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Read from the 2026 ODFW big game and 2026-27 game bird booklets, the 2025 harvest summaries and ODFW maps
Oregon Hunting
188 public hunting places from the Tillamook State Forest to Steens Mountain, a page for each of the 67 Wildlife Management Units, 36 counties and 140 base towns, all 915 season rows, 810 controlled, premium and sage-grouse hunt numbers, and all 69 ODFW fee rows. Dates, fees and acreages trace back to ODFW or a federal land manager and were checked on November 8, 2026. The photo shows western larch turning gold below Mount Hood.
Photo: USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region (Public Domain Mark 1.0)
How Oregon seasons are drawn on the map
810 hunt numbers stand behind the 915 season rows: 648 controlled hunts in the 100 to 900 series, 153 premium L, M and N hunts and 9 sage-grouse permit hunts. The 2027 big game booklet is not out yet, so every big game row here is a 2026 hunt.
| Season tool | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Hunting units | 67 unit pages, 20 west and 47 east |
| Season dates | 915 dated rows |
| Hunt numbers | 810 hunts by number |
| General seasons | 25 general rows |
| Deer hunt areas | 22 eastern herd ranges |
| Cougar zones | Zones A to F, quota 970 |
| Waterfowl zones | 5 goose zones |
| Travel management | 59 cooperative areas |
| Elk damage tags | 14 damage areas |
| Rifle restrictions | 7 restriction rows |
| CWD testing | Testing and parts ban |
| Furbearer seasons | Furbearer dates |
| Controlled hunt draw | May 15 deadline |
| Species | ODFW summary, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Deer | One deer per tag per the tag bag limit (usually one buck with visible antler); one 100-series plus one 600-series tag per year. |
| Elk | Roosevelt elk west, Rocky Mountain elk east: general archery August 29-September 27; West Cascade bull November 7-13; Coast bull November 14-17 and November 21-27; Rocky Mountain 2nd season spike November 7-15; controlled Rocky Mountain bull 1st season October 28-November 1 and 2nd season November 7-15; antlerless damage tag August 1-March 31, 2027. |
| Pronghorn | Controlled only (400 series): mostly August 15-23, archery Aug.-Sept., muzzleloader Aug.-Sept. |
| Bighorn sheep | Controlled only: 3 Rocky Mountain bighorn hunts (August 15-October 31) and 27 California bighorn hunts (Aug.-Nov.), once in a lifetime for rams. |
| Mountain goat | Controlled only: 12 hunts August 1-October 31, once in a lifetime. |
| Black bear | General fall August 1-December 31 statewide; controlled spring hunts April 1-May 31, 2026; no bait or dogs. |
| Cougar | January 1-December 31 statewide with zone quotas (970); no dogs. |
Oregon writes its big game seasons by Wildlife Management Unit and by hunt number. West of the Cascades, Units 10 through 30 carry the general buck deer season and the general Coast and Cascade elk seasons, bought over the counter. East of the crest every buck deer hunt is controlled, and from 2026 ODFW draws those hunts by Deer Hunt Area inside 22 mule deer herd ranges rather than by whole unit. County pages list each unit a county touches with its share, and every unit page lists its own hunt numbers, tags and 2025 harvest.
All 67 managed units, west and east of the Cascade line
Unit and county overlaps are measured on the ODFW Wildlife Management Unit layer and Census county lines; layer polygons 0 (Warm Springs Indian Reservation) and 1 (Crater Lake National Park) are not managed units. Sources: ODFW buck deer page (eRegulations); ODFW GIS layer; ODFW fee page (eRegulations); ODFW Eastern Oregon deer hunts article. Checked: rows compared with the source November 8, 2026.
Oregon hunting ground on one map
170 places carry a map point, from the Sauvie Island Wildlife Area to the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. Places of 100,000 acres or more get the larger dots.
Oregon public hunting land
Measured on the map layers, the 36 counties hold about 32,417,109 acres open to state-licensed hunters: some 15,478,684 acres of national forest, 15,388,291 of BLM land, 749,201 of Department of Forestry state forest, 508,089 of refuges listed in 50 CFR 32.56 and 215,130 of ODFW wildlife areas. A further 921,456 GIS acres are tribal land, closed to state seasons.
| Land hub | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Wildlife areas | 34 ODFW wildlife areas |
| National forests | 12 forests, 44 ranger districts |
| BLM land | 8 districts, 20 field offices |
| Wildlife refuges | 20 refuges |
| State forests | 6 ODF forest records |
| Access programs | 18 A&H, 8 Open Fields |
| Other federal land | Gorge, preserve, Reclamation, Corps |
| Tribal lands | 18 tribal places, closed |
| Land map | 170 pins |
A further 36 places allow no state-licensed hunting: 18 reservations and tribal trust lands, Crater Lake and the other Park Service units, and refuges and wildlife areas closed to hunting. The public land hub names each one with the reason. Access and Habitat (A&H) program opens over 2.6 million acres of private land to public hunting and funds habitat work; Access Area rules are on the official maps (oregonhuntingmap.com, myodfw.com/articles/maps). A&H also runs the auction and raffle tag program.
Tile acres are the figure on each land record; county acres are measured from GIS polygons and are not official totals. Sources: ODFW buck deer page (eRegulations); ODFW game bird access area programs (eRegulations). Checked: rows compared with the source November 8, 2026.
Oregon harvest totals, 2025
ODFW estimated 37,581 bucks taken by 100,223 any-weapon deer hunters in 2025, a success rate of 37 percent, and 10,778 elk by 55,704 any-weapon elk hunters. Bear hunters reported 2,781 bears and cougar tag holders 381 cats.
Each figure is the printed grand total of its 2025 ODFW harvest summary, estimated from mandatory reports. Sources: 2025 ODFW buck deer harvest summary; 2025 ODFW elk harvest summary; 2025 ODFW archery elk summary; 2025 ODFW archery deer summary; 2025 ODFW black bear summary; 2025 ODFW antlerless deer summary; 2025 ODFW pronghorn summary; 2025 ODFW cougar summary; 2025 ODFW bighorn sheep summary. Checked: rows compared with the source November 8, 2026.
What Oregon has open today
Counted from all 915 ODFW season rows. Elk shows the most open rows because every controlled hunt number and every premium M hunt is its own line; ducks, geese and upland birds run on far fewer, longer rows.
Open on November 8, 2026: 24 species, 333 rows
| Game | Rows open | First close | Last close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elk | 180 | Nov 8, 2026 | Mar 31, 2027 |
| Deer | 87 | Nov 8, 2026 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Pronghorn | 26 | Nov 30, 2026 | Nov 30, 2026 |
| Canada Goose | 5 | Jan 31, 2027 | Mar 10, 2027 |
| White-fronted and white geese | 5 | Jan 31, 2027 | Mar 10, 2027 |
| Ducks | 4 | Jan 6, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Wild Turkey | 4 | Jan 31, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Bighorn sheep | 3 | Nov 8, 2026 | Nov 8, 2026 |
| Coot | 2 | Jan 24, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Quail | 2 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Wilson's Snipe | 2 | Jan 24, 2027 | Feb 21, 2027 |
| Black bear | 1 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Blue Grouse | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Chukar | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Cougar | 1 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Crow | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Gray Fox | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Hungarian (Gray) Partridge | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Marten | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Mourning Dove | 1 | Dec 14, 2026 | Dec 14, 2026 |
| Pheasant | 1 | Dec 31, 2026 | Dec 31, 2026 |
| Red Fox | 1 | Feb 28, 2027 | Feb 28, 2027 |
| Ruffed Grouse | 1 | Jan 31, 2027 | Jan 31, 2027 |
| Western Gray Squirrel | 1 | Nov 15, 2026 | Nov 15, 2026 |
Next Oregon openers
| Game | Season | Opens | Closes | Today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bighorn sheep | 500 series California bighorn sheep – Any legal weapon | Nov 14, 2026 | Nov 22, 2026 | |
| Deer | 100 series buck deer – Any legal weapon | Nov 14, 2026 | Dec 6, 2026 | |
| Elk | 200 series elk – Any legal weapon | Nov 14, 2026 | Nov 17, 2026 | |
| Beaver | Beaver | Nov 15, 2026 | Mar 15, 2027 | |
| Deer | 100 series buck deer – Any legal weapon | Nov 15, 2026 | Nov 29, 2026 | |
| Elk | 200 series elk – Any legal weapon | Nov 15, 2026 | Mar 31, 2027 | |
| Mink | Muskrat and mink | Nov 15, 2026 | Mar 31, 2027 | |
| Muskrat | Muskrat and mink | Nov 15, 2026 | Mar 31, 2027 | |
| Raccoon | Raccoon | Nov 15, 2026 | Mar 15, 2027 | |
| River Otter | River otter | Nov 15, 2026 | Mar 15, 2027 |
Premium hunts (August 1 to November 30) count as open rows; falconry and pursuit-only rows stay on the species pages. Sources: 2026 Oregon Big Game Hunting Regulations; 2026-27 Oregon Game Bird Hunting Regulations; furbearer regulations, 2026-28. Checked: rows compared with the source November 8, 2026.
Two ODFW regions and 36 county guides
ODFW splits Oregon into a West Region and an East Region with 26 wildlife biologist districts and four full-service offices at Clackamas, Roseburg, Bend and La Grande. Every county page names its region, its districts and the nearest office, and lists its units with their shares.
Salem headquarters (4034 Fairview Industrial Dr. SE, Salem, OR 97302, (503) 947-6000) sits above both regions. The Northwest office at Clackamas is closed for rebuilding through fall 2028, and ODFW lists a temporary office in Portland, shown in the office directory.
Each county is listed under the region holding most of it; Clackamas, Jackson, Klamath and Lane counties reach slightly into the other region. Sources: ODFW department of fish wildlife (eRegulations); ODFW Contact Us page. Checked: rows compared with the source November 8, 2026.
62 Oregon species pages
Roosevelt elk in the Coast Range and Rocky Mountain elk in the Blue and Wallowa mountains, black-tailed deer west of the Cascades and mule deer across the high desert, pronghorn on the sage flats, chukar and Hungarian partridge from October 10 to January 31, California and Rocky Mountain bighorn and mountain goats by controlled hunt only, and ducks and geese in two duck zones and five goose zones. 14 pages (Gray Wolf, Moose, Dusky Canada Goose and Fisher and others) explain why there is no season.
Rocky Mountain Goat · Black Bear · Cougar · Western Gray Squirrel · Ruffed Grouse · Blue Grouse · Hungarian (Gray) Partridge · Pheasant · Quail · Sage-grouse · Mourning Dove · Band-tailed Pigeon · Ducks · Coot · Wilson's Snipe · Crow · Canada Goose · White fronted and white geese · Brant · Bobcat · Gray Fox · Red Fox · Marten · Muskrat · Mink · Raccoon · River Otter · Beaver · Coyote · Cottontail Rabbit · Black-tailed Jackrabbit · Opossum · Nutria · California Ground Squirrel · Belding's Ground Squirrel · Feral Swine · Badger · Porcupine · Spotted Skunk · Striped Skunk · Weasel · Gray Wolf · Moose · Dusky Canada Goose · Fisher · Ringtail · Wolverine · Kit Fox · Canada Lynx · Pygmy Rabbit · White-tailed Jackrabbit · American Pika · Bats · Protected squirrels and chipmunks · Nongame birds and raptors · Unprotected birds
Oregon rules at a glance
License first
A resident hunting license costs $39 and the combination angling and hunting license $86; a nonresident hunting license is $193, and youth 12 to 17 pay $10 for a combination license.
One draw, one deadline
Controlled big game applications closed on May 15, 2026 (spring bear on February 10), with up to five choices per series. Preference points fill 75 percent of deer, elk, pronghorn and spring bear tags.
Orange for youth only
Hunters younger than 18 hunting any game mammal or upland game bird (except wild turkey) with a firearm must wear a hunter orange hat or exterior garment (shirt, jacket, coat, vest or sweater) visible from all directions; hunter orange camouflage is acceptable. No hunter orange requirement for adults.
No bait, no dogs
Unlawful to use bait to attract or take black bears or to use dogs to hunt or pursue black bears or cougars (ORS 498.164; bear and cougar regulations).
Half an hour each side
Game mammals may be hunted from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset; game birds follow ODFW's printed zone table; spring turkey stops at sunset.
Tribal land is closed
The big game season maps note "There are no hunting seasons on NP lands or Tribal lands in these areas." Tribal and allotted lands within the Umatilla Indian Reservation are closed to fall turkey and beardless turkey permit hunting (new note for 2026-27). ORS 498.120 counts the posted boundaries of treaty Indian reservations as "enclosed land" (no hunting without permission).
Hunter education to 17
Youth 17 and under must complete a hunter safety education course (any US state, Canada or Mexico) and carry the certificate or an ODFW document with the certificate number to hunt anywhere except land owned by their parent or legal guardian (Mentored Youth Hunter Program exception). No hunter education requirement for adults 18+ in the regulations.
No CWD found yet
Chronic wasting disease has not been detected in Oregon (ODFW CWD page, October 15, 2026); it has been found in bordering Idaho, California and Washington.
Sources: 2026 Big Game Regulations, PDF p. 10; ODFW controlled hunt applications (eRegulations); ODFW general regulations (eRegulations); ODFW black bear page (eRegulations); ODFW buck deer page (eRegulations); ODFW youth hunting page (eRegulations); ODFW CWD testing page. Checked: rows compared with the source November 8, 2026.
Oregon events, services and shooting
From November 8, 2026 the Oregon calendar holds 42 hunting events, banquets for conservation groups above all, plus 100 dated shooting matches. Processors, taxidermists, guides, stores and ODFW offices add up to 622 directory rows.
| Date | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 8, 2026 | Hunter Safety Field Day (Roseburg) · class | Roseburg, Douglas County |
| Nov 14, 2026 | Waterfowl Hunting Workshop for Adults (Northwest OR) (Gervais) · class | Gervais, Marion County |
| Nov 18, 2026 | Boomstick Bingo Douglas County NWTF Fundraiser · banquet | Roseburg, Douglas County |
| Nov 19, 2026 | Intro to Hunting in Oregon for Adults (Tualatin) · class | Tualatin, Washington County |
| Nov 21, 2026 | Hunter Safety Field Day (Central Point) · class | Central Point, Jackson County |
| Nov 21, 2026 | Hunter Safety Field Day (Creswell) · class | Creswell, Lane County |
| Nov 22, 2026 | Hunter Safety Field Day (Roseburg) · class | Roseburg, Douglas County |
| Dec 5, 2026 | Hunter Safety Field Day (Creswell) · class | Creswell, Lane County |
Game processors
17 meat shops and lockers; call ahead about wild game.
Taxidermists
63 shops, from Roosevelt bull mounts to waterfowl.
Outfitter guides
206 guide rows, most from the Marine Board roster.
Gun and bow shops
303 stores, independents first and chains after.
ODFW offices
33 offices, Salem headquarters to wildlife area shops.
Shooting ranges
96 ranges on file, 2 of them at the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area.
Oregon hunting questions
Can I buy an Oregon deer tag without the draw?
West of the Cascades, yes: the general Western Oregon buck season (Units 10 to 30) and the general archery seasons use tags sold over the counter. Eastern Oregon buck deer is controlled only, and pronghorn, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and spring bear are drawn.
Are Oregon big game seasons written county by county?
No. ODFW sets them by Wildlife Management Unit (67 managed units) and by hunt number, and in Eastern Oregon by Deer Hunt Area. County pages show which units each county takes in and how much of each.
Do Oregon seasons stay open on Sundays?
No statewide Sunday restriction appears in the 2026 big game or 2026-27 game bird regulations; seasons run every day. Some wildlife areas limit hunting to set days (for example certain units open only Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays).
When is the Western Oregon general buck season in 2026?
October 3 to November 6, 2026 (youth extension November 7 and 8), in Units 10 to 30.
What does an Oregon elk tag cost a resident in 2026?
$56 for a resident elk tag on top of the $39 hunting license; nonresidents pay $660. The tag is the same price whether it is a general or a controlled elk tag.
Is baiting legal for Oregon bears or deer?
Unlawful to use bait to attract or take black bears or to use dogs to hunt or pursue black bears or cougars (ORS 498.164; bear and cougar regulations). No general ban on baiting deer or elk was found in the 2026 big game regulations text; the only big game baiting ban printed is for black bear (and the cervid-urine attractant ban).
Does an Oregon license cover hunting on a reservation?
No state season runs on tribal land. The big game season maps note "There are no hunting seasons on NP lands or Tribal lands in these areas." Tribal and allotted lands within the Umatilla Indian Reservation are closed to fall turkey and beardless turkey permit hunting (new note for 2026-27). ORS 498.120 counts the posted boundaries of treaty Indian reservations as "enclosed land" (no hunting without permission).
Has CWD been found in Oregon deer or elk?
Chronic wasting disease has not been detected in Oregon (ODFW CWD page, October 15, 2026); it has been found in bordering Idaho, California and Washington.
How many Oregon hunting places does this guide cover one by one?
188: 34 ODFW wildlife areas, 12 national forests with 44 ranger districts, the Crooked River National Grassland, BLM land with 8 districts and 20 field offices, 20 refuges, 6 state forest records, 18 Access and Habitat areas, 8 Open Fields properties and the federal and program records.
Must adults wear hunter orange in Oregon?
Hunters younger than 18 hunting any game mammal or upland game bird (except wild turkey) with a firearm must wear a hunter orange hat or exterior garment (shirt, jacket, coat, vest or sweater) visible from all directions; hunter orange camouflage is acceptable. No hunter orange requirement for adults.
Oregon pages by topic
- Public land188 places
- Land mapEvery pin
- Wildlife areasODFW managed
- National forestsForests, districts
- BLM landDistricts, Steens
- Wildlife refuges50 CFR 32.56
- State forestsODF land
- Access programsPrivate land
- Tribal landsClosed to seasons
- Counties36 guides
- Base towns140 pages
- Species62 pages
- Season dates915 rows
- Hunting units67 WMUs
- Hunt numbers810 hunts
- General seasonsTags over the counter
- Deer hunt areas22 herd ranges
- Cougar zonesSix zone quotas
- Waterfowl zonesDuck and goose
- CWD testingNot detected
- EventsBanquets, classes
- Shooting rangesClubs, public ranges
- Shooting eventsMatches, shoots
- Range gearPacking list
- Hunting servicesFive directories
- License fees69 fee rows
- Hunting lawsORS and penalties
- Controlled hunt drawPreference points
- Shooting hours36 counties
- Youth and veteransMentored hunting
- Trophy records2025 harvest data
Plan an Oregon season
Start from a unit for its hunt numbers, general seasons and 2025 harvest, from a county for its units, land and tribal boundaries, or from a town for the nearest wildlife area, ranger district, store and range.
Other photos on this page: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (CC BY-SA 2.0); Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington (CC BY 2.0); Mitchell Friedman (CC BY 2.0); Matt Lavin (CC BY-SA 2.0); Malheur National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS) (CC BY-SA 2.0); Birding for Climate (Public domain); U.S. Geological Survey (CC0 1.0); Yellowstone National Park (Public domain); USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region (Public Domain Mark 1.0); USFWS Mountain Prairie (Public domain); Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (CC BY-SA 2.0); Miltos Gikas (CC BY 2.0); Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (CC BY-SA 2.0); Teddy Llovet (CC BY 2.0).