Elk Hunting Regulations

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Only Nebraska Residents and Nonresident Landowners can obtain an Elk Permit.
Residents can apply for and obtain an antlerless elk permit every 5th year, rather than once in a lifetime. Residents may still obtain only one permit that allows the take of a bull elk (either sex permit) in one's lifetime (different regulations apply to landowner permits).

As a result, a resident who had an either sex permit in 2010 may apply for an antlerless permit in 2011. Also, a resident who had an antlerless permit in 2010 may apply for a bull permit in 2011 ONLY if he or she has never had a permit that allows the take of an antlered elk.

Specify your first choice for unit and, if acceptable, a second choice.
Be sure and write the COMPLETE name of the elk unit, for example - Bordeaux Antlerless or Bordeaux Bull.

Drawing an elk permit does not guarantee hunters the opportunity to harvest an elk. Nebraska's elk population moves freely between private and public land, but the majority of elk sightings are on private property. Some landowners may charge an access fee for permission to hunt on their property.

Landowner Permit Fee = $39.40*
Permit Fee = $159*
*Includes $1 agent fee and $8.50 application fee.

Elk permits may be obtained according to the following table.

When big game permit instructions require submission of a written application, hunters must use a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission Big Game Application form. The form can be downloaded from this web site as an Adobe™ .PDF file. Download the application, print it, complete the form per the instructions on the application and then mail or deliver with appropriate application fee.

SUBMIT BIG GAME APPLICATION AND FEES TO:

NEBRASKA BIG GAME PERMITS
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
P.O. Box 30370
Lincoln, NE 68503-0370

DOWNLOAD AN APPLICATION FORM

LANDOWNER PERMITS
Application Requirements: Nebraska residents who own no less than 320 acres, OR lease AND reside on no less than 320 acres, of farm or ranch land used for agricultural purposes may apply for a landowner permit providing they own/operate property which is in an area designated as an elk zone by the Game and Parks Commission (see Zones). Landowners may hunt in their entire designated unit. A legal description of the land owned/operated must be provided with the application. Members of the immediate family (husband, wife and their children) residing in the same household are eligible, but only one permit may be issued per person or for any property described. Eligible family members may hunt together on all portions of the same farm or ranch property. The maximum number of landowner permits allowed for one farm or ranch is determined by the size of the property in acres divided by 320. For example, a farm of 960 acres could have a maximum of three landowner permits issued, but one person may hold no more than one permit per species. Any person who obtained an elk permit in 2006 or 2007 is not eligible. The number of landowner elk permits issued in any unit cannot exceed 50 percent of the number of permits authorized for that unit. Submit $39.40, which includes the nonrefundable fee of $9.50. If applications exceed available permits, only applications received at the Game and Parks Commission office in Lincoln by 5 p.m. or midnight (online) CT May 1 will be considered in a drawing. If you obtain a landowner permit this year, you will not be eligible to apply again until 2012.