  10. Nebraska Game and Parks 2019 Deer Harvest Report harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  11. Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Deer Management Units boundary, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  12. Nebraska Game and Parks 2024-2025 NGPC Public Access Atlas land… land ownership, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
  13. Nebraska Game and Parks 2026 Big Game Guide area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026

About These Numbers

Odds are from the 2026 draw, the latest on file, computed from Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.

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Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

We don't take applications: check Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's site and apply there.

Prior-draw odds from Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Nebraska deer hunts