The hot deformation behavior of pure nickel with coarse, columnar grains at the temperature range of 950~1 150 ℃and the strain rate range of 0.001~10-1 was investigated in the Gleeble-3500 system. The results showed that flow stress increased with the increase of strain rate and decreased with the increase of temperature. The relationship between flow stress and strain rate and temperature was represented by the Zener-Hollomon parameter and the apparent activation energy of 312.4 kJ/mol. The optimum processing parameters were obtained by using processing maps based on the dynamic material model and microstructural observation at the deformation temperature of 1 060~1 120 ℃and the strain rate of 0.03~0.2 s-1.