Unit 195 Mule Deer Hunting, Nevada
Nevada hunt unit · 557 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 195 is like
Unit 195 is rolling to moderately steep country, running from around 4,100 feet up to 7,800 feet, with most of the ground gentle to moderate and only a small share of truly steep slope. Lower elevations are dominated by shrub and brush with small pockets of grass and meadow and a trace of riparian cover; moving up through the mid and higher elevations that shrub and brush component only grows denser, with more grass and meadow and some conifer and pinyon-juniper appearing near the top.
Public land by ownership — BLM and a State Wildlife Management Area — covers only about a quarter of the unit's 557 square miles, and reaching it is not automatic since public ground here can sit behind private land that controls the access points. A small other-land share exists but should not be treated as public or private. The large majority of Unit 195, roughly three-quarters, is private, which means permission is something a hunter has to line up well before opening day rather than something to figure out in the field.
All three deer seasons here fall outside the rut.
Mule deer hunts in Unit 195 (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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery | August 10 – September 9 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Fair odds | No points: Long odds 5 points: Good odds | Summer Range / Bachelor Pattern, Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition |
| Muzzleloader | September 10 – October 4 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Long odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Fair odds | Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase |
| Any legal weapon | October 5 – November 2 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Long odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very long odds | Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase, Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging |
"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.
Archery · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · August 10 – September 9
Archery season opens while bucks are still working through summer range and bachelor groups before velvet shed sets in, which makes early scouting and patient glassing the backbone of the hunt. Bucks feed into the morning then bed in shade for most of the day, so working shady pockets and north-facing slopes at first light is the way to locate a buck before putting together a midday stalk while he is bedded. Evening glassing often serves more to pattern a buck for the next morning than to set up an immediate stalk. Resident odds run from very long at zero bonus points to fair with 5 bonus points, while nonresident odds move from long at zero points to good with 5 points, making this the most accessible of the three seasons for a patient applicant on either side.
Muzzleloader · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · September 10 – October 4
By muzzleloader season bucks have generally shed velvet, and while their daily pattern of feeding into the morning and bedding through midday still holds, they may settle into their beds earlier and stay down until after dark, so a buck that disappears from view is more often still tucked into a nearby crevice or draw than gone. The second half of this season slides into the period when bucks start becoming more nocturnal, so the same glassing approach used in archery still applies. Resident odds sit at very long at zero bonus points and long with 5 bonus points, while nonresident odds run very long at zero points but improve to fair with 5 points.
Any legal weapon · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · October 5 – November 2
The any-legal-weapon season runs through the stretch when bucks are at their most nocturnal and then, toward its close, may begin drifting toward migration corridors ahead of the rut, so the most productive approach is glassing the ground between where bucks summered and the country where they will be during the rut. Resident odds run very long at zero bonus points and long with 5 bonus points; nonresident odds stay very long at both zero and 5 bonus points, making this the toughest draw of the three for hunters from out of state.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,100–7,800 ft, typically around 5,400 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 47% gentle · 43% moderate · 10% steep · 0% rugged
- Public land by ownership
- ~129 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 brush69%
- Other cover29%
- Grass and meadow2%
- Riparian1%
Mid elevations
- Shrub and brush85%
- Other cover7%
- Grass and meadow6%
- Riparian3%
Higher elevations
- Shrub and brush88%
- Grass and meadow7%
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper5%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 23% of Unit 195 is public land by ownership — BLM and State Wildlife Management Area. Ownership is not the same as legal access: public land can be reachable only across private ground, and some parcels are closed or restricted.
- BLM22%
- State Wildlife Management Area<1%
- tribal land<1%
- Other land2%
- Private75%
Private land: permission is the hunter's to get.
Fall weather
- August — highs around 89°F, lows around 57°F
- September — highs around 80°F, lows around 50°F
- October — highs around 67°F, lows around 40°F
- November — highs around 54°F, lows around 31°F, about 0.6 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 45°F, lows around 25°F, about 2.7 in of snowfall
Unit 195 mule deer hunting FAQ
Can a hunter get a mule deer tag in Unit 195?
Yes, but only through Nevada's draw, since every mule deer hunt in Unit 195 is a permit hunt rather than a tag a hunter can buy directly. A hunter applies for a specific weapon season and waits on the draw results rather than purchasing a tag over the counter.
How hard are the Unit 195 hunts to draw, and does it differ for residents and nonresidents?
Difficulty varies a lot by weapon and by residency. Archery is the most approachable option, especially for a nonresident holding bonus points, while the any-legal-weapon season in October and November is the hardest draw for both pools, and nonresident odds there stay very long even with bonus points in hand.
Can a nonresident hunt Unit 195?
Yes, all three mule deer seasons listed for Unit 195 have a nonresident pool alongside the resident pool. Odds differ between the two: nonresident archery odds run long at zero bonus points and good with 5, while the any-legal-weapon hunt stays very long for nonresidents even with 5 bonus points.
Does Nevada have bonus points, and how do they work for this unit?
Nevada uses bonus points rather than preference points, and mule deer points are tracked separately from points for other hunt categories. 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.
How much of Unit 195 is public land?
Only about a quarter of the unit's 557 square miles is public land by ownership, managed as BLM ground and a State Wildlife Management Area, with the large remainder in private hands. Because public parcels can be boxed in by surrounding private land, reaching them is not always straightforward even where ownership itself is public.
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.