Oregon Deer — Unit 56

Wenaha

Oregon Unit 56 covers 264,421 acres and lies 38 miles north of La Grande and 50 miles east of Pendleton. 73% of it is public land, mostly national forest (68%) and state land (4%). In 2025, 451 people hunted deer here and took 188 — 42% of them killed something. The 2025 draw put up 319 tags here for 32 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 1 points.

Tags (2025):319 Nonresident share:capped at 5% Applicants:32 Hunter success (2025):42% Public land:73% Size:264,421 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in Unit 56, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

1 license on offer · 319 tags · 32 applicants in the 2025 draw

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
  • 156 Wenaha Unit 319 tags · 32 applicants · needed 1 pts
    23% Long shot
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.

The country

La Grande Pendleton Baker City Ontario The Dalles
Unit 56 within Oregon
54 55 57 58 60
Unit 56 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • National Forest 180,013 ac · 68%
  • Private 70,098 ac · 27%
  • State land 11,175 ac · 4%
  • BLM 2,881 ac · 1%
  • Other public 173 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 451 188 42%
2024 475 187 39%
2023 509 165 32%
2022 543 169 31%
2021 527 176 33%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Rifle 86 · 46% · 208 hunters, 41% success
  • Archery 22 · 12% · 61 hunters, 36% success
  • Muzzleloader 80 · 43% · 182 hunters, 44% 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 2025 Estimated Muzzleloader Buck Deer Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt

How we compute draw odds · All Oregon deer hunts