Nebraska Nonresident Spring Turkey Tags Sold Out

In 2023, Nebraska implemented a number of changes regarding the spring turkey season. Image by Wirestock Creators

If you are a nonresident hoping to hunt Nebraska this spring, you’re out of luck if you haven’t already purchased your permit.

OutdoorNebraska.gov reports that there are no more nonresident 2024 Nebraska spring turkey hunting permits available. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) says the quota of 10,000 permits has sold out.

Nonresidents could begin purchasing permits on January 8, 2024. The last permit of the quota was purchased January 25.

This is the second year for the 10,000-permit quota for nonresidents. Last year the permits sold out on March 24, 2023.

The fall turkey season permits will go on sale August 12 at 1 p.m. Central Time.

According to NWTF.org, the state implemented a number of changes regarding the spring season beginning in 2023 due to concerns about the state’s diminishing turkey population.

Changes include:

* Hunters may purchase up to two spring permits instead of three.

* A hunter may harvest no more than one turkey per calendar day during the spring season.

* 10,000 spring permits were available for sale to nonresident hunters (now sold out), instead of an unlimited quantity as in the past.

* Starting with the spring season, all turkey harvests must be reported via Telecheck.

* Beginning in the spring season of 2023, it is also illegal to create a baited area on lands owned or controlled by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

* In 2023, the fall season was shortened to October 1 through November 30, hunters are limited to one permit, and the bag limit for all hunters was lowered to one turkey.

“NGPC has seen alarming declines happening in neighboring states and is starting to feel the impact, too,” said Annie Farrell, NWTF district biologist for Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas. “This is not to say that the bag limit will stay reduced, but science needs to address the declines, be substantiated, and a solution needs to be implemented before we may see a future increase.”

NGPC is currently conducting a significant wild turkey research project and contributing nearly $2 million toward understanding the declines and preserving the future of the state’s wild turkey population. The NWTF Nebraska State Chapter is also contributing funds for the project.