Nebraska Elk Draw Odds
In the 2026 draw Nebraska offered 37 elk hunts to residents, drawn by a lottery weighted by bonus points. At 0 points a resident had at least an even chance in 4 hunts open to every hunter.
Open Jun 7 – Jun 11, 2027 (expected)
Kept if you miss. Elk license $221 only if drawn
2026 draw
5,208 resident applicants
Point only: $26 resident · on the draw application · apply by Jun 11, 2027 (expected) → Buying Points in Nebraska
How the Nebraska Draw Works (30-Second Version)
Bonus points (squared).
Every applicant gets points² + 1 entries in a random draw, so more points mean more chances, but never a guarantee.
No nonresident draw results are on file for Nebraska elk — Nebraska Game and Parks Commission publishes resident results only, or none by residency. The numbers below are the resident draw.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Odds × hunter success × public land, 10 tags or more. Private-land, ranch, landowner and youth hunts left out.
U10-EARLY-ANTLERLESS
Unit U10 · Antlerless rifle · U10 Early Antlerless
- Success
- —
- Public
- 2%
- Season
- Aug 1–Oct 31
U8-ANTLERLESS
Unit U8 · Antlerless rifle · U8 Antlerless
- Success
- —
- Public
- <1%
- Season
- Aug 1–Jan 31
U11-ANTLERLESS
Unit U11 · Antlerless rifle · U11 Antlerless
- Success
- —
- Public
- <1%
- Season
- Aug 1–Jan 31
U3-EARLY-ANTLERLESS
Unit U3 · Antlerless rifle · U3 Early Antlerless
- Success
- —
- Public
- 4%
- Season
- Aug 1–Oct 31
U9-ANTLERLESS
Unit U9 · Antlerless rifle · U9 Antlerless
- Success
- —
- Public
- <1%
- Season
- Aug 1–Jan 31
U6-EARLY-ANTLERLESS
Unit U6 · Antlerless rifle · U6 Early Antlerless
- Success
- —
- Public
- 10%
- Season
- Aug 1–Oct 31
Before You Apply
A Waiting Period After Drawing
Draw one and you wait 5 years before applying again.
A general bull permit can be drawn no more than once in five years, and an antlered elk may be harvested only once in a lifetime. Harvesting an antlered elk is once in a lifetime; antlerless permits and limited landowner permits are outside that bar.
Source: outdoornebraska.gov
- Limit
- 5-year wait
- Nonresident Share
- Residents only
- This draw is open to residents only.
- Your Points
- You can buy a point in a year you do not apply.
Every Hunt at 0 Points
37 hunt codes drawn in 2026 · 4 at 50% or better · first choice · resident standard
Last year's odds were off by about 1 percentage point for applicants near the points needed. How we check
| Hunt | Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U1-BULL Unit U1 · Bull rifle · U1 Bull | Bull rifle · U1 Bull | U1 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 0% | 4▲4 | — / 1,222 | — |
| U1-EARLY-ANTLERLESS Unit U1 · Antlerless rifle · U1 Early Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U1 Early Antlerless | U1 | Aug 1–Oct 31 | 16% | — | 25 / — | — |
| U1-LATE-ANTLERLESS Unit U1 · Antlerless rifle · U1 Late Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U1 Late Antlerless | U1 | Nov 1–Jan 31 | 18% | — | 35 / — | — |
| U2-BULL Unit U2 · Bull rifle · U2 Bull | Bull rifle · U2 Bull | U2 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% | 5▲5 | — / 348 | — |
| U2-EARLY-ANTLERLESS Unit U2 · Antlerless rifle · U2 Early Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U2 Early Antlerless | U2 | Aug 1–Oct 31 | 24% | — | 15 / — | — |
| U2-LATE-ANTLERLESS Unit U2 · Antlerless rifle · U2 Late Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U2 Late Antlerless | U2 | Nov 1–Jan 31 | 25% | — | 25 / — | — |
| U3-BULL Unit U3 · Bull rifle · U3 Bull | Bull rifle · U3 Bull | U3 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% | 2▲1 | — / 498 | — |
| U3-EARLY-ANTLERLESS Unit U3 · Antlerless rifle · U3 Early Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U3 Early Antlerless | U3 | Aug 1–Oct 31 | 46% | — | 40 / — | — |
| U3-LATE-ANTLERLESS Unit U3 · Antlerless rifle · U3 Late Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U3 Late Antlerless | U3 | Nov 1–Jan 31 | 34% | — | 40 / — | — |
| U4-BULL Unit U4 · Bull rifle · U4 Bull | Bull rifle · U4 Bull | U4 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% | 2▲2 | — / 687 | — |
| U4-EARLY-ANTLERLESS Unit U4 · Antlerless rifle · U4 Early Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U4 Early Antlerless | U4 | Aug 1–Oct 31 | 23% | — | 50 / — | — |
| U4-LATE-ANTLERLESS Unit U4 · Antlerless rifle · U4 Late Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U4 Late Antlerless | U4 | Nov 1–Jan 31 | 23% | — | 30 / — | — |
| U5-BULL Unit U5 · Bull rifle · U5 Bull | Bull rifle · U5 Bull | U5 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | 0% | 0▼2 | — / 1,407 | — |
| U5-EARLY-ANTLERLESS Unit U5 · Antlerless rifle · U5 Early Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U5 Early Antlerless | U5 | Aug 1–Oct 31 | 5% | — | 25 / — | — |
| U5-LATE-ANTLERLESS Unit U5 · Antlerless rifle · U5 Late Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U5 Late Antlerless | U5 | Nov 1–Jan 31 | 9% | — | 20 / — | — |
| U6-BULL Unit U6 · Bull rifle · U6 Bull | Bull rifle · U6 Bull | U6 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% | 4▲4 | — / 266 | — |
| U6-EARLY-ANTLERLESS Unit U6 · Antlerless rifle · U6 Early Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U6 Early Antlerless | U6 | Aug 1–Oct 31 | 27% | — | 20 / — | — |
| U6-LATE-ANTLERLESS Unit U6 · Antlerless rifle · U6 Late Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U6 Late Antlerless | U6 | Nov 1–Jan 31 | 21% | — | 10 / — | — |
| U7-ANTLERLESS Unit U7 · Antlerless rifle · U7 Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U7 Antlerless | U7 | Aug 1–Jan 31 | 13% | — | 16 / — | — |
| U7-BULL Unit U7 · Bull rifle · U7 Bull | Bull rifle · U7 Bull | U7 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% | 4▲4 | — / 190 | — |
| U8-ANTLERLESS Unit U8 · Antlerless rifle · U8 Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U8 Antlerless | U8 | Aug 1–Jan 31 | 100% | — | 30 / — | — |
| U8-BULL Unit U8 · Bull rifle · U8 Bull | Bull rifle · U8 Bull | U8 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% | 0▼2 | — / 51 | — |
| U9-ANTLERLESS Unit U9 · Antlerless rifle · U9 Antlerless | Antlerless rifle · U9 Antlerless | U9 | Aug 1–Jan 31 | 32% | — | 20 / — | — |
| U9-BULL Unit U9 · Bull rifle · U9 Bull | Bull rifle · U9 Bull | U9 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% (small sample) | 6▲6 | — / 76 | — |
| U10-BULL Unit U10 · Bull rifle · U10 Bull | Bull rifle · U10 Bull | U10 | Sep 1–Dec 31 | <1% | 3 | — / 81 | — |
Showing 1–25 of 37 · sorted by unit · 83 hunts not offered in 2026 hidden — show discontinued hunts
Show all 37 huntsWhat 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 25 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.