Oregon Elk — Unit 38

Grizzly

Oregon Unit 38 covers 1,079,441 acres and lies 21 miles north of Prineville and 30 miles north-east of Redmond. 28% of it is public land, mostly national forest (19%) and BLM (8%). In 2025, 1,316 people hunted elk here and took 211 — 16% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 662 tags here for 17 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 1 points.

Tags (2026):1,181 Nonresident share:capped at 5% Applicants:46 Hunter success (2025):16% Public land:28% Size:1,079,441 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 38, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

6 licenses on offer · 1,181 tags · 46 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
  • 238A Grizzly Grassland 662 tags · 17 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 238B1 Grizzly Private No. 1 168 tags · 4 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 238B2 Grizzly Private No. 2 207 tags · 9 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 238T Grizzly Unit Youth 10 tags · 0 applicants · needed 3 pts
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 238X Grizzly Unit No. 1 67 tags · 6 applicants · needed 3 pts
    6% Point builder
  • 238Y Grizzly Unit No. 2 67 tags · 10 applicants · needed 3 pts
    10% Point builder
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

Prineville The Dalles Sweet Home Molalla Hermiston
Unit 38 within Oregon
16 34 36 37 39 40 45 48 Prineville Bend
Unit 38 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

  • Private 781,683 ac · 72%
  • National Forest 206,585 ac · 19%
  • BLM 84,811 ac · 8%
  • State land 2,938 ac · 0%
  • National Park Service 2,848 ac · 0%
  • Bureau of Reclamation 567 ac · 0%
  • Other public 461 ac · 0%
  • Tribal 16 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 1,316 211 16%
2024 1,364 220 16%
2023 1,376 193 14%
2022 1,451 235 16%
2021 1,413 206 15%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Rifle 146 · 69% · 618 hunters, 24% success
  • Archery 65 · 31% · 698 hunters, 9% success

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

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

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

Harvest: ODFW 2024 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt

How we compute draw odds · All Oregon elk hunts