Units 201, 204 Mule Deer Hunting, Nevada
Nevada hunt units drawn together · 634 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 Units 201, 204 is like
Units 201, 204 are drawn together and offer rolling to moderately steep country that runs from around 4,500 feet up to 10,600 feet, with a typical elevation near 6,300 feet. Most of the ground is gentle to moderate going: half the region is gentle, another large share moderate, with only a small steep component and no rugged ground. Lower elevations are dominated by shrub and brush with a touch of riparian cover, mid elevations mix shrub and brush with conifer and pinyon-juniper, and the highest ground shifts to mostly conifer and pinyon-juniper with some shrub and brush and scattered grass and meadow.
About 90 percent of the region sits on National Forest and BLM ground, but ownership is not the same as access — some of that public land can only be reached by crossing private property, so a hunter should not assume a straightforward walk-in. Roughly 2 percent of the region is tribal land, which is closed to public hunting and is not opened by any state tag; a hunter needs the tribe's own permission to be on it at all. The remainder, around 8 percent, is private land where permission is on the hunter to arrange.
The three seasons here are a November any-legal-weapon hunt, a December muzzleloader hunt and a late archery hunt, all for antlered bucks.
Mule deer hunts in Units 201, 204 (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 | November 5 – November 30 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Long odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very long odds | Early Pre-Rut / Migration Corridor Staging, Primary Rut, Late Rut / Winter Consolidation |
| Muzzleloader | December 1 – December 15 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Fair odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very long odds | Late Rut / Winter Consolidation |
| Archery | December 16, 2026 – January 1, 2027 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Good odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Long odds | — |
"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 these units together with other units, so they have their own guides. Check them too:
Any legal weapon · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · November 5 – November 30
This is the longest season of the three and it spans the tail end of migration into the full run of the rut and on into its winter consolidation. Deer may still be migrating toward their rutting ground as the season opens, so early on it pays to glass the country between summer range and where deer will rut, then shift focus to the does once the rut itself gets underway, since bucks will be near them. November averages around 2 inches of snowfall with lows near 25°F, and any weather that moves in can push deer out of the high country onto lower, more glassable ground — fresh snow is worth checking for tracks. It's a buck-only hunt for any legal weapon, and the odds are very long for both residents and nonresidents at zero points, improving to long for a resident holding 5 points but staying very long for a nonresident even with 5.
Muzzleloader · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · December 1 – December 15
By the time this muzzleloader hunt opens the region has settled into late rut and winter consolidation, with bucks still tied to does as that activity winds down. December brings heavier snowfall, averaging around 4.6 inches, with lows near 20°F, and that kind of weather can push deer down out of the higher conifer and pinyon-juniper into lower, easier-to-glass country — fresh snow is a good time to cut tracks and work back to the buck making them. It's a buck-only hunt, and while both pools start at very long odds with zero points, a resident holding 5 points sees that shift to fair odds, whereas a nonresident with 5 points is still looking at very long odds.
Archery · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · December 16, 2026 – January 1, 2027
Running into the dead of winter, this archery hunt covers the latest stretch of the season across rolling to moderately steep ground mixing shrub and brush at lower elevations with conifer and pinyon-juniper higher up. December and January both average meaningful snowfall — around 4.6 and 5 inches respectively — with lows near 20°F, conditions that call for solid access planning given how much public land here sits behind private ground. It remains a buck-only hunt, and the draw outlook is the best of the three seasons for a resident: very long odds at zero points but good odds with 5, while a nonresident goes from very long odds at zero points to long odds with 5.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 4,500–10,600 ft, typically around 6,300 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 50% gentle · 40% moderate · 10% steep · 0% rugged
- Public land by ownership
- ~573 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 brush92%
- Other cover5%
- Riparian2%
Mid elevations
- Shrub and brush77%
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper19%
- Other cover2%
- Riparian1%
Higher elevations
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper68%
- Shrub and brush29%
- Grass and meadow2%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Land & access
About 90% of Units 201, 204 is public land by ownership — National Forest and 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.
- National Forest90%
- BLM<1%
- tribal land2%
- Private8%
About 2% of this unit is tribal land, which is closed to public hunting and is not counted as huntable. Your tag does not open it.
Private land: permission is the hunter's to get.
Fall weather
- August — highs around 85°F, lows around 50°F
- September — highs around 77°F, lows around 43°F
- October — highs around 66°F, lows around 33°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 53°F, lows around 25°F, about 2 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 44°F, lows around 20°F, about 4.6 in of snowfall
Units 201, 204 mule deer hunting FAQ
Can a hunter get a mule deer tag in Units 201, 204?
Yes, but every mule deer hunt here is awarded through Nevada's draw rather than sold directly. A hunter applies for a specific weapon and season combination, and residents and nonresidents are drawn from separate quotas. There is no over-the-counter option for any of the three seasons offered in this region.
How hard are the hunts to draw, and does it differ for residents and nonresidents?
It does differ, sometimes sharply. For example, the muzzleloader season is very long odds for both pools at zero bonus points, but a resident holding 5 points sees that improve to fair odds while a nonresident with 5 points remains at very long odds. The archery season shows the widest gap, moving to good odds for a resident with 5 points versus long odds for a nonresident with the same points.
Can a nonresident hunt here?
Yes, nonresidents can apply for all three mule deer seasons listed for Units 201, 204. Nonresident odds are very long at both zero and 5 bonus points on the any-legal-weapon and muzzleloader hunts, and long with 5 on the archery hunt.
Does Nevada have bonus points and how do they work?
Nevada uses bonus points, not preference points, and a hunter earns one by applying unsuccessfully or by purchasing a point 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 are tracked separately for each hunt category, and a hunter who skips applying for two years in a row loses points in that category.
Which of these seasons fall in the rut, and how much of the region is public land?
The November any-legal-weapon season and the December muzzleloader season both fall within the rut timing used for this region, while the late archery season runs after those two. About 90 percent of Units 201, 204 is public land under National Forest and BLM management, though access can still require crossing private ground. A small share, about 2 percent, is tribal land that is closed to public hunting regardless of any state tag held.
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.