Oregon Elk · Unit 53 Catherine Creek
Oregon Unit 53 covers 426,274 acres and lies 15 miles east of La Grande and 33 miles north of Baker City. 24% of it is public land, mostly national forest (22%) and BLM (1%). In 2025, 1,171 people hunted elk here and took 303, a 26% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 253R1, put up 1,795 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 193 nonresident first-choice applicants, 75 of whom drew.
7 licenses · NR capped at 5%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
22% Forest Service
426,274 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
- 26%
- Season
- Dec 12–31
- Tags / Apps
- 110 / 1
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 26%
- Season
- Nov 1 – Dec 31
- Tags / Apps
- 275 / 1
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 26%
- Season
- Aug 29 – Sep 27
- Tags / Apps
- 1,795 / 193
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 26%
- Season
- Aug 29 – Sep 27
- Tags / Apps
- 200 / 18
- If Drawn
- $863
Every License in Unit 53
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 253A | Catherine Cr Unit | 40% | 1 ▼2 | |
| 253B | Mt Harris | 100% | 0 | |
| 253M | Catherine Creek Unit Muzzleloader | 100% | 0 | |
| 253R1 | Eagle Cap Zone | 100% | 0 | |
| 253R2 | Eagle Cap Traditional Bow | 100% | 0 | |
| 253T · youth | Catherine Cr Unit Youth | 68% | 1 | |
| 253X | Catherine Cr Unit | 18% | 4 ▲1 |
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) | 1,171 | 303 | 26% |
| 2024 (summed) | 1,227 | 321 | 26% |
| 2023 (summed) | 2,745 | 525 | 19% |
| 2022 (summed) | 3,463 | 700 | 20% |
| 2021 (summed) | 3,091 | 596 | 19% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 253a s catherine cr | 40 | 6 | 16% |
| 253b mt harris | 88 | 41 | 46% |
| 253t catherine cr unit youth | 29 | 9 | 32% |
| 253x catherine cr unit | 324 | 129 | 40% |
| Rocky mtn 2nd season | 189 | 26 | 14% |
| 200r oregon youth bow | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| 253r1 eagle cap zone | 361 | 68 | 19% |
| 253r2 eagle cap traditional bow | 33 | 8 | 23% |
| 253m catherine creek unit muzzleloader | 103 | 16 | 16% |
2025 split: rifle 211 (70%) from 670 hunters, 31%, archery 76 (25%) from 398 hunters, 19%, muzzleloader 16 (5%) from 103 hunters, 16%
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 Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by…; ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone; ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest….
The Ground
| Private | 323,270 ac | 76% |
| National Forest | 93,778 ac | 22% |
| BLM | 5,679 ac | 1% |
| State land | 1,184 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 733 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 136 ac | <1% |
Source: Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office 2026 BLM /Washington Land Status Ownership.
▸ Sources 18
- 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 Muzzleloader Elk Harvest by… harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2025 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… 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 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 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