Oregon › Hunting seasons › Units › Sled Springs Unit
Wildlife Management Unit 57
Sled Springs Unit hunting seasons and hunt numbers
Hunt numbers, general tags, cougar quota, road closures, 2025 harvest and the public ground of the Sled Springs Unit (Wallowa County and Union County).
Photo: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington (CC BY 2.0)
Sled Springs Unit at a glance
The Sled Springs Unit (WMU 57) covers 882 square miles. ODFW places it in Eastern Oregon, and Wallowa County makes up 94% of the unit. ODFW unit lines follow rivers, ridges and roads, so the Sled Springs Unit reaches 2 counties: Wallowa (830 sq mi) and Union (52 sq mi).
| Where | Sq mi | Unit % | County % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallowa County | 830.3 | 94% | 26% |
| Union County | 52.0 | 6% | 3% |
The Wallowa wildlife district holds 94% of WMU 57, and Union share the rest.
| District | Office town | Phone | Part |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallowa | Enterprise | 541-426-3279 | 94% |
| Union | La Grande | 541-963-2138 | 6% |
Area, side, county overlap and districts from the ODFW Wildlife Management Units layer and the ODFW wildlife district layer (overlay with Census county lines; GIS measures); closed places from the big game regulations and land manager sources; checked November 8, 2026.
What sets the Sled Springs Unit apart
- Cougars taken here count toward Zone E, Blue Mountains, quota 270. Hunting with dogs is not allowed. ODFW's 2025 estimate for the unit: 11 cougars, 240 hunters.
- Buck deer hunts here are drawn by Deer Hunt Area within the Northeast herd range.
- Plan predator or ground squirrel hunts with care: Eastern Buck Deer, Rocky Mtn Bull Elk 1st Season and Rocky Mtn Bull Elk 2nd Season put the Sled Springs Unit under the centerfire rifle limit.
- The Sled Springs Unit has 3 travel management areas, each with its own closure dates; the table below gives them.
- Part of the Sled Springs Unit lies in the Wallowa Valley and Grande Ronde Baker Keating Valleys damage area for antlerless elk.
- Goose and duck zones for WMU 57 come from the ODFW map, not a county list.
- Shooting hours for birds in the Sled Springs Unit follow Zone D (Wallowa, Union).
- CWD status: not detected anywhere in Oregon as of October 15, 2026.
| Season (2026) |
|---|
Eastern Buck Deer (Oct. 3 – Oct. 14) |
Rocky Mtn Bull Elk (controlled) 1st Season (Oct. 28 – Nov. 1) |
Rocky Mtn Bull Elk 2nd Season (Nov. 7 – Nov. 15) |
| Closure | Name | Period |
|---|---|---|
| 57A | Noregaard | Permanent Closure |
| 57B | Shamrock | Permanent Closure |
| 57C | Whiskey Cr | Permanent Closure |
| Range | Code | Hunt areas |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast | NE | NE01, NE02, NE03, NE04, NE05, NE06 |
Cougar zones, Eastern Oregon Deer Hunt Areas, centerfire rifle restrictions, travel management areas, antlerless elk damage areas, goose zones, game bird hours and CWD testing from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife; checked November 8, 2026.
Drawn tags for the Sled Springs Unit
ODFW's 2026 hunt boundaries put 22 controlled, premium or sage-grouse hunts inside WMU 57, led by 10 elk hunts. Their 2026 tags add up to 4,808, many shared with nearby units. 257X leads the 2025 first-choice count for hunts in WMU 57 with 1,426. By applicants per tag, 257C is the long shot at roughly 6 to 1. 8 hunts are new for 2026 (marked "new"). 9 hunts carry an asterisk: they cover only part of the named unit.
Apply by May 15, 2026 (spring bear by February 10); 75% of deer, elk, pronghorn and spring bear tags go to first choices with the most preference points and 25% are random. All hunts listed are 2026 hunts; spring bear rows are the April and May 2026 hunts.
Buck deer, 100 series (6)
| Hunt | Name | Type | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | 1st choice 2025 | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE101-2 new * | Late Wallowa Valley Whitetail | Any legal weapon | Nov 16–25 | One white-tailed deer buck with visible antler | 55 | — | 57, 58, 60, 61 |
| NE103 new | Northeast 03 Mule Deer | Any legal weapon | Oct 3–14 | One mule deer buck with visible antler | 842 | — | This unit only |
| NE103-1 new | Northeast 03 Whitetail | Any legal weapon | Oct 3–14 | One white-tailed deer buck with visible antler | 770 | — | This unit only |
| NE103M new | Northeast 03 Muzzleloader | Muzzleloader | Nov 16–30 | One white-tailed deer | 242 | — | This unit only |
| NE103R new | Northeast 03 Bow Mule Deer | Archery | Aug 29–Sep 27 | One mule deer buck with visible antler | 121 | — | This unit only |
| NE103R1 new | Northeast 03 Bow Whitetail | Archery | Aug 29–Sep 27 | One white-tailed deer | 66 | — | This unit only |
Antlerless deer, 600 series (2)
| Hunt | Name | Type | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | 1st choice 2025 | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE601 new * | Wallowa Valley | Any legal weapon | Sep 1–Jan 31 2027 | One antlerless white-tailed deer | 528 | — | 57, 58, 60, 61 |
| NE603 new * | Lower Grande Ronde | Any legal weapon | Oct 17–25 | One antlerless white-tailed deer | 55 | — | This unit only |
Premium deer, L hunts (1)
| Hunt | Name | Type | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | 1st choice 2025 | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LNE03 | Northeast 03 | Premium (any legal weapon) | Aug 1–Nov 30 | One animal (either sex); premium deer tags are good for any species of deer hunted in that unit | 1 | — | This unit only |
Elk, 200 series (10)
| Hunt | Name | Type | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | 1st choice 2025 | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 257B * | Flora | Any legal weapon | Aug 1–Dec 31 | One antlerless elk | 83 | 99 | This unit only |
| 257C | Sled Springs Unit | Any legal weapon | Nov 21–29 | One antlerless elk | 55 | 314 | This unit only |
| 257R1 | Sled Springs Unit Bow No. 1 | Archery | Aug 29–Sep 27 | One elk | 216 | 874 | This unit only |
| 257R2 | Sled Springs Unit Bow No. 2 | Archery | Aug 29–Sep 27 | One antlerless elk | 165 | 56 | This unit only |
| 257T | Sled Springs Unit Youth | Youth only | Aug 15–Dec 31 | One antlerless elk | 11 | 40 | This unit only |
| 257X | Sled Springs Unit No. 1 | Any legal weapon | Oct 28–Nov 1 | One bull elk | 550 | 1,426 | This unit only |
| 257Y | Sled Springs Unit No. 2 | Any legal weapon | Nov 7–15 | One spike elk | 440 | 99 | This unit only |
| 258A1 * | Zumwalt No. 1 | Any legal weapon | Sep 1–30 | One antlerless elk | 72 | 148 | 57, 58 |
| 258A2 * | Zumwalt No. 2 | Any legal weapon | Oct 1–31 | One antlerless elk | 72 | 83 | 57, 58 |
| 258A3 * | Zumwalt No. 3 | Any legal weapon | Nov 17–Dec 11 | One antlerless elk | 72 | 119 | 57, 58 |
Premium elk, M hunts (1)
| Hunt | Name | Type | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | 1st choice 2025 | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M57 | Sled Springs | Premium (any legal weapon) | Aug 1–Nov 30 | One animal (either sex); premium deer tags are good for any species of deer hunted in that unit | 1 | — | This unit only |
Spring bear, 2026 hunts (2)
| Hunt | Name | Type | Dates | Bag | Tags 2026 | 1st choice 2025 | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 757A * | Sled Springs – Chesnimnus | Any legal weapon | Apr 1–May 31 | — | 303 | 931 | 57, 58 |
| 757T * | Sled Springs – Chesnimnus Youth | Youth only | Apr 1–May 31 | — | 88 | 114 | 57, 58 |
Hunt numbers, dates, bags, 2026 tags and 2025 first-choice applicants from the 2026 Oregon Big Game Hunting Regulations and the 2026-27 game bird regulations (sage-grouse); hunt areas from ODFW’s 2026 hunt boundary layers; draw rules from the controlled hunt pages; checked November 8, 2026.
Sled Springs Unit general seasons and other game
In WMU 57 a general tag buys elk, black bear and cougar; deer here always go through the draw. There is no general elk season in the Sled Springs Unit.
Big game, general (3)
| Species | Season | Tag | Area | Dates | Bag | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk | General season antlerless elk damage | General tag | Halfway Valley; Richland Valley; Ukiah and Heppner; Walla Walla; Wallowa Valley; John Day Valley ; Grande Ronde Baker Keating Valleys | Aug 1–Nov 30 | One antlerless elk | |
| Black bear | General fall black bear (statewide) | General tag | Statewide | Aug 1–Dec 31 | One bear per tag; unlawful to take cubs less than one year old or sows with cubs less than one year old | |
| Cougar | General cougar (statewide, zone quotas) | General tag | Statewide | Jan 1–Dec 31 | One cougar per tag; unlawful to take spotted kittens or females with spotted kittens |
Below the big game rows sit 19 upland, migratory, turkey and furbearer rows valid in WMU 57. Pursuit-only and falconry rows (13) are on the season pages instead.
Other seasons (19)
| Species | Season | Tag | Area | Dates | Bag | Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Turkey | Fall wild turkey | General tag | WMUs 36, 37 | Oct 10–Nov 30 Dec 1–Jan 31 2027 | One wild turkey of either sex | |
| Wild Turkey | Spring 2027: youth spring wild turkey hunt | General tag | Statewide | Apr 10–11 Apr 15–May 31 | One male or bearded turkey per day | |
| Wild Turkey | Spring 2027: spring wild turkey | General tag | Statewide | Apr 15–May 31 | One male wild turkey or a wild turkey with a visible beard per day; season limit 3 | |
| Western Gray Squirrel | Western gray squirrel – remainder of state | License | Statewide | Sep 1–Nov 15 | 5 daily, 15 in possession | |
| Ruffed Grouse | Ruffed grouse | Validation | Statewide | Sep 1–Jan 31 2027 | 3 daily, 9 in possession | |
| Blue Grouse | Blue grouse (dusky and sooty) | Validation | Statewide | Sep 1–Jan 31 2027 | 3 daily, 9 in possession | |
| Chukar | Partridge (chukar and Hungarian combined) | Validation | Statewide | Oct 10–Jan 31 2027 | 8 daily, 24 in possession (combined) | |
| Hungarian Partridge | Partridge (chukar and Hungarian combined) | Validation | Statewide | Oct 10–Jan 31 2027 | 8 daily, 24 in possession (combined) | |
| Pheasant | Rooster pheasant | Validation | Statewide | Oct 10–Dec 31 | 2 daily, 8 in possession | |
| Ducks | Youth waterfowl hunt (ducks, mergansers, coots, geese) | Validation | Statewide | Sep 26–27 | Regular bag limits | |
| Ducks | Veterans and active military personnel waterfowl hunt | Validation | Statewide | Feb 6 | Regular bag limits | |
| Band-tailed Pigeon | Band-tailed pigeon | Permit | Statewide | Sep 15–23 | 2 daily, 6 in possession | |
| Crow | Crow | Validation | Statewide | Oct 1–Jan 31 2027 | No limit | |
| Brant | Brant | Permit | Statewide | Nov 28–Dec 13 | 2 daily, 6 in possession | |
| Gray Fox | Gray fox | Furtaker | Statewide | Oct 15–Feb 28 2027 | — | |
| Muskrat | Muskrat and mink | Furtaker | Statewide | Nov 15–Mar 31 2027 | — | |
| Mink | Muskrat and mink | Furtaker | Statewide | Nov 15–Mar 31 2027 | — | |
| Raccoon | Raccoon | Furtaker | Statewide | Nov 15–Mar 15 2027 | — | |
| River Otter | River otter | Furtaker | Statewide | Nov 15–Mar 15 2027 | — |
Season rows from the 2026 Oregon Big Game Hunting Regulations, the 2026-27 Oregon Game Bird Hunting Regulations and the furbearer regulations; general tag deadlines from the general season page; duck and dove zones on the ODFW waterfowl map; checked November 8, 2026.
Sled Springs Unit take and hunter numbers
Across the 2025 reports, hunts in the Sled Springs Unit produced the most in buck deer, any weapon (526).
Buck deer, any weapon success worked out near 46% (526 taken, 1,141 hunters). Elk, any weapon success worked out near 27% (241 taken, 889 hunters).
ODFW reports harvest by hunt and unit, not by county; a hunt row here counts only its part in this unit.
| Report | Hunt row | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buck deer, any weapon | 157 Sled Springs Unit | 1,083 | 483 | 45% |
| Buck deer, any weapon | 157A Lower Wallowa Valley | 58 | 43 | 74% |
| Deer, archery | 157R Sled Springs Unit Bow | 117 | 26 | 23% |
| Deer, muzzleloader | 157M Sled Springs Unit Muzzleloader | 186 | 92 | 49% |
| Antlerless deer | 657A Flora | 42 | 26 | 62% |
| Antlerless deer | 657B Lower Wallowa Valley | 53 | 30 | 56% |
| Antlerless deer | 660A Upper Wallowa Valley | 13 | 9 | 73% |
| Elk, any weapon | 257B Flora | 85 | 26 | 31% |
| Elk, any weapon | 257C Sled Springs Unit | 45 | 21 | 47% |
| Elk, any weapon | 257T Sled Springs Unit Youth | 9 | 4 | 44% |
| Elk, any weapon | 257X Sled Springs Unit No. 1 | 511 | 158 | 31% |
| Elk, any weapon | 257Y Sled Springs Unit No. 2 | 217 | 28 | 13% |
| Elk, any weapon | 258A1 Zumwalt No. 1 | 7 | 1 | 20% |
| Elk, any weapon | 258A2 Zumwalt No. 2 | 9 | 1 | 17% |
| Elk, any weapon | 258A3 Zumwalt No. 3 | 6 | 2 | 40% |
| Elk, archery | 257R1 Sled Springs Unit Bow No. 1 | 243 | 58 | 24% |
| Elk, archery | 257R2 Sled Springs Unit Bow No. 2 | 103 | 12 | 11% |
| Elk damage tags | General Season Antlerless Elk Damage | 325 | 171 | 53% |
| Black bear | 757A Sled Springs -Chesnimnus | 61 | 21 | 34% |
| Black bear | 757T Sled Springs-Chesnimnus Youth | 22 | 8 | 38% |
| Black bear | Additional Fall Bear | 8 | 5 | 60% |
| Black bear | Fall Bear | 308 | 31 | 10.1% |
| Cougar | Cougar | 240 | 11 | 4.4% |
ODFW 2025 harvest estimates: Buck deer, any weapon, Deer, archery, Deer, muzzleloader, Antlerless deer, Elk, any weapon, Elk, archery, Elk damage tags, Black bear, Cougar; checked November 8, 2026.
Sled Springs Unit public land map
Public ground in the Sled Springs Unit: 7 records sorted with unit-only places first, each linked to its own rules. The Sled Springs Unit includes Bureau of Land Management Oregon public lands.
Wallowa Valley Ranger District (Wallowa-Whitman National Forest)
Minam River Wildlife Area
Wenaha Wildlife Area
Wallowa Wildlife Area
BLM Vale District
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
BLM Baker Field Office
Land records and unit overlaps from ODFW, USFS, BLM, USFWS and ODF layers (see each land page); A&H and Open Fields access rules on the ODFW access program pages; checked November 8, 2026.
the Sled Springs Unit shooting light by date
Game birds run on ODFW's own printed table, and the Sled Springs Unit uses Zone D of it, so the bird column below is copied from the 2026-27 booklet rather than calculated.
| Date | Marker | Sunrise | Sunset | Game mammals | Game birds (ODFW) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 2026 | Eastern buck rifle | 6:49 a.m. | 6:29 p.m. | 6:19 a.m. to 6:59 p.m. | 6:27 a.m. to 6:24 p.m. |
| Oct 10, 2026 | Duck opener and upland opener | 6:58 a.m. | 6:15 p.m. | 6:28 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. | 6:35 a.m. to 6:12 p.m. |
| Dec 21, 2026 | Shortest day | 7:27 a.m. | 4:08 p.m. | 6:57 a.m. to 4:38 p.m. | 6:55 a.m. to 4:18 p.m. |
| Apr 15, 2027 | Spring turkey | 6:06 a.m. | 7:34 p.m. | 5:36 a.m. to 8:04 p.m. | Not in table |
Hours rules from the ODFW general hunting regulations; game bird times from the 2026-27 game bird shooting hours table; mammal sunrise and sunset worked out for this location with the NOAA solar formula (Pacific Time); checked November 8, 2026. Legal hours for every county.
Near the Sled Springs Unit
Towns tied to the Sled Springs Unit: Wallowa, Enterprise, Elgin and Joseph.
- WallowaWallowa County
- EnterpriseWallowa County
- ElginUnion County
- JosephWallowa County
Units around the Sled Springs Unit:
| Unit | Shared counties | Sq mi | Hunt numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wenaha Unit | Union, Wallowa | 412 | 16 |
| Imnaha Unit | Union, Wallowa | 424 | 18 |
| Snake River Unit | Wallowa | 459 | 17 |
| Minam Unit | Union, Wallowa | 574 | 21 |
| Chesnimnus Unit | Wallowa | 656 | 19 |
| Catherine Creek Unit | Union, Wallowa | 662 | 26 |
| Mount Emily Unit | Union | 768 | 15 |
| Starkey Unit | Union | 806 | 18 |
Towns and their units from Census places and the ODFW unit layer; checked November 8, 2026.
Sled Springs Unit answered
Who do I call about access in the Sled Springs Unit?
The Wallowa district at 541-426-3279.
How did the 2026 deer change affect the Sled Springs Unit?
Buck hunts now follow Deer Hunt Areas inside herd ranges instead of units.
Which counties split WMU 57?
Wallowa and Union, with the largest piece in Wallowa.
Which hunt in the Sled Springs Unit gets the most applicants?
257X, with 1,426 first choices in 2025.
Which general tags work in WMU 57?
3 general rows: elk, black bear and cougar.
How many units share the cougar quota with the Sled Springs Unit?
20 units, including this one, share Zone E.
What access limits apply in WMU 57?
3 rifle-restricted seasons and 3 travel management areas.
Are there ODFW wildlife areas in the Sled Springs Unit?
Yes, 3 wildlife areas.
What towns lie within the Sled Springs Unit?
Wallowa.
How did hunters do in the Sled Springs Unit last season?
1,141 hunters took 526 buck deer, any weapon.
Answers drawn from the ODFW sources cited on this page; checked November 8, 2026.
Other photos on this page: Miltos Gikas (CC BY 2.0).