Coyote Hunting Nebraska, Laws, Regulations, Season, & License Info

Coyote classification & permit in Nebraska

What is the classification of coyotes in Nebraska?

Nongame — and specifically not a furbearer. NGPC states it in the same breath as listing what the furbearers are:

Furbearers with a harvest season include badger, beaver, bobcat, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, red fox, river otter, gray fox, striped skunk and long-tailed weasels. Coyotes and woodchucks are nongame and thus, not protected as furbearers; however, they also possess valuable fur and are commonly harvested in Nebraska.¹

That classification is the key to the page, because Nebraska writes its sharpest restrictions against game animals and game birds — and a coyote is neither. Three of them fall away as a result:

• the night vision and thermal scope prohibition, scoped to game animals and game birds — see night hunting;
• the full-auto and six-cartridge semi-automatic limit, which sits inside the big game weapon rule;²
• the furbearer permit and habitat stamp, which coyotes do not require at all.³

The one major rule that does reach coyotes is the November centerfire restriction, because that one is written against “wildlife other than deer, elk, or antelope.” See firearms.

Are coyotes protected in Nebraska?

No. Year-round open season, no bag limit, no possession limit.¹

Is a hunting license required to hunt coyotes in Nebraska?

Residents need nothing at all. NGPC puts it plainly:

Coyote, porcupine, prairie dog, and woodchuck hunting: Residents do not need a permit to hunt these species; but nonresidents must have a hunt (small game) permit. A Habitat Stamp is not required.³

That makes Nebraska one of only a handful of states on this site where a resident can hunt coyotes without buying anything — alongside Wyoming, Utah and Montana.

Note the habitat stamp exemption is specific to these four species. It is required for most other small game hunting, so if you are mixing coyotes with pheasant in the same trip, buy it.

Trapping is different. A fur harvest permit and habitat stamp are required to trap furbearers, and coyote traps carry their own identification rule — see trapping.

Non-residents do need a permit, which is the one place residency changes the answer — see non-residents.

Is hunter education required in Nebraska?

Yes, if you are between 12 and 29 — and note that Nebraska states this as an age band, not a birth year:

Hunters ages 12 through 29 must have on their person proof of successful completion of firearm Hunter Education while hunting with a firearm or air gun.⁴

It attaches to hunting with a firearm, not to the permit, so it applies to coyote hunting even though residents need no permit. Hunters in that band who have not completed the course can get an Apprentice Hunter Education Exemption Certificate from the permit website.⁴

Can a non-resident hunt coyotes in Nebraska?

Yes, with a hunt (small game) permit, a hunt/fish combination, or a 2-day small game permit.³ No habitat stamp for coyotes.³ Everything else on this page applies to residents and non-residents alike.

See also is a hunting license required — the license rules there, and the exemptions and add-ons that go with them, apply to you too.

Season, hours & bag limits in Nebraska

What is the season for coyote hunting in Nebraska?

Year-round, statewide. NGPC lists coyotes under running and harvest seasons as “Coyotes, woodchucks and other nongame (year-round).”¹

What is the bag limit for coyotes in Nebraska?

None. No daily, season or possession limit.¹

What are the legal hunting hours for coyotes in Nebraska?

No closed hours. Nebraska sets shooting hours by season and species, and nongame species carry none. What constrains you after dark is where the light comes from, not the clock — see night hunting.

Can you hunt coyotes during deer or big game season in Nebraska?

Yes, but this is the question that matters most in Nebraska, and the answer changes your rifle. See firearms for the November centerfire restriction in full — it is the single most consequential rule on this page.

One further trap worth flagging here. The night vision prohibition bars possession of a night vision scope while hunting game animals and game birds.⁵ If you are carrying a deer permit and a thermal in the same November week, the two do not mix — the same trap Utah and Idaho set.

Night hunting coyotes in Nebraska

Can you hunt coyotes at night in Nebraska?

Yes, with no permit and no closed hours. Nebraska is one of the more permissive night states in the plains, and the reason is that its two relevant rules are both scoped away from coyotes.

Can you use artificial lights for coyote hunting in Nebraska?

On foot, yes. From a vehicle or boat, no — unless you are the landowner protecting property.

The statute is narrower than it is usually reported. It prohibits light attached to or used from a vehicle or boat, not light as such:

it shall be unlawful to hunt any wildlife by projecting or casting the rays of a spotlight, headlight, or other artificial light attached to or used from a vehicle or boat in any field, pasture, woodland, forest, prairie, water area, or other area which may be inhabited by wildlife while having in possession or control … any firearm or bow and arrow.⁶

Read that carefully, because the exception underneath it is commonly misquoted as a general permission to use a light on foot. It is not — it is a landowner exception, and its purpose is to let landowners use a light from a vehicle, which subsection (1) would otherwise forbid:

Nothing in this section shall prohibit … the hunting of species of wildlife not protected by the Game Law in the protection of property by landowners or operators or their regular employees on land under their control on foot or from a motor vehicle with the aid of artificial light⁶

So for an ordinary hunter on foot with a hand-carried lamp, the prohibition in subsection (1) never engages, because nothing is attached to or used from a vehicle. Put the same lamp on a truck and it does.

Violation is a Class III misdemeanour with a minimum $250 fine.⁶

Can you use night vision in Nebraska?

Yes for coyotes — and this is a scoping answer, not a permission. Nebraska’s night vision rule is one of the strictest in the country for the species it covers, and coyotes are not among them:

while hunting game animals and game birds to have attached to any air gun, firearm, crossbow, or bow any device capable of utilizing electricity to amplify natural ambient light or to project a visible light beam or image to a target. This restriction allows red dot and illuminated reticle sights and scopes … but prohibits the possession of night vision scopes (both light amplification types and projected light types such as infrared) and all other sights that project a visible light beam to the target.⁵

Game animals and game birds. Coyotes are nongame,¹ so the prohibition does not reach a coyote hunt.

Two things to take from the wording. It bars possession, not just use — so it is not enough to leave the thermal switched off during a deer hunt. And it expressly permits red dot and illuminated reticle sights, which answers a question people often ask separately.

Can you use thermal in Nebraska?

Yes for coyotes, by exactly the same route. The rule names “projected light types such as infrared” in its list of prohibited scopes, and that whole list is scoped to game animals and game birds.⁵

Nebraska is therefore a genuinely good thermal state — no permit, no season, no unit list, unlike Kansas next door, which requires a permit and a season, or Oklahoma, which bars it outright for recreational hunting.

The boundary is what else you are hunting. The ban is on possessing the scope while hunting game animals or game birds, and Nebraska’s game animals are not only big game: “Game animals means all antelope, cottontail rabbits, deer, elk, mountain sheep, squirrels, mountain lions, moose, and bears.”⁷ Leave the thermal behind on a rabbit, squirrel or upland bird hunt as well as a deer hunt. On a coyote-only outing it is fine.

Are there specific weapons restrictions for hunting coyotes at night in Nebraska?

No separate night list. What changes after dark is the vehicle light rule above,⁶ and — during November — the centerfire restriction below, which does not pause overnight.⁸

Firearms, ammunition & the November rule in Nebraska

What firearms are allowed or restricted for coyote hunting in Nebraska?

For eleven months of the year, essentially anything. In November, the rule that catches more Nebraska coyote hunters than any other:

during the November firearm deer season to hunt wildlife other than deer, elk, or antelope with a centerfire rifle or deer and antelope with a centerfire handgun, except that this shall not apply to a holder of a valid unfilled firearm deer, elk, or antelope permit while hunting in the unit for which the permit was issued or to a bona fide farmer or rancher who owns, or leases, or resides upon such farm or ranch land, or a member of the immediate family of such farmer or rancher while hunting on such farm or ranch land.⁸

In plain terms: during the November firearm deer season you may not shoot a coyote with a centerfire rifle unless one of two things is true.

1. You hold a valid unfilled firearm deer, elk or antelope permit, and you are hunting in the unit it was issued for. Both halves matter — the permit alone is not enough if you have wandered into another unit.
2. You are a bona fide farmer or rancher who owns, leases or lives on that farm or ranch land, or immediate family of one, hunting on that land.

Everyone else is on rimfire, shotgun or archery for the month. This is also a rule that has changed: it used to name deer alone, and now covers deer, elk and antelope on both the prohibition and the exception.⁸

The rest of the year, the practical Nebraska rifle is a flat-shooting centerfire — .223, .22-250, .243 — for open country. See the best coyote gun.

Are suppressors allowed for coyote hunting in Nebraska?

Yes, for any game. Nothing in Title 166 or Chapter 37 restricts hunting with a suppressor, and nothing in Nebraska’s criminal code restricts owning one, so the question is entirely federal: an approved ATF Form 4 or Form 1 and registration. Since January 1, 2026 the federal tax on a suppressor is $0, but the approval and the wait are unchanged.⁹ No additional state permit.

Are there any ammunition restrictions in Nebraska?

None for coyotes. The full metal jacket and incendiary bullet prohibition is written for antelope, deer, elk, mountain lion and mountain sheep, and the full-auto and six-cartridge semi-automatic limit sits in the same big game rule.² Neither reaches a nongame species.

Can you hunt coyotes in Nebraska using a .22 LR or other rimfire cartridge?

Yes, with no caliber restriction — and in November a rimfire becomes the only centerfire-free option for most hunters, so it earns its place in Nebraska more than in most states.⁸ At normal coyote distances it remains a marginal tool.

Is there a magazine capacity limit for hunting coyotes in Nebraska?

No. The six-cartridge semi-automatic limit applies to big game, not to nongame,² and Nebraska sets no general magazine capacity limit in its criminal code. A standard AR-15 with a 30-round magazine is lawful for coyotes — outside November, subject to the centerfire rule.

Calls, decoys, bait & dogs in Nebraska

Are electronic calls allowed for coyote hunting in Nebraska?

Yes. Nothing in Title 166 or Chapter 37 restricts electronic or recorded calls for nongame species. The electronic-call restrictions that exist in many states have no Nebraska counterpart for coyotes.

Are decoys allowed for coyote hunting in Nebraska?

Yes, including motion decoys. Nothing restricts them for nongame species.

Is baiting allowed for coyote hunting in Nebraska?

Yes for coyotes on private land. Nebraska’s baiting prohibitions are written for big game and for game birds, not for nongame species.

Public wildlife management areas set their own rules and frequently prohibit baiting, so read the area regulations before you place anything.

Can you use dogs to hunt coyotes in Nebraska?

Yes, and Nebraska runs a formal running season for nongame that is open year-round.¹ Running coyotes with hounds is long established here.

Where hounds work mixed country, remember the furbearer running seasons are separate and licensed, so carry the fur harvest permit if your dogs may strike a raccoon or fox.

Private property, vehicles & public land access in Nebraska

Is it legal to shoot coyotes on private property (e.g. in your backyard) in Nebraska?

On rural private land with permission, yes. In a town, municipal discharge ordinances govern.

Landowners and tenants have a standing right to deal with predators, and the statute was broadened in 2023 — it now reads “any private landowner or tenant,” where it once named farmers and ranchers:

Any private landowner or tenant may destroy or have destroyed any predator preying on livestock or poultry or suspected of causing other damage on land owned or controlled by such person without a permit issued by the commission. For purposes of this subsection, predator means a badger, bobcat, coyote, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, mink, opossum, raccoon, red fox, or skunk.¹⁰

Note “or suspected of causing other damage” — a low threshold. The section does not extend to species protected under the state Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act or the federal wildlife acts.¹⁰

Can you hunt coyotes from a motorized vehicle in Nebraska?

No, and the road rule is separate from the vehicle rule. It is unlawful to shoot from any public highway, road or bridge, including the traveled surface and the right-of-way, whether on foot or from a vehicle. Artificial light attached to or used from a vehicle is its own offence.⁶

The landowner property-protection exception in 37-514(2) is the one route to using a light from a motor vehicle, and it belongs to landowners, operators and their regular employees on land under their control.⁶

Aerial coyote control is a permit system, not something a hunter does casually. A permittee may not shoot coyotes from an aircraft on land without a written landowner request on file with NGPC or USDA Wildlife Services, and must file quarterly reports within 15 days of each quarter or the permit is automatically revoked.¹¹

Can you hunt coyotes on public land in Nebraska?

Yes, on wildlife management areas and other public ground, subject to each area’s own rules — several prohibit centerfire rifles entirely, and a few prohibit rifles and handguns of any type.¹²

Nebraska is overwhelmingly private, so the Public Access Atlas and the Open Fields and Waters walk-in program are how most non-residents find ground. Hunting and running is permitted statewide except in federal and state refuges and sanctuaries.

Is it legal to trap or snare coyotes in Nebraska?

Yes. Coyotes are nongame, so the furbearer season structure does not bind them, but the trap identification rule names coyotes directly:

to set any trap for fur-bearing animals or coyotes unless such trap has the following information stamped or inscribed legibly onto the trap or onto a metal tag that is securely affixed to the trap: (1) the owner’s or user’s valid motor vehicle operator license number, or (2) the owner’s or user’s Nebraska state identification card number¹³

Under-16s may use a parent’s or guardian’s number.¹³ If you intend to sell what you trap, or to trap furbearers alongside coyotes, you need the fur harvest permit and habitat stamp.

Is it legal to poison coyotes in Nebraska?

Not as a private individual. Predator toxicants are restricted-use pesticides administered through USDA Wildlife Services and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. The depredation statute permits a landowner to “destroy or have destroyed” a predator,¹⁰ which is what brings in Wildlife Services rather than authorizing a bait station.

Are there protected areas or additional local restrictions in Nebraska?

Yes. Federal and state refuges and sanctuaries are closed. Wildlife management areas carry their own firearm restrictions, some prohibiting centerfire or all rifles.¹² Municipal discharge ordinances govern in and near towns. And the public road prohibition effectively closes a corridor along every road in the state.⁶

Can you use two-way radios while coyote hunting in Nebraska?

Yes. Nebraska has a radio statute, and it is written for game animals.

“It shall be unlawful for any person one day before or during the open season to spot, locate, or place under surveillance any game animal or game bird with the aid of any aircraft, vessel, vehicle, snowmobile, or conveyance of any type and convey information about such animal’s or bird’s location to any person or group of persons by radio or other electronic device.”¹⁴

Two things keep it off a coyote. It reaches only a game animal or game bird, and a coyote in Nebraska is nongame (see the classification). And it only bites when the spotting is done from a vehicle, boat, aircraft or snowmobile. Two hunters on foot, calling coyotes and talking on radios, are outside it on both counts.

After the shot: pelts, bounties & contests in Nebraska

Are there regulations for possessing or transporting dead coyotes or pelts out of Nebraska?

No tag, no seal, no check-in for coyotes. Nebraska’s pelt registration and tagging requirements attach to bobcat, gray fox and river otter, not to coyote.¹⁵

Fur harvesters may hold carcasses and raw pelts without a time limit while holding a valid fur harvest permit. Furs shipped by commercial carrier must carry a document giving the consignee’s name, the fur harvest permit number and its expiry date, and a description of the kind and number of each raw fur in the shipment.

Can you sell coyote pelts in Nebraska, and do you need a fur handler’s license?

You can sell them. NGPC notes coyotes “possess valuable fur and are commonly harvested in Nebraska,”¹ and coyotes carry no tagging requirement.

The wrinkle is the depredation route: furbearers taken for depredation control may be sold or possessed only by someone holding a fur harvest permit and only if the take occurred during the harvest season. Coyotes, being nongame with no harvest season, sit outside that constraint — but if you are selling in volume, hold the permit.

Is there a coyote bounty program in Nebraska?

No. Nebraska runs no state bounty and NGPC pays nothing for a coyote. The state’s answer to coyote damage is the landowner depredation right in 37-559 and the aerial control permit system, not a payment program.^{10 11}

Are coyote contests legal in Nebraska, or can I hunt in Nebraska for an out-of-state contest?

Yes to both. Nebraska has not banned predator hunting contests, and nothing in Title 166 or Chapter 37 prohibits a competitive event for nongame species. Winter tournaments run across the state.

One planning point: a contest scheduled inside the November firearm deer season puts most entrants on rimfire or shotgun unless they hold an unfilled big game permit for the unit they are hunting.⁸

Coyotes in Nebraska

Are there coyotes in Nebraska? How many, and where?

Yes, in all 93 counties — the Sandhills, the Platte and Republican river valleys, the Panhandle escarpments, row-crop country in the east and the edges of Omaha and Lincoln.

Nebraska publishes no population estimate, and because coyotes need no permit, no tag and no harvest report from residents, the state has no harvest figure either. What can be said is that Nebraska sits in the coyote’s core range and densities are high — the Sandhills in particular are among the best uncrowded calling country in the plains.

Urban coyotes are an explicit NGPC topic. The Commission notes that sightings are becoming more common across the US “including in the Omaha metro area,” and that most urban coyotes “go about their lives without ever raising awareness of their presence among their human neighbors.”¹

Are Nebraska coyotes dangerous to people or pets?

To people, very rarely. To calves, sheep and poultry they are the state’s principal predator problem, which is what 37-559 exists for.¹⁰ Unattended small pets on the urban fringe are at real risk.

When is coyote mating season in Nebraska, and when do pups arrive?

Breeding runs through February, with pups on the ground from April. January and February are the best calling of the year — pairs are territorial, response is aggressive, pelts are prime, and it falls clear of the November centerfire restriction entirely.⁸

When are coyotes most active in Nebraska?

First and last light year-round, with heavy night movement in open country. With thermal legal and no closed hours, Nebraska rewards a night rig more than most states. For the full breakdown of season, weather and moon phase, see when to hunt coyotes.

What’s changing in Nebraska

• 3 January 2026 — the current wildlife regulations took effect as Title 166, Chapter 1. Note the renumbering: these rules were Title 163, Chapter 4 for years, and older write-ups and PDFs still cite that. The substance a coyote hunter cares about carried across.⁵
• The November centerfire restriction now covers elk and antelope, on both the prohibition and the permit-holder exception. It formerly named deer alone.⁸
• The night vision rule now bars possession, not merely attachment, while hunting game animals and game birds.⁵
• 2023 — the predator depredation statute was broadened. LB565 rewrote 37-559 to read “any private landowner or tenant,” replacing the older framing limited to farmers and ranchers operating a farm or ranch.¹⁰

These answers get re-checked before they go stale. The verification date at the top of the page is the record of when that last happened, not decoration.

Anything else worth noting about coyote hunting in Nebraska

Nebraska asks a resident for nothing and gives back a year-round season, no limit, legal thermal and some of the least crowded calling country on the plains.

Four things to get right:

Buy nothing if you are a resident, but carry your hunter education card if you are under 30. The requirement attaches to the firearm, not to the permit that you do not need.

Plan around November. During the firearm deer season the centerfire rifle is off the table unless you hold an unfilled deer, elk or antelope permit for that unit, or you are a farmer or rancher on your own ground.

Keep the light off the truck. A hand-carried lamp on foot is fine; light attached to or used from a vehicle is a Class III misdemeanour with a $250 minimum, and the exception belongs to landowners.

Do not carry the thermal on a deer hunt. The prohibition is on possession, and it applies whenever you are hunting game animals or game birds.

Is it legal to own a coyote as a pet in Nebraska?

No. Nebraska regulates keeping wildlife in captivity under a separate chapter of Title 166 and does not issue permits to keep a coyote as a pet. Contact NGPC before assuming any exception applies.

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