Oregon Elk · Unit 48 Heppner
Oregon Unit 48 covers 922,104 acres and lies 48 miles south-west of Pendleton and 63 miles west of La Grande. 34% of it is public land, mostly national forest (27%) and BLM (7%). In 2025, 3,939 people hunted elk here and took 708, a 18% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 248R2, put up 1,430 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 157 nonresident first-choice applicants, 55 of whom drew.
11 licenses · NR capped at 5%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
27% Forest Service
922,104 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
- 18%
- Season
- Oct 28 – Nov 1
- Tags / Apps
- 138 / 14
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 18%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 220 / 15
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 18%
- Season
- Aug 1 – Dec 31
- Tags / Apps
- 99 / 15
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 18%
- Season
- Dec 1–31
- Tags / Apps
- 22 / 0
- If Drawn
- $863
Every License in Unit 48
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 248A1 | Heppner Unit No. 1 | 7% | 5 ▲1 | |
| 248A2 | Heppner Unit No. 2 | 100% | 0 | |
| 248B1 | Ritter No. 1 | 100% | 0 | |
| 248B2 | Ritter No. 2 | 100% | 0 | |
| 248C | Monument | 100% | 0 | |
| 248D | Heppner Unit | 2% | 8 ▲1 | |
| 248E | Willow Creek | 100% | 0 | |
| 248M | Pole Cr Muzzleloader | 4% | 25 ▲5 | |
| 248R1 | Heppner Unit Bow No. 1 | 8% | 3 | |
| 248R2 | Heppner Unit Bow No. 2 | 100% | 0 | |
| 248T · youth | Heppner Unit Youth | 10% | 3 |
First-choice nonresident odds at your points, 2026 draw. Cut = points the last tag went at; ▲ = points added since the earliest draw on file.
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) | 3,939 | 708 | 18% |
| 2024 (summed) | 3,715 | 867 | 23% |
| 2023 (summed) | 4,020 | 575 | 14% |
| 2022 (summed) | 4,217 | 742 | 18% |
| 2021 (summed) | 4,737 | 761 | 16% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 247d1 northside - ritter private no.1 | 37 | 13 | 36% |
| 247d2 northside - ritter private no.2 | 15 | 9 | 60% |
| 248a1 heppner unit no. 1 | 525 | 154 | 29% |
| 248a2 heppner unit no. 2 | 352 | 30 | 9% |
| 248b1 ritter no. 1 | 105 | 36 | 34% |
| 248b2 ritter no. 2 | 162 | 28 | 17% |
| 248c monument | 66 | 32 | 49% |
| 248d heppner unit | 34 | 19 | 56% |
| 248e willow creek | 14 | 3 | 23% |
| 248t heppner unit youth | 42 | 23 | 56% |
| Rocky mtn 2nd season | 1,295 | 78 | 6% |
| 200r oregon youth bow | 15 | 1 | 8% |
| 248r1 heppner unit bow no. 1 | 112 | 29 | 26% |
| 248r2 heppner unit bow no. 2 | 1,139 | 242 | 21% |
| 248m pole cr muzzleloader | 26 | 11 | 42% |
2025 split: rifle 425 (60%) from 2,647 hunters, 16%, archery 272 (38%) from 1,266 hunters, 21%, muzzleloader 11 (2%) from 26 hunters, 42%
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
| Private | 605,312 ac | 66% |
| National Forest | 252,875 ac | 27% |
| BLM | 60,065 ac | 7% |
| State land | 4,093 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 Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2023 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by… 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 Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2021 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… 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. How we compute these.
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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 · Methodology · All Oregon elk hunts