Oregon Deer — Unit 46
Murderers Creek
Oregon Unit 46 covers 735,762 acres and lies 72 miles south-west of Baker City and 88 miles east of Prineville. 68% of it is public land, mostly national forest (59%) and BLM (6%). In 2025, 994 people hunted deer here and took 414 — 42% of them killed something. The 2025 draw put up 938 tags here for 56 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 1 points.
Your chance of drawing here
Every deer license type on offer in Unit 46, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
Chances are from the 2025 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.
Simple view Odds at every point level-
6% Point builder
-
100% Likely draw
-
100% No first-choice applicants
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 146 ↗ Murderers Cr Unit Rifle | 6% Point builder | 5 +1 since 2022 | 717 / 179 | Oct 4–15, 2025 |
| 146R1 ↗ Murderers Cr Unit Bow Archery | 100% Likely draw | 1 steady since 2024 | 938 / 56 | Aug 30 – Sep 28, 2025 |
| 146R2 ↗ Grant Co Whitetail Bow Archery | 100% No first-choice applicants | 1 −2 since 2024 | 20 / 0 | Nov 15–30, 2025 |
What these columns mean
- Your odds —
- the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2025 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
- The badge —
- plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
- Points needed —
- the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2025 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
- Tags / applicants —
- tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.
What it costs to apply (2025 nonresident fees)
| License | Up front | Gone if you miss | If you draw |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per application | $180 | $180 | $623.50 |
Application window: opens Dec 1, closes May 15, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Other licenses valid in Unit 46
Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2025 draw.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest 435,918 ac · 59%
- Private 235,711 ac · 32%
- BLM 42,515 ac · 6%
- State land 21,932 ac · 3%
- Other public 33 ac · 0%
Source: BLM Oregon/Washington Land Status Ownership (BLM_OR_Ownership MapServer)
How the hunting has gone
What Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season. Oregon requires every tag holder to report, but the numbers ODFW publishes are survey estimates expanded from the reporting rate — the agency's own tables are titled "Estimated harvest... based on Mandatory Harvest Survey Reports" — not a count of animals checked in.
| Season | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 994 | 414 | 42% |
| 2024 | 1,255 | 559 | 45% |
| 2022 | 887 | 453 | 51% |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Rifle 337 · 81% · 619 hunters, 54% success
- Archery 77 · 19% · 375 hunters, 21% success
Boundary: ODFW Wildlife Management Unit boundaries (Compass ArcGIS service)
Harvest: ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt
Harvest: ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Buck Deer Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt
Harvest: ODFW 2024 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt