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Hunting Programs

Nebraska Game and Parks offers a variety of resources and programs for hunters.

A deer is silhouetted in a corn field.

Landowner Hunting Programs

Nebraska Game and Parks offers a variety of landowner hunting programs to qualifying landowners across the state to address conservation and depredation issues on their land.

A man walks through the Missouri River setting duck decoys.

Harvest Information Program

The Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program is a method Nebraska Game and Parks and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service use to generate more reliable estimates of hunting activity, as well as of the numbers of migratory birds harvested throughout the country. These estimates give biologists the information they need to make sound decisions concerning hunting seasons, bag limits and species management.

A man facing away from the camera holds a duck call to his mouth.

Waterfowl Hunting Programs

Because of their migratory nature, waterfowl species are managed differently from other game species. Nebraska Game and Parks works in cooperation with neighboring states, the Central Flyway and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to set season dates, bag limits and regulations for waterfowl seasons. Hunters, too, are asked to help manage these unique species by registering for the Harvest Information Program number, purchasing waterfowl stamps and reporting any harvested birds with leg bands. A full list of requirements and programs for waterfowl hunters is available on the Waterfowl Hunting Checklist page.

A man and woman hunt from a tree stand.

Hunters Helping the Hungry

This donation-funded program provides pure ground venison to needy Nebraskans. The Game and Parks Commission will accept cash donations to the program and use those funds to pay selected meat processors to process whole deer donated by hunters into ground venison. Additionally, the Commission will arrange with nonprofit organizations and processors for frozen venison to be picked up and distributed.

A whitetail deer doe looks at the camera.

Deer Exchange

The Deer Exchange program is designed to accommodate the additional harvest of deer. Hunters who have filled their freezers may still bag a deer and need somewhere to take the meat. This program matches hunters who have extra meat with Nebraskans in their area who would like to receive venison.

A tape measure wraps an antler.

Big Game Trophy Records

Nebraska big game trophy certificates have been awarded since 1962 for outstanding big game trophies taken in the state. The Nebraska trophy program uses the standard scoring method developed by the Boone & Crockett Club, the organization which maintains records of all North American big game. Anyone who has taken big game in Nebraska by legal means during an authorized season is invited to present the trophy for scoring. This includes white-tailed deer, mule deer, pronghorn, elk and bighorn sheep. Trophies taken in past years as well as the present are eligible.

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Purchase hunting, big game and turkey permits, as well as supertags and combo lotteries.

Telecheck

The Nebraska Telecheck Program allows hunters to check deer or antelope by telephone or online, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, other than during the nine-day firearm season.