Nevada · Bear · 2026 Edition
Nevada Bear Season 2026: Dates, Zones & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Any legal weapon | Unit Group 192*, 194*, 195, 196 (* excludes portions of 192/194 within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and adjoining Mount Rose Wilderness boundary described in the regulation's Special Regulations) | Sep 15 – Dec 1 |
| Any legal weapon | Unit Group 201, 202, 204, 206 | Sep 15 – Dec 1 |
| Any legal weapon | Unit Group 291, 203 | Sep 15 – Dec 1 |
02 — Bag limits & check-in
| Statewide | 1 bear per tag; season/unit group closes early ('or until harvest limits are met') once its harvest cap is reached, regardless of the printed Dec 1 close date |
|---|---|
| Statewide tag quota | 42 tags total for 2026 (38 resident, 4 nonresident) |
| Unit Group 192*, 194*, 195, 196 — harvest limit | 15 bears total, including no more than 5 females |
| Unit Group 201, 202, 204, 206 — harvest limit | 12 bears total, including no more than 4 females |
| Unit Group 291, 203 — harvest limit | 15 bears total, including no more than 5 females |
| Pre-hunt check | Tag holders (or their licensed guide) must call the Black Bear Harvest Information Hotline, 1-800-800-1667 (24 hrs), before hunting each day to confirm the unit group has not already closed |
| Harvest report | Call the Department to report the harvest within 24 hours; personally present the skull and hide to a Department representative for inspection within 72 hours — per Nevada Administrative Code 502.373 (confirmed verbatim directly against the codified regulation) |
| Mandatory course | Attendance at one NDOW black bear indoctrination course is mandatory, without exception, for every tag holder, guide, and sub-guide before a tag is issued |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 15, 2026) 05:59 — 19:25
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset, per CR 26-12. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Nevada sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Bear hunters in Nevada need a Nevada hunting license — a black bear tag obtained through NDOW's limited big-game draw (statewide quota of 42 tags for 2026); attendance at a mandatory indoctrination course is required before the tag is issued Check-in or reporting a harvest is typically mandatory; see the row above for Nevada's specific rule.
Where to hunt public land in Nevada — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — Scouting gear
Patterning bear activity before Nevada's opener usually means glassing feeding areas and running a trail camera through summer — check the state's own rules on baiting before you set one over bait.
- Hunting binoculars on Amazon →
- Trail cameras on Amazon →
- Trail camera SD cards — class, capacity & format explained →
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. These are category links, not a single named pick — we run no product tests of our own.
06 — FAQ
When does bear season open in Nevada?
The earliest 2026 opener is September 15, 2026. See the table above for each method and zone.
When does bear season end in Nevada?
The latest 2026 closing date is December 1, 2026. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Do I need a separate bear license or tag in Nevada?
a black bear tag obtained through NDOW's limited big-game draw (statewide quota of 42 tags for 2026); attendance at a mandatory indoctrination course is required before the tag is issued
How many bears can you shoot in Nevada?
2026 bag limits: Statewide — 1 bear per tag; season/unit group closes early ('or until harvest limits are met') once its harvest cap is reached, regardless of the printed Dec 1 close date. Statewide tag quota — 42 tags total for 2026 (38 resident, 4 nonresident). Unit Group 192*, 194*, 195, 196 — harvest limit — 15 bears total, including no more than 5 females. Unit Group 201, 202, 204, 206 — harvest limit — 12 bears total, including no more than 4 females. Unit Group 291, 203 — harvest limit — 15 bears total, including no more than 5 females. Pre-hunt check — Tag holders (or their licensed guide) must call the Black Bear Harvest Information Hotline, 1-800-800-1667 (24 hrs), before hunting each day to confirm the unit group has not already closed. Harvest report — Call the Department to report the harvest within 24 hours; personally present the skull and hide to a Department representative for inspection within 72 hours — per Nevada Administrative Code 502.373 (confirmed verbatim directly against the codified regulation). Mandatory course — Attendance at one NDOW black bear indoctrination course is mandatory, without exception, for every tag holder, guide, and sub-guide before a tag is issued. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting bear in Nevada?
On opening day (September 15, 2026) legal light runs 05:59 to 19:25. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset, per CR 26-12. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Nevada sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt bear on my own land in Nevada without a license?
No — Nevada requires a license to hunt protected game regardless of land ownership. The only property-related carve-out is a narrow defense allowance for wildlife threatening people or property, not a general hunting exemption.
Verified · Nevada Department of Wildlife · Last verified 2026-08-15
Publisher's note. Commission Regulation CR 26-12 ('2026 Black Bear Quotas and Harvest Limits'), adopted at NDOW's May 8-9, 2026 Board of Wildlife Commissioners meeting, read directly via pdfplumber word-position extraction (the table's absolute-positioned cells defeated a plain pdftotext -layout pass, so figures were reconstructed from raw word coordinates and cross-checked for internal consistency: the 15+12+15=42 total unit-group harvest limit matches the 38 resident + 4 nonresident = 42 total statewide tag quota, and both match the memo's own statement that 'the approved 2025 quota of 42 tags resulted in the harvest of 12 bears'). The Department recommended, and the Commission adopted, no change from the 2025 quota. Nevada black bear is Any-Legal-Weapon (no separate archery/muzzleloader split) across three unit groups, all sharing the same Sept 15 - Dec 1, 2026 date window, with hunting hours one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. Every tag holder must call the Black Bear Harvest Information Hotline (1-800-800-1667, 24 hrs) before hunting each day to check whether their unit group has already closed on its harvest or female-harvest limit. UPDATED 2026-08-15: the harvest-report/skull-and-hide deadlines previously flagged as unconfirmed are now verified directly against the codified regulation itself — Nevada Administrative Code 502.373 (read verbatim via its Cornell LII mirror, law.cornell.edu/regulations/nevada/NAC-502-373, after leg.state.nv.us returned a 403) states: 'Within 24 hours after harvesting the black bear, call the Department to report the harvest' and, separately, 'Within 72 hours after harvesting the black bear, personally present the skull and hide to a representative of the Department for inspection.' The same rule sets a 48-hour reporting window for anyone who accidentally traps or kills a black bear. These figures now match what secondary sources (eRegulations, aggregator guides) had claimed, but are treated as confirmed fact rather than an unverified secondary claim now that the primary codified text has been read directly.