Unit 115 Mule Deer Hunting, Nevada
Nevada hunt unit · 641 sq mi
Draw hunts — squared bonus points
Every hunt here is a draw hunt, named by its weapon, what may be taken and its dates. In Nevada's draw an application is given one random number plus extra random numbers equal to its bonus points squared, and tags go to the lowest numbers first, so more bonus points always improve a hunter's chance but never guarantee a tag. Residents and nonresidents have separate quotas.
What hunting Unit 115 is like
Unit 115 is rolling country, with some steeper breaks, running from around 5,100 feet up to 11,500 feet at its highest ground. Most of the unit sits on gentle to moderate slopes. Cover shifts with elevation: lower ground is almost all shrub and brush with a little grass and meadow mixed in, mid elevations stay shrub-and-brush dominant with some conifer and pinyon-juniper appearing, and the highest ground flips to mostly conifer and pinyon-juniper with a smaller share of shrub and brush.
Public land dominates Unit 115, with roughly 98 percent of the unit under BLM management. That said, ownership is not the same as access — some of that public ground can only be reached by crossing private land, so a hunter should plan routes carefully rather than assume a boundary line means an easy walk-in. Private land makes up a small remaining share of the unit, and permission there is on the hunter to arrange.
Unit 115 carries a single mule deer season, a December any-legal-weapon buck hunt, and both residents and nonresidents are at very long odds whether they hold zero or 5 bonus points.
Mule deer hunts in Unit 115 (2026-27)
Each row is a hunt, told apart by its weapon, what may be taken and its dates. Draw difficulty is in words from the 2025 draw results: good, fair, long or very long odds, read for a hunter with no bonus points and for one holding 5 bonus points, in each pool. A hunt that covers only part of a unit says so under its name.
| Hunt | Dates | Legal deer | Resident | Nonresident | Rut phase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any legal weapon | December 1 – December 15 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very long odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very long odds | Late Rut / Winter Consolidation |
"No nonresident tags" means a nonresident cannot draw that hunt. "No draw odds shown" means that pool has tags for the hunt but too little draw history to put its odds in words. Odds are per application, never a promise, and a hunter with no bonus points can draw. A hunter needs no particular number of points for any hunt.
Some hunts take in this unit together with other units, so they have their own guides. Check them too:
Any legal weapon · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · December 1 – December 15
By early December the rut in Unit 115 is winding down into its late, winter-consolidation stage, and bucks are still working to stay with does rather than roaming widely on their own. Fresh snow during this stretch — December averages about 3.4 inches of snowfall with lows near 18°F — is worth watching closely, since a push of weather can move deer out of higher country and down onto more open, glassable ground, and fresh snow makes buck tracks easy to pick out. The best approach is to find concentrations of does early and late in the day and expect bucks to be with them or close by rather than searching for bucks in isolation. This is a buck-only hunt open to any legal weapon, and both resident and nonresident hunters face very long odds at zero bonus points and with 5 bonus points.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 5,100–11,500 ft, typically around 6,300 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 69% gentle · 22% moderate · 8% steep · 1% rugged
- Public land by ownership
- ~627 sq mi
Habitat & cover
What grows here, by elevation. Each band adds to 100% on its own — these are shares of that band, not of the region.
Lower elevations
- Shrub and brush91%
- Other cover7%
- Grass and meadow3%
Mid elevations
- Shrub and brush88%
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper10%
- Other cover2%
Higher elevations
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper80%
- Shrub and brush19%
- Other cover1%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 98% of Unit 115 is public land by ownership — BLM. Ownership is not the same as legal access: public land can be reachable only across private ground, and some parcels are closed or restricted.
- BLM98%
- Private2%
Private land: permission is the hunter's to get.
Fall weather
- August — highs around 87°F, lows around 56°F
- September — highs around 78°F, lows around 47°F
- October — highs around 65°F, lows around 36°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 51°F, lows around 26°F, about 0.8 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 41°F, lows around 18°F, about 3.4 in of snowfall
Unit 115 mule deer hunting FAQ
Can a hunter get a mule deer tag in Unit 115?
Yes, but only through Nevada's draw — there is one buck season here, open to any legal weapon, taken December 1 through December 15. A hunter applies through the draw for either the resident or nonresident pool, since there is no over-the-counter option for deer in this unit.
How hard is it to draw a mule deer tag in Unit 115, and does it differ for residents and nonresidents?
Both pools currently sit at very long odds whether a hunter applies with zero bonus points or holds 5 bonus points. The pattern is the same for residents and nonresidents, so neither group has an easy path onto this tag in a given year.
Can a nonresident hunt Unit 115 for mule deer?
Yes, nonresidents have their own quota for the December any-legal-weapon buck hunt in Unit 115, separate from the resident quota. The odds for that nonresident pool run very long at both zero and 5 bonus points, the same pattern seen on the resident side.
Does Nevada use bonus points, and how do they work for this hunt?
Nevada uses bonus points rather than preference points, and a hunter earns one by applying unsuccessfully or buying one instead of applying, provided they hold an active hunting or combination license at the time of the draw. In Nevada's draw an application is given one random number plus extra random numbers equal to its bonus points squared, and tags go to the lowest numbers first, so more bonus points always improve a hunter's chance but never guarantee a tag. Points for this antlered mule deer hunt are tracked separately from points in other hunt categories, and they're lost if a hunter misses two years in a row of applying.
Which Unit 115 season falls during the rut, and how much of the region is public land?
The December 1 through December 15 any-legal-weapon buck season falls in the late rut and winter consolidation stretch of the year, when bucks are still often found near does. About 98 percent of Unit 115 is public BLM land, though that public ground is not always easy to reach since some of it borders or is boxed in by private parcels making up the unit's small remaining share.
Data sources & methodology
- Nevada Department of Wildlife — 2026 Big Game Application FAQ — how the draw works, how bonus points are earned, squared and lost, and how many hunt choices an application takes
- Nevada Department of Wildlife — 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 big game hunting seasons (Commission Regulation 25-07) — season dates, weapons and legal animals for each group of units
- Nevada Department of Wildlife — Bonus point and application choice trends — the draw results behind the draw-difficulty words
- USGS / MRLC — National Land Cover Database — habitat and cover classes by elevation band
- USGS PAD-US — Protected Areas Database of the United States — land ownership and access
- PRISM Climate Group — 1991–2020 normals — fall weather
- National Interagency Fire Center — wildfire perimeters — recent fires, their size and where they burned
Draw difficulty is a qualitative reading of the modelled chance from the 2025 draw results for each pool, not published odds. Rut phases are borrowed regional timing, not Nevada-specific dates. Land shares are separate, non-overlapping categories. Confirm every rule with the Nevada Department of Wildlife before you apply.