Nebraska applications may be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline day of June 12. Over-the-counter first-come, first-served permits are available beginning on July 22. Draw results will be available on or before June 19.

Nebraska runs a pure preference point system. First and second choices are considered on an application before moving on to the next applicant during the draw. All points are lost once a permit is awarded during the draw. Permits not paid for and claimed by the successful applicant may be offered to the next applicant in the draw order. Any undrawn permits may carry over to the open purchase periods.

To apply for deer or antelope permits in the draw, non-residents must pay the non-refundable application fee. If successful in the draw, a habitat stamp and associated permit fee must be paid to claim the permit. Applicants who do not claim their permit will forfeit their preference points, and the permit will be offered to an alternate. Permits must be claimed by July 7, or they will be forfeited.

Nebraska uses a pure preference point system for all of the draw permits offered to non-residents. All of the available permits will be drawn by those with the most points, starting with the highest-level applicant who applied and moving toward the lowest level until all permits have been awarded. Points are never purged.

The draw odds listed in this section are based on the preference point draw at a specific point level. Those applicants with more points than listed in the draw odds column would have had 100% success in the 2025 draw.

Party (or buddy) applications are allowed, though the maximum group size is six. Residents and non-residents cannot apply together. The application is assigned a preference point number equivalent to the lowest number of points possessed by any member in the group. Nebraska will not over-allocate permits.

Resident and non-resident youth hunters ages ten through fifteen are eligible for the youth whitetail deer permit and restricted deer permit. Both permits allow hunters to hunt statewide, but the non-resident restricted youth permits are not valid in the Frenchman, Pine Ridge, or Platte units. Youth can hunt the archery, muzzleloader, and rifle seasons in accordance with a unit’s season dates. There is also an extended antlerless firearms season for youth taking place in January. Youth permits are excluded from the 9,000 non-resident either-sex and buck-only permits. All resident and non-resident youth deer permits are only $8.50. Youth archery antelope permits also cost $8.50 and allow hunters to hunt statewide during the archery antelope season dates.

During archery season, no extra authorization is required to use crossbows with a 125-pound minimum draw weight. All broadheads must have a blade of at least 7/16-inch radius, measuring from the shaft of the arrow.

For muzzleloader hunts, all muzzleloading rifles are legal for deer and antelope, provided they are at least .44 caliber. Magnifying and variable power scopes are legal.

Nebraska offers a Public Access Atlas list and an interactive map on their website. These tools can be viewed on Nebraska’s website at http://outdoornebraska.gov/wheretohunt/.

There are more than 1.2 million acres available for hunting, including state land, federal land, conservation partner lands, and private properties enrolled in the Open Fields and Waters (OFW) program. OFW-enrolled private land is open to walk-in hunting.

There are over 900 landowners participating in the program, and more than 435,000 acres are currently enrolled. Some wildlife refuges, state parks, and wildlife management areas have their own special access permits that are required to hunt. See the 2026 Big Game Guide for more information.