AmmoSight

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 — 18% of them killed something. The 2026 draw put up 2,356 tags here for 157 first-choice applicants, and the last tag went to someone with 2 points.

Tags (2026):4,989 Nonresident share:capped at 5% Applicants:423 Hunter success (2025):18% Public land:34% Size:922,104 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Unit 48, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

11 licenses on offer · 4,989 tags · 423 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
  • 248A1 Heppner Unit No. 1 613 tags · 152 applicants · needed 5 pts
    7% Point builder
  • 248A2 Heppner Unit No. 2 1,054 tags · 18 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 248B1 Ritter No. 1 215 tags · 14 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 248B2 Ritter No. 2 341 tags · 15 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 248C Monument 143 tags · 15 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 248D Heppner Unit 33 tags · 6 applicants · needed 8 pts
    2% Point builder
  • 248E Willow Creek 35 tags · 0 applicants · needed 1 pts
    100% No first-choice applicants
  • 248M Pole Cr Muzzleloader 27 tags · 10 applicants · needed 25 pts
    4% Point builder
  • 248R1 Heppner Unit Bow No. 1 122 tags · 29 applicants · needed 3 pts
    8% Point builder
  • 248R2 Heppner Unit Bow No. 2 2,356 tags · 157 applicants · needed 2 pts
    100% Likely draw
  • 248T Heppner Unit Youth 50 tags · 7 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

Pendleton La Grande Baker City Prineville The Dalles
Unit 48 within Oregon
37 38 40 43 44 45 47 49 50 51 52 53 54 56 Pendleton Hermiston La Grande Baker City
Unit 48 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 605,312 ac · 66%
  • National Forest 252,875 ac · 27%
  • BLM 60,065 ac · 7%
  • State land 4,093 ac · 0%

Source: BLM Oregon/Washington Land Status Ownership (BLM_OR_Ownership MapServer)

Nearby areas

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 3,939 708 18%
2024 3,715 867 23%
2023 4,020 575 14%
2022 4,217 742 18%
2021 4,737 761 16%

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Rifle 425 · 60% · 2,647 hunters, 16% success
  • Archery 272 · 38% · 1,266 hunters, 21% success
  • Muzzleloader 11 · 2% · 26 hunters, 42% 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 2025 Estimated Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by Zone, Wildlife Management Unit and Hunt

How we compute draw odds · All Oregon elk hunts