Oregon Elk — Unit 12

Wilson

Oregon Unit 12 covers 369,506 acres and lies 28 miles north-west of Forest Grove. 66% of it is public land, mostly state land (63%) and BLM (2%). In 2025, 2,766 people hunted elk here and took 409 — 15% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 48 tags here for 3 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 1 points.

Tags (2026):198 Nonresident share:capped at 5% Applicants:16 Hunter success (2025):15% Public land:66% Size:369,506 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 12, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

7 licenses on offer · 198 tags · 16 applicants in the 2026 draw

Chances are from the 2026 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 212 Wilson Unit 10 tags · 7 applicants · needed 13 pts
    <1% Point builder
  • 212A1 Miami-Nehalem No. 1 37 tags · 3 applicants · needed 2 pts
    13% Point builder
  • 212A2 Miami-Nehalem No. 2 39 tags · 1 applicants · needed 1 pts
    23% Long shot
  • 212B Buick Canyon 10 tags · 0 applicants · needed 5 pts
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 212T1 Wilson Unit No. 1 Youth 11 tags · 2 applicants · needed 3 pts
    4% Point builder
  • 212T2 Wilson Unit No. 2 Youth 43 tags · 0 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 212T3 Wilson Unit No. 3 Youth 48 tags · 3 applicants · needed 1 pts
    57% Real chance
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2026 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 2026 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 (2026 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Per application $203 $203 $863

Application window: opens Dec 1, closes May 15, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Forest Grove Astoria St. Helens Lincoln City Newport
Unit 12 within Oregon
10 11 14 Forest Grove St. Helens Newberg Tigard
Unit 12 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

  • State land 232,972 ac · 63%
  • Private 126,398 ac · 34%
  • BLM 6,190 ac · 2%
  • Other public 2,984 ac · 1%
  • County or city land 840 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 2,766 409 15%
2024 2,886 388 13%
2023 3,056 427 14%
2022 3,059 405 13%
2021 3,209 445 14%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Rifle 337 · 82% · 2,280 hunters, 15% success
  • Archery 72 · 18% · 486 hunters, 15% success

Boundary: ODFW Wildlife Management Unit boundaries (Compass ArcGIS service)

Harvest: ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt

Harvest: ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt

Harvest: ODFW 2024 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt

How we compute draw odds · All Oregon elk hunts