Nebraska Deer · Calamus West

Nebraska Calamus West spans 2,689,462 acres, centered 58 miles south-east of Valentine. 5% of it is public land, mostly national forest (3%) and wildlife refuge (1%). In 2025, hunters took 640 white-tailed deer here (sum of published hunt rows); hunter counts not published. Its most applied-for hunt, CALAMUS-WEST, put up 210 nonresident tags in the 2026 draw for 195 first-choice applicants.

NR Tags, 2026
210

1 license

Applicants
195

first choice, NR

Hunter Success
—

not published

Public Land
5%

3% Forest Service

Size
4,202 mi²

2,689,462 acres

Valentine O'Neill Broken Bow Ord CALAMUS-WEST

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 Calamus West

90–100% 50–89% 10–49% 1–9% under 1% fewer than 5 tags: one applicant swings it
CALAMUS-WEST 70% 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) 640
2024 (summed) 715
2023 (summed) 783
2022 (summed) 1,011
2021 (summed) 1,154
2020 (summed) 735
2019 (summed) 671
2018 1,037
2017 972

Mule Deer

Year Deer
2025 (summed) 468
2024 (summed) 431
2023 (summed) 268
2022 (summed) 368
2021 (summed) 350
2020 (summed) 210
2019 (summed) 269
2018 532
2017 517
2025 by LicenseHuntersDeerSuccess
Mule deer · 1,400 licenses — 228 38%
Mule deer · 200 licenses — 1 22%
Mule deer (hunt 1 of 9) — 66 —
Mule deer (hunt 2 of 9) — 7 —
Mule deer (hunt 3 of 9) — 27 —
Mule deer (hunt 4 of 9) — 0 —
Mule deer · archery — 28 —
Mule deer (hunt 5 of 9) — 2 —
Mule deer · muzzleloader — 53 —
Mule deer (hunt 6 of 9) — 0 —
Mule deer (hunt 7 of 9) — 39 —
Mule deer (hunt 8 of 9) — 17 —
Mule deer (hunt 9 of 9) — 0 —
White-tailed deer · 1,400 licenses — 308 38%
White-tailed deer · 200 licenses — 54 22%
White-tailed deer (hunt 1 of 9) — 82 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 2 of 9) — 5 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 3 of 9) — 13 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 4 of 9) — 8 —
White-tailed deer · archery — 37 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 5 of 9) — 0 —
White-tailed deer · muzzleloader — 33 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 6 of 9) — 18 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 7 of 9) — 36 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 8 of 9) — 16 —
White-tailed deer (hunt 9 of 9) — 30 —

2025 split: archery 37 (53%), muzzleloader 33 (47%)

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 2,549,996 ac 95%
National Forest 90,169 ac 3%
National Wildlife Refuge 34,001 ac 1%
State land 14,955 ac <1%
Bureau of Reclamation 340 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 "Calamus West"; permits drawn as Calamus West

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