Oregon Elk — Unit 42
Hood
Oregon Unit 42 covers 240,787 acres and lies 27 miles west of The Dalles. 71% of it is public land, mostly national forest (64%) and county or city land (6%). In 2025, 339 people hunted elk here and took 72 — 21% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 112 tags here for 4 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 1 points.
Your chance of drawing here
Every elk license type on offer in Unit 42, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
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-
83% Likely draw
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 242 ↗ Hood Private | 83% Likely draw | 1 steady since 2022 | 112 / 4 | Aug 1 – Dec 31, 2026 |
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
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest 153,890 ac · 64%
- Private 70,304 ac · 29%
- County or city land 15,382 ac · 6%
- State land 1,009 ac · 0%
- Other public 79 ac · 0%
- BLM 78 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 | 339 | 72 | 21% |
| 2024 | 316 | 59 | 19% |
| 2023 | 289 | 43 | 15% |
| 2022 | 334 | 64 | 19% |
| 2021 | 267 | 41 | 15% |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Rifle 51 · 71% · 243 hunters, 21% success
- Archery 21 · 29% · 96 hunters, 22% 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