Be sure to check out the approved 2024 Nevada big game tag quotas, snowpack analysis maps and more before the application deadline
Screenshot sample from the approved 2024 Nevada big game tag quota document.
May 7, 2024, Nevada snow water equivalent map.
May 7, 2023, Nevada snow water equivalent map.
May 7, 2022, Nevada snow water equivalent map.
May 7, 2021, Nevada snow water equivalent map.
May 7, 2020, Nevada snow water equivalent map.
May 7, 2019, Nevada snow water equivalent map.
May 7, 2018, Nevada snow water equivalent map.
Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) approved their 2024 big game tag quotas yesterday! And remember, the application deadline for all species in Nevada is May 8, 2024, at 11 p.m. PT. Remember that you can make changes to your application up to the application deadline and you can apply online here. So you can use this updated information if you need to make changes to your application.
Once again, with the added precipitation we've gotten the past two winters, antler growth and recruitment should be exceptional due to improved habitat conditions. So, taking a shot at a dream tag is definitely a solid option in my opinion, especially if there's a few less people in the field.
You can combine this approved quota document with research on GOHUNT's Filtering and Draw Odds, to gain some intel on where to apply this year.
A GOHUNT membership makes it easy to find hunting opportunities by state, species, probability of draw odds success, and much more! Whether you have 0 points, max points, or any number of points, GOHUNT gives you the information you need to plan a successful hunt. In addition to our research tools, all Insiders have access to our GOHUNT mobile app where you can plan a hunt on GOHUNT Maps, as well as research tools on the app to help you find hunting opportunities. GOHUNT Maps is also available on the web. GOHUNT Insider is the only complete and total package set of tools to help you find the hunt you want this upcoming year or to help plan for hunts in the future.
If you're unfamiliar with GOHUNT, you can learn more below.
Once again, you can access the approved big game quota document at the link below.
Also, below is some information directly from NDOW's April 16, 2024, recommended tag quotas document, which you can read here.
After what has resulted in two consecutive wet winters, many big game populations have responded favorably. Mule deer fawn ratios observed during fall and spring surveys are the highest they have been in the last 7 to 10 years. NRCS SNOTEL Snow/Precipitation Update Reports indicate that the Northern Great Basin sits at 122 percent of average precipitation and 156 percent of average snow water equivalent. Likewise, the Upper Humboldt, Clover Valley & Franklin River, Snake River, Owyhee River and Eastern Nevada Basins are all above 120 percent of average precipitation and over 150 percent of average snowpack. This comes on the heels of the 2022-2023 winter where most of these basins were all above 130 percent of average precipitation.
In general, the Department is recommending a 33 percent increase in horns-longer-than-ears antelope tags, an approximate 16 percent decrease in desert bighorn ram tags, an increase of 4 more tags for California bighorn rams, a slight increase in mountain goat tags, a 7.5 percent increase in elk tags (although bull elk quotas are similar to the prior season), a 19.5 percent increase in mule deer tags and Nevada’s first ever moose hunt with a recommendation of 2 antlered moose tags. Department biologists make recommendations based on data collected through aerial and ground surveys and reported harvest results. Population models are utilized to provide population estimates for each big game population with densities large enough to support survey efforts. Smaller populations use previous year’s hunt metrics (i.e., success, 4 points or greater, etc.) for recommended quotas.
The Department quota recommendations are based on the best available science to provide the CAB’s, Commission, and interested publics with the most accurate and representative data and information possible to make informed decisions on setting big game quotas for the 2024-2025 hunting seasons.
The Game Division uses a post-season buck ratio objective of 20-30 bucks aged 2-years-ofage-or-older to develop quota recommendations. The Department is recommending a total of 3,860 pronghorn tags for the 2024 season compared to 3,266 in 2023. For horns-longer-than ears, we are recommending 2,931 tags which represents a 33 percent increase from 2023. Deviating somewhat from that, the Department is recommending a 13 percent decrease in horns-shorter-than-ear tags from 1,066 tags issued in 2023 to 929 for the 2024 season. In many cases, horns-shorter-than-ears quota recommendations are designed to curtail population growth in some areas where conflicts with agriculture are of high concern and to maintain populations below carrying capacity. This situation has subsided over the last couple of years. A substantial portion of the recommended increase for horns longer than ears was realized within the primitive weapon categories, particularly for resident archery where the quota increased from an approved 270 tags in 2023 to a recommended 592 tags in 2024. This reflects recent changes made to Policy 24.
Bighorn ram tag quota recommendations are based on 8% of the total estimated rams but not to exceed 50% of the estimated rams >6 years of age from each herd’s population model. Nevada’s desert bighorn numbers have drastically declined over the last 4 years from a peak in 2019 at 10,300 to 6,400 in 2024 due to multi-year drought and disease impacts to herds statewide. The Department is recommending 193 desert ram tags (including archery and management ram hunts) for the 2024-2025 season compared to 230 tags approved by the Wildlife Commission in 2023 which represents a 16 percent decline. The Department is also recommending 60 ewe tags to manage our most productive herd in the Muddy Mountains. This ewe quota is tempered to also allow for proposed bighorn captures for translocations later this fall.
With drought subsiding and recognizing some sizable wild horse removals in certain hunt unit groups, Nevada’s California bighorn sheep population has exhibited some improvement from recent years, thus we are recommending a slight increase in ram quotas from 37 to 41 for 2024.
The statewide California bighorn sheep population estimate is stable at 1,700 but recent aerial surveys detected an increase in mature ram numbers in some herds. Average Boone & Crockett scores continue to be below expectations for a given age class of rams, but improved forage conditionsand water distribution should result in better horn metrics. Additionally, we are excited to be offering the first ever California bighorn ramtag in the Bloody Run Hills portion of Hunt Unit 035 in 2024. This population resulted from a reintroduction effort in conducted in 2019.
There are 6 Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep herds in Nevada with 3 of them at or below 50 adults and not able to support a ram hunt currently. Two of these herds continue to have high risk to interaction with domestic sheep flocks. For the 2024 season, we are recommending 3 Rocky Mountain bighorn tags comprised of 2 in the Ruby Mountain herd (Unit 102) and one tag in the South Snake Range (Unit 115). Just two tags were available in 2023.
Mountain goat harvest guidelines allow for the take of 2 – 5% of the total population. Population estimates for the East Humboldt, Ruby Mountain and Pearl Peak/South Ruby herds have been stable to increasing over the last few years. The 2024 pre-hunt population estimate for these 3 herds is 350 adult mountain goats. In support of recent improvements in population numbers, the Department is recommending a two-tag increase in 2024 from 14 tags issued in 2023 to 16 tags for the upcoming season. The composition of these tags consists of 14 resident, one nonresident and one Silver State tag for the 2024 season. Concerningly, we continue to experience a higher than preferred harvest rate of nannies (20 – 40%) which has the potential to negatively affect the herds’ productivity.
Habitat conditions throughout occupied elk areas in Nevada were much improved during the summer and fall of 2023 and winter conditions were mild compared to the winter of 2022-2023. We expect body condition and population productivity to increase substantially this year. For the 2024-2025 season, the Department is recommending 4,360 total elk tags compared to 4,057 for the 2023 season. This represents a 7.5 percent increase from the previous season. The number of bull/spike tags remained similar to that of 2023 with a recommended 1,779 tags for the 2024 season. Likewise, the recommended number of spike tags remained essentially the same as in 2023 with a recommended 279 tags. A 19 percent increase in resident bull elk archery tags is being recommended for the 2024 season with 209 tags. Exceptional calf ratios in many areas of the state resulted in a 14 percent increase in cow elk tags from the 2023 season with 2,581 tags recommended for 2024-2025. Harvest objectives guiding quota recommendations for antlered elk advise 25-35% of harvested bulls should have a main beam of at least 50 inches in length. The recommended bull quota remained stable mainly due to a decrease in the composition of 50 inch plus main beam bulls. This metric declined from 35 percent in 2022 to 30 percent in 2023. This could have been due to harsh winter conditions that lingered well into April 2023 and may have affected body condition of bulls; placing energy into body condition restoration as opposed to antler growth. Further, fewer mature bulls may be available for harvest due to poor calf recruitment experienced in years prior to 2023. All elk quotas comply with the Nevada Elk Species Management Plan (1997), as well as local sub-plans corresponding to various herds across the state. Recommendations vary from yearto-year depending on population status with respect to population objectives and harvest metrics. Currently, most elk herds comply with population objectives.
For the 2024-2025 season, the Department is recommending 12,954 mule deer tags. This represents a 19.5 percent increase from the 2023-2024 season but is still below the number of tags approved by the Wildlife Commission in 2022 of 15,210 tags. We are recommending 10,632 buck tags distributed among Any Legal Weapon, Muzzleloader and Archery seasons compared to 8,327 in 2023. This is a similar quota recommendation to the number of buck tags provided in 2022 of 11,384. A fairly significant portion of the increase is being realized within the muzzleloader (+100.5%) and archery (+30%) weapon classes followed by a 16.5 percent increase in the resident Any Legal Weapon category. Junior tag increases of approximately 7.5 percent are being recommended with 2,094 junior tags. No antlerless seasons, and thus quotas, were developed for the 2024-2025 season. The harvest guidelines used by the Game Division call for a management objective of 30 bucks per 100 does post season forStandard hunt units and 35 bucks per 100 does in Alternative hunt units. The management objectives refer to the number of bucks left on the landscape after all seasons have concluded. For Non-Standard hunts (areas which are not surveyed for mule deer dueto lowerdensities), the objective is for hunt success rates to be 45% or greater. We reviewed 36 quota recommendation forms with well-established buck ratios and found that 19 used post season buck ratio recommendations that were greater than 30. Of those, 12 used post season buck ratio recommendations that were greater than or equal to 35. This illustrates that even though buck quotas increased,quotarecommendations are still considered conservative.Higher post season buck ratios were used because the age class of bucks in many hunt units or unit groups is relatively young, and this strategy should be beneficial to age class structure in future years. During the fall of 2023, 16,683 deer were classified with a composition of 30 bucks per 100 does post season and 60 fawns per 100 does. Recent spring surveys classified 25,167 deer with an estimated 37 fawns per 100 adults. The fawn ratio represented a substantial increase from 2023 when spring fawn ratios were calculated at 30 per 100 adults. Habitat conditions and available water increased significantly during the summer and fall of 2023 and winter conditions were conducive to adult and fawn survival. These conditions should be conducive to a mule deer population increase in 2024.
The 2024 hunting season represents the first time in Nevada’s history that a moose hunt will be available. The Department is recommending 2 antlered moose tags for resident hunters. This represents approximately 4 percent of the available bull moose estimated in Nevada out of a population of 105 moose.
Since 2020, survival for adult moose has ranged from 94-100 percent and recruitment rates for monitored cows has averaged 73 calves per 100 cows annually. These metrics suggest real potential for rapid population growth and can be corroborated by a nearly 300 percent increase in reported observations during 2023. The population estimate is primarily driven by observed calf ratios which may be biased low. The Department is proceeding cautiously with a proposal for light harvest as we gain and evaluate valuable information about moose demographics in Nevada.
Speaking of improved habitat conditions, below is a quick look at the United States Department of Agriculture’s snow-water equivalent map percent of normal (SNOTEL) from May 7 of the years 2018 through 2024. The amount of winter/spring precipitation should greatly help out the native wildlife, mule deer, elk, sheep, and antelope in particular.
Don't forget to check out all of our 2024 Nevada application strategy articles to make a plan before the draw deadline:
In addition to our application strategy articles, don't forget to check out Filtering and our detailed Draw Odds pages.
Best of luck in the 2024 draw!
