Oregon Elk · Unit 16 Santiam
Oregon Unit 16 spans 2,127,257 acres, centered 24 miles south-east of Molalla. 64% of it is public land, mostly national forest (52%) and BLM (8%). In 2025, 2,766 people hunted elk here and took 303, a 11% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 216B, put up 11 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 2 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 9 points.
4 licenses · NR capped at 5%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
52% Forest Service
2,127,257 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, 2026 draw; licenses with at least 10 tags that anyone can buy.
- Success
- 11%
- Season
- Dec 1 – Mar 31
- Tags / Apps
- 11 / 2
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 11%
- Season
- Dec 1 – Mar 31
- Tags / Apps
- 22 / 0
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 11%
- Season
- Sep 28 – Oct 2
- Tags / Apps
- 55 / 1
- If Drawn
- $863
Every License in Unit 16
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 216B | SW Santiam | 2% | 9 ▲2 | |
| 216D | NW Santiam | 100% | 4 ▲1 | |
| 216R1 | Santiam Unit Traditional Bow (Long or recurve bow Only; compound bows prohibited) | 100% | 0 | |
| 216T · youth | Santiam Unit Youth | 100% | 2 |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file. Not in the table, with no 2026 result: 216R2.
Draw results: ODFW 2026 Preference Point Draw Report, retrieved Aug 31, 2026.
If you draw (2026 nonresident fees): $863 ($203 to apply). Open Dec 1, 2026 – May 15, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Harvest
| Year | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 (summed) | 2,766 | 303 | 11% |
| 2024 (summed) | 2,907 | 256 | 9% |
| 2023 (summed) | 2,778 | 251 | 9% |
| 2022 (summed) | 2,710 | 260 | 10% |
| 2021 (summed) | 2,805 | 247 | 9% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 216b sw santiam | 23 | 17 | 73% |
| 216d nw santiam | 72 | 29 | 40% |
| 216t santiam unit youth | 13 | 8 | 64% |
| West cascade | 1,598 | 132 | 8% |
| 200r oregon youth bow | 7 | 1 | 17% |
| 216r1 santiam unit traditional bow | 10 | 0 | 0% |
| 216r2 santiam unit late bow | 55 | 1 | 2% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 216r1 | 10 | 2 | 17% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 216r2 | 58 | 10 | 18% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 217r | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 218r | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 219r | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Western general bow elk w/ 221r | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| Western elk archery | 838 | 97 | 12% |
| 200m cascade muzzleloader | 73 | 6 | 8% |
2025 split: rifle 186 (61%) from 1,706 hunters, 11%, archery 111 (37%) from 987 hunters, 11%, muzzleloader 6 (2%) from 73 hunters, 8%
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 Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest…; ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone; ODFW 2025 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by….
The Ground
| National Forest | 1,114,620 ac | 52% |
| Private | 757,709 ac | 36% |
| BLM | 167,641 ac | 8% |
| State land | 61,210 ac | 3% |
| Other public | 14,521 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 12,060 ac | <1% |
| National Wildlife Refuge | 124 ac | <1% |
| Tribal | 1 ac | <1% |
Source: Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office 2026 BLM /Washington Land Status Ownership.
▸ Sources 20
- ODFW 2026 Preference Point Draw Report draw results, retrieved Aug 31, 2026
- ODFW 2026 OAR chapter 635 division 060 fees, 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 2025 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by… 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 2024 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by… 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 2022 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by… 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 2026 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.
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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 · All Oregon elk hunts