Balloted hunting in NSW
Balloted hunts: Wednesday 1 March - Wednesday 3 May 2023
Some NSW State forests are more popular with R-Licensed hunters than others. Bookings in these popular forests can be hard to secure, especially during the peak hunting period of March and April each year. To ensure hunter access and participation is managed sustainably and contributes positively to the NSW economy, DPI Hunting administers balloted hunting in some of these higher profile forests to provide fair and equitable opportunity to hunt for all R-Licensed hunters.
In 2023, eligible R-Licence holders are able enter the public land hunting ballot for:
- Maragle South State Forest
- Mannus State Forest (Seymours section)
- Mannus State Forest (bows only section)
Mannus State Forest and Maragle South State Forest will be removed from the open booking system during the balloted months, between 1 March 2023 and 3 May 2023.
Ballot results
Places for the 2023 ballot program were drawn on Friday 9 December 2022. If you registered for a ballot, access the links below to see if your EventBrite registration number appears.
Successful hunters will be notified by email in the coming days.
Maragle South State Forest - main ballot
Maragle South State Forest - youth ballot
Mannus State Forest (Seymours section) - main ballot
Mannus State Forest (Seymours section) - youth ballot
Mannus State Forest (bows only section) - main ballot
Mannus State Forest (bows only section) - youth ballot
2023 ballot program
| State forest name | Ballot dates | Permissions available |
|---|---|---|
| Maragle South | 1 March - 3 May |
51 permits total: 45 individual permits 12 youth permits (including adult hunter) |
| Mannus (Seymours ballot) | 1 March – 3 May |
32 permits total: 26 individual permits 6 youth permits (including adult hunter) |
| Mannus (bows only) | 1 March – 3 May |
32 permits total: 26 individual permits 6 youth permits (including adult hunter) |
Eligibility
Only individuals who hold a current NSW Restricted Game Hunting Licence (including minor R-Licence holders) are eligible to register for balloted hunts.
R-Licence holders must have completed their additional training before entering the public land hunting ballots (does not apply to new R-Licence holders who have completed the online training). Registrations will be reviewed and individuals who do not meet these requirements will be removed from the draw.
Completing additional training
If you completed the old R-Licence Accreditation Course and have not yet completed your additional R-Licence training (which must be completed before access is granted to book hunts online) simply watch the public land hunting tutorial and complete the declaration before registering.
About balloted hunts
- Written permissions to hunt are issued to ballot winners within the normal hunter/land ratio for each balloted forest.
- Each permission is for four days.
- Several ballot periods are reserved for youth hunts and all permissions in that period will be issued to eligible minors along with their eligible supervising hunter.
Youth hunts
In 2023, three periods are reserved for youth hunts in each of the ballots. DPI Hunting has selected these periods as they fall over a weekend or during the school holidays.
- Period 5: Friday 17 March - Monday 20 March
- Period 10: Thursday 6 April - Sunday 9 April
- Period 12: Friday 14 April - Monday 17 April
As minor R-Licence holders must always hunt in the company of a fully licensed adult hunter, eligible applicants must apply as a group.
How to register a youth hunt:
- Primary applicant (adult hunter) registers, indicating they are part of a group hunt.
- Primary applicant creates a group name (e.g. surname of the applicants).
- Secondary applicant (youth hunter) registers, using the group name.
2023 balloted hunt periods
| Period 1 Wednesday 1 March - Saturday 4 March | Period 2 Sunday 5 March - Wednesday 8 March | Period 3 Thursday 9 March - Sunday 12 March | Period 4 Monday 13 March - Thursday 16 March |
| Period 5 (youth) Friday 17 March - Monday 20 March | Period 6 Tuesday 21 March - Friday 24 March | Period 7 Saturday 25 March - Tuesday 28 March | Period 8 Wednesday 29 March - Saturday 1 April |
| Period 9 Sunday 2 April - Wednesday 5 April | Period 10 (youth) Thursday 6 April - Sunday 9 April | Period 11 Monday 10 April - Thursday 13 April | Period 12 (youth) Friday 14 April - Monday 17 April |
| Period 13 Tuesday 18 April - Friday 21 April | Period 14 Saturday 22 April - Tuesday 25 April | Period 15 Wednesday 26 April - Saturday 29 April | Period 16 Sunday 30 April - Wednesday 3 May |
Ballot draw
Friday 9 December 2022
DPI Hunting uses Easypromos to conduct a random ballot of Eventbrite registration numbers to determine the winners list and an alternative list.
Terms & conditions
- By entering the 2023 ballot, licence holders agree to the collection and retention of personal information and for NSW DPI to apply for and issue written permission to hunt on their behalf.
- Hunters must observe their written permission conditions, including all standard rules and regulations as well as the rules governing this ballot.
- Hunters will receive official notification via email if successfully drawn in the ballots.
More information
If you have any questions about the ballot, contact our Wildlife Management Team on hunting.ballot@dpi.nsw.gov.au
