Fewer doe tags are available in Utah and Nebraska than a few years back. The mule deer kill in both states now tilts further toward bucks. Comparing the 2026 status assessment with the report from 2020 shows that the change extends beyond those states. Male harvest percentages increased by at least 5 points in 9 jurisdictions. For 6 jurisdictions the change stayed within 5 points. Another 5 started at 95 percent or above in 2020.
IA Broader Change
Bucks Gained at Least 5 Points in 9 Jurisdictions
Those shifts matter when a state's harvest breakdown helps you decide where to apply. A larger proportion of bucks among harvested deer does not establish that the herd holds more bucks. The split records animals hunters took. Utah, Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas issued fewer permits valid for does. Check how many antlerless tags were issued before weighing that breakdown.
Nebraska's male percentage rose from 76 to 89. Nevada's climbed from 85 to 99. The group of 6 with changes within 5 points includes South Dakota, Kansas and Colorado.
Swipe table to see every column
| Jurisdiction | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 55 | 55 | 43 | 44 | 47 | 62 | 64 |
| Arizona | 98 | 98 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 | 99 |
| British Columbia | 87 | 92 | 94 | 95 | 94 | 94 | 95 |
| California | 98 | 98 | 98 | 97 | 99 | 99 | 99 |
| Colorado | 78 | 78 | 77 | 77 | 81 | 80 | 80 |
| Idaho | 79 | 78 | 84 | 83 | 83 | 86 | 88 |
| Kansas | 90 | 94 | 91 | 93 | 86 | 90 | 94 |
| Montana | 75 | 74 | 74 | 78 | 82 | 86 | 86 |
| Nebraska | 76 | 77 | 77 | 80 | 86 | 88 | 89 |
| Nevada | 85 | 87 | 88 | 87 | 94 | 99 | 99 |
| New Mexico | 99 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 98 | 99 |
| North Dakota | 62 | 62 | 64 | 55 | 63 | 63 | 61 |
| Oklahoma | 99 | 99 | 98 | 96 | 97 | 92 | 97 |
| Oregon | 94 | 95 | 96 | 95 | 97 | 97 | 94 |
| Saskatchewan | 54 | 46 | 46 | 46 | 43 | 56 | 94 |
| South Dakota | 79 | 80 | 82 | 80 | 82 | 83 | 81 |
| Texas | 76 | 93 | 92 | 84 | 84 | 89 | 89 |
| Utah | 88 | 89 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 95 |
| Washington | 94 | 94 | 96 | 94 | 96 | 96 | 96 |
| Wyoming | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 93 | 95 | 95 |
| Yukon | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
IIFewer Doe Tags
Utah Reduced Antlerless Permits by About 80 Percent Between 2019 and 2024
The Utah annual big-game report for 2024 and permit announcements from Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources show a public-draw count of 2,220 antlerless permits for 2019. By 2024 that count was 450 before reaching 340 in 2025. The reduction between 2019 and 2024 was about 80 percent. In an archived announcement about proposed deer permits in 2020 Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources described a proposal for one new doe hunt in 2020 "to help address chronic wasting disease concerns" alongside "discontinuing 11 other antlerless deer hunts."
Colorado's recommended big-game licenses for 2026 places the peak female deer license quota covering both species at 21,905 in 2022. That quota was 15,378 by 2025. Between the report years Colorado's male harvest percentage changed just from 78 to 80. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission figures show 32,100 antlerless-only permits for 2021 compared with 11,500 for 2025.
Swipe table to see every column
| Season | Utah antlerless permits | Colorado female quota | Nebraska antlerless-only permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 625 | 16,227 | n/a |
| 2016 | 755 | 17,515 | n/a |
| 2017 | 1,470 | 17,470 | n/a |
| 2018 | 1,955 | 17,654 | n/a |
| 2019 | 2,220 | 18,541 | 30,650 |
| 2020 | 1,175 | 18,833 | 30,150 |
| 2021 | 935 | 21,756 | 32,100 |
| 2022 | 635 | 21,905 | 31,300 |
| 2023 | 530 | 16,531 | 28,975 |
| 2024 | 450 | 16,082 | 18,200 |
| 2025 | 340 | 15,378 | 11,500 |
In an agency update about the November firearm season's deer take, Nebraska Game and Parks stated "We've reduced antlerless tags 64% over the last five years and buck permit sales have been reduced more than 15%".
Kansas had moved earlier by ending either-species antlerless-only permits with the 2016 season. In a briefing book dated August 2022 the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks told its Commission that the purpose was "to address the changing mule deer population to reduce harvest of female mule deer."
IIIA Reversed Trend
Nebraska's Buck Percentage Dropped During Record Doe Harvest and Rebounded Following Cuts
Nebraska Game and Parks described the situation in its big-game recommendation book for 2020. It wrote "Mule deer populations have reached cultural carrying capacity in some areas in Hayes, Hitchcock and Frontier Counties leading to all time high antlerless MD harvest in 2019." That season's harvest was 76.2 percent bucks with 2,672 antlerless mule deer taken.
The percentage reached 79.6 in 2022 before rising to 85.8 for 2023. In its recommendations for 2023 the agency included a rule to "Prohibit antlerless mule deer harvest on publicly accessible lands statewide" with an exception for property enrolled in Open Fields and Waters. The buck proportion rose to 87.8 for 2024 and then 88.6 for 2025 while antlerless-only permits shrank to 18,200 followed by 11,500.
Utah followed a similar course. Its harvest was 87.9 percent bucks in 2019 with 2,220 antlerless permits issued through the public draw. Bucks made up 94.3 percent during 2024 when the state issued 450 of those permits.
Swipe table to see every column
| Season | Utah buck share | Utah antlerless harvest | Nebraska buck share | Nebraska antlerless harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 91.0% | 3,402 | 83.3% | 1,861 |
| 2017 | 88.8% | 3,775 | 81.2% | 2,266 |
| 2018 | 88.8% | 4,050 | 78.5% | 2,529 |
| 2019 | 87.9% | 3,349 | 76.2% | 2,672 |
| 2020 | 89.2% | 2,753 | 76.7% | 2,202 |
| 2021 | 92.5% | 2,003 | 77.3% | 1,949 |
| 2022 | 92.9% | 1,960 | 79.6% | 1,503 |
| 2023 | 93.6% | 1,293 | 85.8% | 765 |
| 2024 | 94.3% | 1,404 | 87.8% | 730 |
| 2025 | n/a | n/a | 88.6% | 705 |
IVHerds And Rules
Agencies Point to Deer Abundance While South Dakota's Percentage Held Steady
Wyoming Game and Fish Department stated in the range-wide report for 2023 "Harvest has been largely limited to bucks the past several years in response to declining deer numbers." The male share reported for Wyoming changed from 85 in 2023 to 95 in 2025.
South Dakota runs against that trend. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) said in the 2020 report that it had removed "any antlerless" licenses from most units. According to the 2026 report the GFP Commission had recently switched firearm units with below-objective populations from "any deer" licenses to "any buck" licenses. The statewide harvest summaries GFP published for deer in 2014 and 2025 show buck percentages of 81.9 percent and 81.4 percent. Hunters took 4,396 bucks plus 973 does during 2014 compared with 5,082 bucks plus 1,160 does during 2025. More of both sexes were taken while the percentage remained steady.
Kansas explained its permit decision with "the changing mule deer population". South Dakota cited below-objective populations in affected units. Each agency linked its permit changes to deer abundance. Harvest figures alone, including the percentages of each sex, therefore cannot distinguish the effects of those rules from changes in the herd.
Utah is deliberately reducing its buck targets too. A memo from March 2025 from Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources explains that its December 2024 plan assigns more general-season units a post-season target of 15 to 17 and fewer units a target of 18 to 20, measured in bucks per 100 does. Utah's reported harvest was 95 percent male in the 2026 assessment. The kill's male percentage and the post-season sex ratio are different measures.
VLimits To Read
A Harvest Percentage Does Not Directly Describe the Herd
The male percentage tells you the makeup of the animals hunters took. The reports use whole-number percentages, making a shift of one point noise. Colorado's quota includes both white-tailed deer and mule deer, so we cannot identify how much of the reduction applied to mule deer.
Utah's total antlerless take includes mitigation harvest and take under cooperative wildlife management unit permits (CWMU), along with other permits outside the public-draw antlerless pool. The total amounts to several times what antlerless-permit hunts produce, so the permit history accounts for only some of the decline. Nebraska recorded an antlerless harvest of 2,672 for 2019 and 1,503 for 2022. Its antlerless-only permit count moved from 30,650 up to 31,300 during those years. The earlier harvest decline is not explained by permit totals.
Saskatchewan's figure is 56 percent in the 2025 report and 94 percent in the 2026 report. It is omitted from the counts. California combines black-tailed deer with mule deer in reporting, so its 99 percent covers both.
VIAt Application Time
Check Antlerless Tags Ahead of the Buck Percentage
Our approach starts with antlerless permit counts before considering the sex breakdown of the harvest. Utah and Nebraska had rising buck percentages alongside falling antlerless permits. South Dakota shows that the relationship does not always hold. A harvest that is 95 percent male reflects both hunting rules and herd conditions. By themselves those harvest figures cannot determine which has the greater influence.
For a doe hunt check the permits available in the second table before planning travel. For a buck hunt ask the agency about the unit's observed ratio of bucks to does after the season. In Utah also check the unit's target in bucks per 100 does, whether that is 15 to 17 or a range of 18 to 20. DWR sets each unit's permits to work toward that goal.
NOTES AND SOURCES
- Source: WAFWA Range-wide Status of Black-tailed and Mule Deer reports, 2020 to 2026 editions (Table 1, percent males in harvest, supplied by each agency).
- Also: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Utah Big Game Annual Report 2024 and DWR permit releases.
- Also: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, 2026 big game license recommendation summary.
- Scope: Percent males in the mule deer harvest for 21 jurisdictions across seven WAFWA reports (2020 to 2026), with the doe-tag records behind the change in Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and South Dakota.
- Cleaning and exclusions: California reports black-tailed and mule deer together. Saskatchewan's 2026 figure jumps from 56 to 94 percent in one report and is left out of the counts. Hawaii (black-tailed only) is excluded. Alaska is black-tailed deer.
- Method: Percent males is printed by each agency in WAFWA Table 1, rounded to whole percent. each report carries the prior season. State groupings use the 2020 and 2026 reports: a rise of 5 points or more, a change under 5 points, or already 95 percent or higher in 2020 (DERIVED).
Fully Drawn Research is an independent data analysis desk, not affiliated with any state wildlife agency, transportation agency, mapping provider or outfitter. Fully Drawn Research is an independent data and analysis desk. This paper reports FDR's analysis of public data. Harvest figures describe animals reported or estimated as harvested, not population size, and reflect hunter effort and regulations as well as animal numbers.
Keep reading
FDR Scout puts county harvest history like this on the map of the ground you hunt. Open Scout →