NGPC recaps rifle deer season, sees expected drop in whitetail harvest

LINCOLN, Neb. - With the 2025 rifle deer season in the books, Nebraska Game and Parks is further examining the harvest numbers, to get a better sense of the deer population in Nebraska. 

“The disparity between the have’s and have not’s in the deer world is the greatest it’s ever been in the state…. It about went as we expected. Overall, buck harvest was down 3% and doe harvest was down 26%, but we expected that.”

Game and Parks Big Game Program Manager Luke Meduna says one of the reasons a decline isn’t unexpected is changes to permits. Game and Parks cut antlerless deer permits by 20% for 2025 and reduced firearm permits by 2%.

Above average temperatures for much of the state during the two week rifle period also played a role.

“We had a warm opening weekend in 2022 and our doe harvest was down by like 10%,” Meduna said. “When it’s warm, people get hesitant to shoot a doe, but nor only is that day wrecked tomorrow’s probably wrecked because you need to take care of that doe.”

Meduna noted Nebraska’s Mule Deer harvest trended upward for the second year in a row.

While rifle season may be over, archery and muzzle loader remain open until the end of the month. For those still wanting to catch the itch, Meduna says to focus on areas of feeding.

“If you can find the food and figure out their feeding patterns you can intercept them that way,” Meduna said. “There also will still be some rutting activity with those doe fawns that are reaching maturity.”