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| Oregon Elk | Oregon Bighorn Sheep Hunting | Oregon Deer Hunting |
| Oregon Mountain Goat | Oregon Pronghorn Antelope | Available Oregon Hunts (HF Adventures) |
| Oregon Mountain Lion | Oregon Bear | |
Oregon’s Big Game Regulations for 2026 are available. Go online to www.eregulations.com/oregon/big-game-hunting/ to download a copy or call 503-947-6000 to request that a copy be mailed to you. The application deadline is May 15 at 11:59 PST. Draw results will be available by June 12. Since applicants do not submit tag fees, no refunds will be sent. If you draw, you will receive a notice to purchase your tag.
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The only ways you can apply are online using a credit card or at licensed sales agent. You can apply online at https://odfw.huntfishoregon.com/login. If you made an error or want to change your application, you can do so in your online account through May 25.
Oregon allows up to eighteen people to apply as a party for deer and elk hunts and up to two hunters to apply as a party for antelope. No party applications will be accepted for bighorn sheep or mountain goat. If your party is drawn and there aren’t enough tags remaining to fill your party, then no hunter in your party will receive a tag. Party application points will be averaged. Oregon rounds points up from .51 and down from .50 to the next whole number. For example, if 3.50 is the party average, then all applicants in the party will apply with 3 points.
A maximum of 3% of antelope tags and 5% of controlled deer, controlled elk, and controlled black bear tags can be issued to non-residents, but the Guides and Outfitters Program gets 2.5% of these tags before the draw takes place. No less than 5% and no more than 10% of all bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat tags will be issued to non-residents.
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If you draw your second through fifth choice, you will gain a point and still obtain the tag. If you draw your first choice, your points go back to zero whether you decide to purchase the tag or not. You will retain your points until you are successful in drawing your first choice.
There are no waiting periods for deer, elk, or antelope. Bighorn sheep and mountain goat tags are limited to one tag per lifetime.
There are two options for tagging game mammals: paper tags and electronic tags. Hunters must choose one of these options at the time of purchase. The electronic tags must be immediately validated by pressing the “Validate” button on the image of the tag in the Department’s electronic licensing system mobile app. At the time of validation, a confirmation number will become visible. In addition to validating a tag electronically, the tag owner’s name, date of birth, ODFW ID#, harvest date, and confirmation number must be written in ink on a material of the tag owner’s choice (options include flagging, duct tape, or paper in a protective plastic bag) and attached securely to the game animal in plain sight.
Non-residents must purchase a hunting license and submit application fees to apply. Oregon accepts Visa, MasterCard, or Discover. Since applicants do not submit tag fees, no refunds will be sent.
Oregon issues their own ID number to hunters and anglers to track them in their system. All information is attached to this number, including your preference points.
Hunters seventeen years old or younger need to have a hunter education certificate in their possession to hunt big game if they are not enrolled in the Mentored Youth Hunter Program. Youth ages nine through fifteen may hunt without having passed an approved hunter education program as long as they are registered for the Mentored Youth Hunter Program.
Oregon has no hunter orange clothing requirements for adults. However, anyone under eighteen years old hunting a firearm or muzzleloader must wear a fluorescent orange hat or other exterior garment visible from all sides while hunting any game mammal or upland game bird, excluding turkey.
Youth hunters ages twelve through seventeen may apply for tags in Oregon, though they must purchase a juvenile hunting license prior to applying. Youth hunters can be eleven years old at the time of applying but must be twelve years old by the time of their hunt. Youth ages nine through eleven may apply for points only.
Oregon has a preference point system for elk, deer, and antelope where 75% of controlled draw permits will be issued to applicants with the most points. If there are three tags or less issued for a particular hunt, they will be issued to applicants with the most points. There is no point system for bighorn sheep or mountain goat. If you want to build points for elk, deer, and antelope and be guaranteed that you won’t draw, you can apply for points only. For 2026, the maximum number of points on-resident can have is 33 for deer and antelope and 32 for elk. Each year, it will increase by one point. The only way to lose your points is to draw your first choice.
Applicants can apply for “points only” for deer, elk, antelope, and black bear in the main draw, or they may apply for “points only” during a separate application period from July 1 to November 30.
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The draw odds are based on the number of points it took to draw that particular hunt in 2025. Remember, for all species except bighorn sheep and mountain goats, 75% of the tags are issued to the applicants with the most points. The other 25% awarded to the pool of remaining applicants with no regard to points, ensuring all remaining applicants have the same chance at drawing. In most cases, non-residents who applied with the most points were the only non-resident hunters who drew tags, as tag numbers in youth units are low.
The Mentored Youth Hunter Program allows youth ages nine through fifteen to hunt without passing a hunter education class or purchasing a license or tags. In a great program. While the youth must hunt a supervisor who is at least twenty-one years old, they are allowed to fill their supervisor’s tags—provided the supervisor is willing to donate them. For example, a husband and wife both buy over-the-counter blacktail deer tags in Oregon. They hunt with their nine-year-old son, who kills his first buck and puts his mother’s tag on it. Then, he kills another buck and puts his dad’s tag on it. Under the Mentored Youth Hunter Program, a youth can fill as many tags as their supervisor is willing to donate.
Muzzleloaders no longer need to have an open ignition system. Muzzleloader restrictions include no scopes (unless you have a qualified resident), in which case you should see the regulations for more information, pelletized powders, sabots, jacketed bullets, centerfire primers, or 209 primers. Only the following types are allowed: round balls made of lead, lead alloy, or federally approved nontoxic shot material. Cloth, felt, and paper patches are legal.
Archers may not have electronic devices attached to their bow, arrow, or draw-lock device. Broadheads can be either fixed or mechanical. They must be unbarbed and at least 7/8” wide. Archers must have a draw weight of at least 40 lbs.
Oregon is issuing one premium hunt per unit for elk, deer, and antelope. Winners of these tags can hunt with any weapon and have extended season dates. A separate application is required to apply for these premium hunts. There isn’t a non-resident quota associated with these tags, and you can apply for these premium hunts in addition to the regular controlled hunts. Applicants are allowed to submit one application per species, and applications are $10 each. There are no preference points associated with these permits. Elk, deer, and antelope season dates will be August 1 through November 30, 2026. Our top five trophy picks are shown under the species-specific sections in the coming pages. If you are interested in the entire list of available hunts, refer to pages 68–69 in the 2026 Oregon Big Game Regulations booklet.
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Each year, Oregon raffles and auctions off a variety of big game tags for most species. For more information, check out pages 71-72 of the Big Game Hunting Regulations booklet or visit https://myodfw.com/articles/big-game-raffle-and-auction-hunts.
Leftover licenses for hunts with fewer applicants than there are tags will be available beginning at 10 a.m. on March 15 for black bear and 10 a.m. on July 1 for all other big game tags. Tags awarded through the controlled hunt drawing that were not claimed or purchased will not be available for sale.
Oregon has a landowner tag system for elk and deer that requires landowners to register in the Landowner Preference Program. To do so, landowners will have to pay a $5 registration fee, tag their property, and provide tax lot maps. Both the landowner and hunter must purchase a controlled hunt application prior to the deadline, and they must specify a landowner preference hunt choice on their application. If you receive an LOP tag, you can only hunt on the landowner’s property within the unit where you applied. Landowner antelope tags are only available to landowners and their family members, and they have to go through the same draw process listed above. See page 24 of the regulations for more information on the landowner tag program.
The Oregon Guides and Outfitters Program provides guides and outfitters the opportunity to market non-resident tags. A number of tags equal to one-half of the non-resident deer and elk tags drawn in the previous year are available through this program. In units with only one non-resident tag, that tag will alternate year to year between being issued through the draw or to an outfitter. Guides certified by the Oregon State Marine Board submit applications and compete for the right to market these tags. Tags not sold by April 15 will be available in the big game drawing. For more information, contact the Oregon State Marine Board at 503-378-2633.
Hunters have the option of deciding whether or not they want to purchase the tag for the hunt choice drawn. For all controlled hunts, hunters have until the day before the earliest hunt period opens to purchase their tag. After you have purchased your tag, Oregon does not offer tag refunds except for special circumstances. Contact the License Department for more information.
You can report your harvest by going online to https://odfw.huntfishoregon.com/login. Those who failed to report on 2025 deer and elk tags by the deadline will be penalized a 25% fee by the time you purchase a 2026 hunting license. See page 6 of the 2026 regulations for further information.
ODFW big game hunting maps can be found online at https://myodfw.com/big-game-hunting/areas. For researching the new eastern deer units go to https://myodfw.com/articles/eastern-oregon-deer-hunt-areas-2026.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Access and Habitat Program was created in 1993 to improve wildlife habitat and public hunting access on private lands throughout the state. The program’s funding base comes primarily from a surcharge on hunting licenses and the annual auction and raffle of special deer and elk tags. Landowners participating in the program provide a wide range of public hunting opportunities, ranging from open access areas (where no permission is required to hunt) to areas where landowner permission is required.
The current wolf population is estimated at over 200 wolves. The actual number of wolves in Oregon is likely much greater than this minimum estimate. Gray wolves are currently protected statewide, so hunting is not allowed. This allows Oregon’s wolf population to be healthy and continue to grow. Hopefully, wolf hunting will be allowed some day as wolves are having an impact on the elk populations in some areas.
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