Oregon Elk 223T
Melrose Unit Youth in Unit 23 — Melrose, rifle only, Aug 15 – Mar 30, 2025. 16% public land, mostly BLM.
No longer drawn. The last draw was 2024.
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife held its 2026 elk draw without 223T. The odds, costs and history below are that record, not an offer.
Your odds at 0 points · 2024 draw
You're 1 point below the 2024 cut of 1, which is back at 1 point, where it was in 2022.
Years to draw on points: 2 yrs (at least 2)
- Tags
- 10
- Nonresident Applicants
- 2
- Success
- 59%
First-choice nonresidents; the tags are shared by every residency; nonresidents capped at 5%. Success: 223a melrose unit hunters, 2025.
Points Needed to Draw, 2022–2024
The cut is back at 1 point, where it was in 2022. Applicants per tag: 3.2:1 in 2022, 1.4:1 in 2024.
Point creep: drew out at 1 → 2 → 1 point (2022–2024), +0.0 points/yr (range +0.0 to +1.0). Years to draw project that pace (the median of the last five draws, capped at 2 points/yr); the agency sets quotas and demand sets the cut.
What It Costs · 2025 NR Fees
The $8 controlled hunt application (per hunt series) is not refunded. The $172 nonresident annual hunting license is not refunded. Drawing adds the $588 nonresident controlled elk tag.
▸ Every Fee, With Sources
- Controlled hunt application (per hunt series) · paid at application $8 ODFW 2026 Recreational Fee Schedule
- Nonresident annual hunting license · paid at application $172 ODFW 2026 Recreational Fee Schedule
- Nonresident controlled elk tag · paid if drawn $588 ODFW 2026 Recreational Fee Schedule
Details
Odds by Point Level · 2024 Draw
| Points | Chance | Applied | Drew |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–1 ← you | 56% same at every level | — | — |
| 2–10 | 100% same at every level | — | — |
Points pass + random pass, from published pools. A dash means Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife did not publish a count for that level. Oregon runs a second, random pass after the points pass. As a lower choice, 223T drew no one in 2024, so lower-choice odds are left out.
Draw results: ODFW 2024 Preference Point Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
How It Hunted, 2025
| Who | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 223a melrose unit | 124 | 73 | 59% |
| Coast 1st season | 116 | 14 | 12% |
| Coast 2nd season | 246 | 36 | 15% |
| 200r oregon youth bow | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 216r1 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 216r2 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 217r | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 218r | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 219r | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 221r | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Western elk archery | 124 | 39 | 32% |
| All of Unit 23 | 613 | 164 | 27% |
Adding up Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's published lines for Unit 23 gives 613 hunters and 164 elk taken in 2025, and 27% of them took an elk (sum of published weapon rows). The first rows are hunters holding this license type; the rest of the area's hunters held something else. 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 Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest…; ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone.
▸ Year-by-Year Numbers 3 draws
The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year. Oregon runs a second, random pass after the points pass; it is shown beside the year it belongs to.
| Year | Tags (All Res.) | Nonresident Applicants | Per Tag | Points Needed | Random Pass | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 10 | 2 | 1.4 | 1 | 5 tags | ODFW 2024 Preference Point Draw Report |
| 2023 | 10 | — | 1.8 | 2 | 2 tags | ODFW 2023 Preference Point Draw Report |
| 2022 | 10 | 2 | 3.2 | 1 | 2 tags | ODFW 2022 Preference Point Draw Report |
Other Licenses Valid in Unit 23
- 223A Melrose Unit Aug 1 – Mar 31 · 11 tags · cut 25 1%
Odds at your points, nonresident. * fewer than 5 tags.
▸ Legal Cartridges 21 on file for Oregon elk
21 cartridges on file are legal for elk with a rifle in Oregon. Rules and sources: Oregon hunting laws.
▸ Sources 17
- ODFW 2024 Preference Point Draw Report draw results, seasons, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Preference Point Draw Report earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2022 Preference Point Draw Report earlier draws, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2026 OAR chapter 635 division 060 draw rules, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2026 Recreational Fee Schedule fees, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2024 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2024 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2022 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2022 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2026 Wildlife Management Unit boundaries boundary, 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 2024 draw, the latest on file, computed from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's published results (points pass + random pass, from published pools). 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.
Report an error on this page
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 elk hunts