Oregon Deer · Unit 53 Catherine Creek
Oregon Unit 53 covers 426,274 acres and lies 15 miles east of La Grande and 33 miles north of Baker City. 24% of it is public land, mostly national forest (22%) and BLM (1%). In 2025, 623 people hunted deer here and took 201, a 32% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 153, put up 330 tags (all residencies) in the 2025 draw for 27 nonresident first-choice applicants, 7 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 2 points.
No more draws here. The last one was 2025.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife held its 2026 deer draw without Unit 53. Its ground is now drawn as SW-02 — South Wallowas 02 (65% of this unit), NE-01 — Northeast 01 (35% of this unit). The odds, costs and harvest below are that history, kept for the record.
2 licenses · NR capped at 5%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
22% Forest Service
426,274 acres
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only. The written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Best Bets at 0 Points
Ranked by your odds times how often that license type's hunters filled their tag in 2025. Nonresident, first choice, 2025 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
Every License in Unit 53
The last draw held in Unit 53 was 2025. These are that draw's chances for a first-choice nonresident applicant, kept for the record.
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 153 | Catherine Cr Unit | 14% | 2 | |
| 153R | Catherine Cr Unit Bow | 100% | 0 |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2025 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.
Draw results: ODFW 2025 Preference Point Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2025 nonresident fees): $623.50 ($180 to apply). Open Dec 1, 2026 – May 15, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 (summed) | 623 | 201 | 32% |
| 2024 (summed) | 681 | 187 | 27% |
| 2023 (summed) | 1,113 | 356 | 32% |
| 2022 (summed) | 568 | 152 | 27% |
| 2021 (summed) | 978 | 290 | 30% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Deer | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 153 catherine cr unit | 292 | 129 | 44% |
| 153r catherine cr unit bow | 273 | 58 | 21% |
| 152m grande ronde muzzleloader | 58 | 14 | 25% |
2025 split: rifle 129 (64%) from 292 hunters, 44%, archery 58 (29%) from 273 hunters, 21%, muzzleloader 14 (7%) from 58 hunters, 24%
What Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes after each season, for everyone who hunted the area: harvest statistics, not draw odds. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes no whole-unit line for 2025; a year's total is the sum of published weapon rows, added only where the lines do not overlap. 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. Source: ODFW 2025 Estimated Muzzleloader Buck Deer…; ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Buck Deer Harvest by…; ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer….
The Ground
| Private | 323,270 ac | 76% |
| National Forest | 93,778 ac | 22% |
| BLM | 5,679 ac | 1% |
| State land | 1,184 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 733 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 136 ac | <1% |
Source: Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office 2026 BLM /Washington Land Status Ownership.
▸ Sources 19
- ODFW 2025 Preference Point Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2026 Recreational Fee Schedule fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2025 Estimated Muzzleloader Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Buck Deer Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2024 Estimated Muzzleloader Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2024 Estimated Archery Buck Deer Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2024 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Muzzleloader Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Archery Buck Deer Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2022 Estimated Muzzleloader Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2022 Estimated Archery Buck Deer Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2022 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Muzzleloader Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Archery Buck Deer Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Buck Deer… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2026 Wildlife Management Unit boundaries boundary, area description, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office 2026 BLM /Washington Land Status Ownership land ownership, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2025 draw, the latest on file, computed from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's published results. They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
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We don't take applications: check Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All Oregon deer hunts