(1) The commission may issue permits for the hunting of deer and adopt and promulgate rules and regulations and pass commission orders pursuant to section 37-314 to prescribe limitations for the hunting, transportation, and possession of deer. The commission may offer permits or combinations of permits at temporarily reduced rates for specific events or during specified timeframes. The commission may specify by rule and regulation the information to be required on applications for such permits. Rules and regulations for the hunting, transportation, and possession of deer may include, but not be limited to, rules and regulations as to the type, caliber, and other specifications of firearms and ammunition used and specifications for bows and arrows used. Such rules and regulations may further specify and limit the method of hunting deer and may provide for dividing the state into management units or areas, and the commission may enact different deer hunting regulations for the different management units pertaining to sex, species, and age of the deer hunted.

(2) The number of such permits may be limited as provided by the rules and regulations of the commission, and except as provided in section 37-454, the permits shall be allocated in an impartial manner. Whenever the commission deems it advisable to limit the number of permits issued for any or all management units, the commission shall, by rules and regulations, determine eligibility to obtain such permits. In establishing eligibility, the commission may give preference to persons who did not receive a permit or a specified type of permit during the previous year or years.

(3) Such permits may be issued to allow deer hunting in the Nebraska National Forest and other game reserves and such other areas as the commission may designate whenever the commission deems that permitting such hunting will not be detrimental to the proper preservation of wildlife in Nebraska in such forest, reserves, or areas.

(4)(a) The commission may, pursuant to section 37-327, establish and charge a nonrefundable application fee of not more than seven dollars for deer permits in those management units awarded on the basis of a random drawing. The commission shall, pursuant to section 37-327, establish and charge a fee of not more than thirty-nine dollars for residents and not more than three hundred sixty-nine dollars for nonresidents for each permit issued under this section except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b) of this subsection and subsection (6) of this section. The commission may, pursuant to section 37-327, establish and charge a fee of not more than twenty-four dollars for residents and not more than seventy-two dollars for nonresidents for the issuance of a preference point, in addition to any application fee, in lieu of entering the draw for a deer permit during the application period for the random drawing.

(b) The fee for a statewide buck-only permit limited to white-tailed deer shall be no more than two and one-half times the amount of a regular deer permit. The fee for a statewide buck-only deer permit that allows harvest of mule deer shall be no more than five times the amount of a regular deer permit.

(5)(a) The commission may issue nonresident permits after preference has been given for the issuance of resident permits as provided in rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the commission.

(b) In management units specified by the commission, the commission may issue nonresident permits after resident preference has been provided by allocating at least eighty-five percent of the available permits to residents. The commission may require a predetermined application period for permit applications in specified management units. Such permits shall be issued after a reasonable period for making application, as established by the commission, has expired. When more valid applications are received for a designated management unit than there are permits available, such permits shall be allocated on the basis of a random drawing. All valid applications received during the predetermined application period shall be considered equally in any such random drawing without regard to time of receipt of such applications by the commission.

(6) The commission shall, pursuant to section 37-327, establish and charge a fee of not more than twenty-five dollars for residents and not more than forty-five dollars for nonresidents for a youth deer permit.

(7) Any person violating the rules and regulations adopted and promulgated or commission orders passed pursuant to this section shall be guilty of a Class II misdemeanor and shall be fined at least one hundred dollars upon conviction.

Source:Laws 1945, c. 85, § 1, p. 305; Laws 1947, c. 133, § 1, p. 376; Laws 1949, c. 103, § 1(1), p. 282; Laws 1951, c. 109, § 1, p. 517; Laws 1953, c. 124, § 1, p. 389; Laws 1957, c. 141, § 1, p. 477; Laws 1959, c. 156, § 1, p. 584; Laws 1969, c. 292, § 1, p. 1063; Laws 1972, LB 777, § 3; Laws 1974, LB 767, § 1; Laws 1976, LB 861, § 6; Laws 1979, LB 437, § 1; Laws 1981, LB 72, § 11; Laws 1984, LB 1001, § 1; Laws 1985, LB 557, § 2; Laws 1993, LB 235, § 13; Laws 1994, LB 1088, § 4; Laws 1995, LB 583, § 2; Laws 1995, LB 862, § 1; Laws 1996, LB 584, § 6; Laws 1997, LB 107, § 2; R.S.Supp.,1997, § 37-215; Laws 1998, LB 922, § 157; Laws 1999, LB 176, § 42; Laws 2003, LB 306, § 4; Laws 2005, LB 162, § 15; Laws 2007, LB299, § 7; Laws 2009, LB105, § 15; Laws 2013, LB94, § 1; Laws 2013, LB499, § 5; Laws 2016, LB745, § 11; Laws 2020, LB287, § 11; Laws 2023, LB565, § 24.