Units 221–223 Mule Deer Hunting, Nevada
Nevada hunt units drawn together · 2,830 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 221–223 is like
Units 221–223 are drawn together as one region, and the ground here is mostly rolling, with some steeper breaks cutting through it — gentle slopes dominate by area, with only a small share classed as steep or rugged. At lower elevations the cover is dominated by shrub and brush with a little grass and meadow mixed in, and climbing toward mid elevations conifer and pinyon-juniper begins to take a real share of the ground. Up high, conifer and pinyon-juniper covers more than half the land and shrub and brush makes up most of the rest. It is foot country in the sense that a hunter willing to glass and climb will cover more ground than one who sits, though the lower slope averages mean long sidehill walks are the norm rather than technical climbing.
Public land covers essentially the entire region, spread across BLM, National Forest and State Wildlife Management Area ground, but ownership is not the same as easy access — some of this public ground can only be reached by crossing private land, so a hunter should plan routes carefully rather than assume a straight line in. No tribal or military land is noted here. Two fires have burned inside the region: the Ward fire (2026), covering a small share of the region's total acreage, and the Brown fire (2020), also a small share. The Ward fire is in its first year of recovery for every season listed below, while the Brown fire is five to eight years out and has grown back in thick.
All four deer hunts here draw from the same resident and nonresident pools against the same region, so a hunter choosing a season is really choosing a point in the deer's fall pattern and a different set of odds, not a different piece of ground.
Mule deer hunts in Units 221–223 (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: Good odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very long 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: Fair odds | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very long odds | Velvet Shed / Early Fall Transition, Early Fall Migration / Nocturnal Buck Phase |
| Any legal weapon | October 5 – October 20 | 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 |
| Any legal weapon | October 21 – November 5 | Antlered mule deer (bucks) | No points: Very long odds 5 points: Very 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
This is the velvet-and-bachelor-group hunt, running while bucks are still loosely grouped on summer range and then shedding velvet as the season rolls into its back half. Mornings and evenings are for glassing shady pockets and north-facing slopes to find a bedded buck, then still-hunting in on him through the middle of the day while he holds tight to shade; a buck that seems to vanish is usually still there, tucked into a nearby crevice or draw. In the Ward fire's first-year ground, deer may already be using the burn between patches of unburned cover if green-up has come on fast. For residents the odds run from very long at zero points to good with 5 bonus points; nonresidents stay in very long odds territory at either level, a gap worth weighing before applying here specifically for archery.
Muzzleloader · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · September 10 – October 4
By the time this hunt opens bucks have shed velvet and are starting to ease into fall habits, bedding earlier in the day and holding until after dark, while the back half of the season pushes into the stretch where bucks grow steadily more nocturnal. The glassing game stays the same as it was in summer — find him early, watch where he beds, work in on him at midday — but a hunter should expect less daylight movement as October approaches. Any burned ground from the Ward fire is still fresh and bare, so a hard rain can mean flash flooding and slick, ashy footing on top of whatever cover it already offers. Resident odds move from very long at zero points to fair with 5 bonus points, while nonresident odds are very long at both zero and 5 bonus points, so this muzzleloader hunt favors a resident holding points more than anyone else.
Any legal weapon · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · October 5 – October 20
This any-legal-weapon hunt falls squarely in the stretch where bucks are turning increasingly nocturnal, with most animals still holding near the same ground they used all summer rather than having pushed anywhere new. That makes it a hunt of patient glassing over familiar country rather than covering new terrain, since the deer haven't moved far yet, just gone quieter during daylight. Resident odds run from very long at zero points up to long with 5 bonus points, and nonresident odds stay very long at either level, making this a tough draw for either pool but a somewhat better bet for a resident carrying points.
Any legal weapon · Antlered mule deer (bucks) · October 21 – November 5
Running into early November, this hunt opens in the same nocturnal-buck stretch as the prior season but then crosses into the point where deer begin staging for migration toward rutting ground, so a hunter should glass the country between summer range and wherever deer are headed rather than assuming bucks will still be exactly where they were in August. Snowfall averages around two inches with lows near 24°F by this point, and if real snow has piled up it can be worth checking lower, more open ground where deer may have already dropped down. Both pools sit at very long odds whether a hunter holds zero or 5 bonus points, making this the longest draw of the four seasons for everyone involved.
Terrain & elevation
- Elevation
- 3,800–11,000 ft, typically around 6,200 ft
- Slope breakdown
- 63% gentle · 28% moderate · 9% steep · 1% rugged
- Public land by ownership
- ~2,822 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 brush89%
- Grass and meadow5%
- Other cover3%
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper2%
Mid elevations
- Shrub and brush69%
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper28%
- Grass and meadow2%
Higher elevations
- Conifer and pinyon-juniper56%
- Shrub and brush42%
- Grass and meadow2%
Cover classes from the USGS National Land Cover Database. “Other cover” is the remainder — bare ground, water, agriculture and developed land.
Recent fires
Wildfires in the last several seasons that burned a meaningful share of Units 221–223. Fire perimeters show how much of the region burned, not how hot — and closures change through the year, so check current fire closures and restrictions before you go.
- Ward fire, 2026 — about 8,700 acres in the region.
- Brown fire, 2020 — about 7,200 acres in the region.
Fire perimeters from the National Interagency Fire Center.
Land & access
About 100% of Units 221–223 is public land by ownership — BLM, National Forest 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.
- BLM97%
- National Forest2%
- State Wildlife Management Area<1%
- Private<1%
Private land: permission is the hunter's to get.
Fall weather
- August — highs around 87°F, lows around 52°F
- September — highs around 78°F, lows around 44°F
- October — highs around 65°F, lows around 33°F, about 0.1 in of snowfall
- November — highs around 52°F, lows around 24°F, about 2 in of snowfall
- December — highs around 42°F, lows around 17°F, about 3.4 in of snowfall
Units 221–223 mule deer hunting FAQ
How does a hunter get a mule deer tag in Units 221–223?
A hunter applies through Nevada's draw for one of the four seasons offered in this region — archery, muzzleloader, or one of two any-legal-weapon seasons, all for antlered mule deer. Every one of these is a draw hunt; none of the tags are available over the counter. Applying unsuccessfully, or buying a point instead of applying, builds a bonus point in the antlered deer category for future years.
How hard are the Units 221–223 hunts to draw, and does it differ for residents and nonresidents?
Yes, residents and nonresidents draw from separate quotas and the odds differ sharply between them. Resident odds improve meaningfully with bonus points on several hunts — for example the archery season moves from very long odds at zero points to good odds with 5 bonus points for residents — while nonresident odds stay very long across nearly every hunt here even with 5 bonus points held.
Can a nonresident hunt deer in Units 221–223?
Yes, nonresidents can apply for all four deer seasons listed in this region, since none of them are marked as closed to nonresident tags. That said, nonresident odds run very long in nearly every case, so drawing one of these tags as a nonresident is a long-term proposition rather than a quick one.
Does Nevada have bonus points, and how do they work here?
Nevada uses bonus points rather than preference points, and the antlered deer category here keeps its own separate point total apart from antlerless deer or elk 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. A hunter loses accumulated points in a category after missing two consecutive years of applying for it.
How much of Units 221–223 is public land, and is any of it closed to a state tag?
Nearly all of the region, close to its full acreage, is public land managed across BLM, National Forest, and State Wildlife Management Area ownership, and no tribal or military land is listed here. Public ownership does not by itself establish legal access: some public ground can only be reached by crossing private land, and some parcels are closed or restricted.
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.