Nebraska · Pheasant · 2026–27 Edition
Nebraska Pheasant Season 2026–27: Dates & Bag Limits
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zone | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Youth pheasant, quail and partridge | Statewide | Oct 24 – Oct 25 |
| Regular pheasant, quail and partridge | Statewide | Oct 31 – Jan 31 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily — all segments | 3 roosters (cocks-only) |
|---|---|
| Possession — all segments | 12 |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (October 24, 2026) 07:32 — 18:43
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset, Nebraska's standard small-game shooting-hours rule, which applies to pheasant. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Nebraska sun times for any other date.
04 — License
Pheasant hunters in Nebraska need a Nebraska hunting license — a Habitat Stamp in addition to a hunt permit for anyone pursuing pheasant and other small game — resident hunters 69 and older (or 64-and-older veterans) and resident youth under 16 are exempt from the Habitat Stamp, and a farmer/rancher and immediate family hunting land they own or lease need neither a hunt permit nor a Habitat Stamp
Nebraska hunting license cost →
Where to hunt public land in Nebraska — WMAs by county & access rules →
05 — FAQ
When does pheasant season open in Nebraska?
The earliest 2026–27 opener is October 24, 2026. See the table above for each segment and zone.
When does pheasant season end in Nebraska?
The latest 2026–27 closing date is January 31, 2027. Individual segments and zones can close earlier — see the table above.
Can I shoot hen pheasants in Nebraska?
See the bag limit table above — most states restrict the daily bag to roosters only, but rules vary and this is worth double-checking against Nebraska Game and Parks Commission before you hunt.
How many pheasants can you shoot in Nebraska per day?
2026–27 bag limits: Daily — all segments — 3 roosters (cocks-only). Possession — all segments — 12. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting pheasant in Nebraska?
On opening day (October 24, 2026) legal light runs 07:32 to 18:43. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset, Nebraska's standard small-game shooting-hours rule, which applies to pheasant. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Nebraska sun times for any other date.
Can I hunt pheasant on my own land in Nebraska without a license?
Nebraska resident farmers or ranchers, and their immediate family living on land they own or lease, may hunt squirrel, cottontail, jackrabbit, prairie grouse, partridge, pheasant, and quail there without a permit or Habitat Stamp. Deer, antelope, elk, and turkey still need their own landowner permit application.
Verified · Nebraska Game and Parks Commission · Last verified 2026-08-15
Publisher's note. outdoornebraska.gov returns 403 to direct automated fetches, so the live 'Hunting Seasons' page was read via the r.jina.ai text-extraction proxy, which quoted the page verbatim: 'Youth pheasant, quail and partridge: Oct. 24-25, 2026' and 'Pheasant, quail and partridge: Oct. 31, 2026-Jan. 31, 2027' with no zone or regional split for either segment — Nebraska runs pheasant as one statewide season. The Commission's own 2026-27 Small Game & Waterfowl Guide PDF was not yet published at research time (govdocs.nebraska.gov only had the 2025-26 edition, and that domain refused the fetch connection outright), so the daily bag (3 roosters), possession limit (12), and the half-hour-before-sunrise-to-sunset shooting-hours rule are carried forward from that most recent published guide and cross-checked against multiple current secondary sources (huntinglocator.com, outdoornebraska.gov's own press release on youth hunts) rather than read directly off a live 2026-27 official page — these three figures have been unchanged across at least the 2018-19 through 2024-25 guides, so risk of a change is low, but confirm against the 2026-27 PDF once the Commission posts it. Habitat Stamp requirement and its exemptions (resident hunters 69+/64+ veteran, resident youth under 16, and a landowner/family exemption for farmers and ranchers hunting their own land) read from outdoornebraska.gov's own Permit & Stamp Requirements page.