Oregon Elk · Unit 56 Wenaha
Oregon Unit 56 covers 264,421 acres and lies 38 miles north of La Grande and 50 miles east of Pendleton. 73% of it is public land, mostly national forest (68%) and state land (4%). In 2025, 362 people hunted elk here and took 103, a 28% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 256Y1, put up 43 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 348 nonresident first-choice applicants, 1 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 27 points.
6 licenses · NR capped at 5%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
68% Forest Service
264,421 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
- 28%
- Season
- Aug 1 – Oct 31
- Tags / Apps
- 22 / 6
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 28%
- Season
- Aug 29 – Sep 27
- Tags / Apps
- 41 / 253
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 28%
- Season
- Aug 29 – Sep 27
- Tags / Apps
- 132 / 11
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 28%
- Season
- Oct 28 – Nov 15
- Tags / Apps
- 43 / 348
- If Drawn
- $863
Every License in Unit 56
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 256A | Bartlett Bench | 22% | 7 ▲5 | |
| 256R1 | Wenaha Unit Bow No. 1 | <1% | 28 ▲1 | |
| 256R2 | Wenaha Unit Bow No. 2 | 100% | 0 | |
| 256X | Wenaha Unit No. 1 | 77% | 1 ▲1 | |
| 256Y1 | Wenaha Unit No. 2 | <1% | 27 ▲2 | |
| 256Y2 | Wenaha Unit No. 3 | 100% | 0 |
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) | 362 | 103 | 28% |
| 2024 (summed) | 469 | 98 | 21% |
| 2023 (summed) | 449 | 96 | 21% |
| 2022 (summed) | 437 | 103 | 24% |
| 2021 (summed) | 424 | 88 | 21% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 256a bartlett bench | 32 | 24 | 75% |
| 256x wenaha unit no. 1 | 95 | 11 | 12% |
| 256y1 wenaha unit no. 2 | 38 | 24 | 62% |
| 256y2 wenaha unit no. 3 | 101 | 13 | 13% |
| 256r1 wenaha unit bow no. 1 | 45 | 24 | 53% |
| 256r2 wenaha unit bow no. 2 | 51 | 7 | 13% |
2025 split: rifle 72 (70%) from 266 hunters, 27%, archery 31 (30%) from 96 hunters, 32%
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 Archery Elk Harvest by Zone; ODFW 2025 Estimated Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest…; ODFW 2024 Estimated Archery Elk Harvest by Zone.
The Ground
| National Forest | 180,013 ac | 68% |
| Private | 70,098 ac | 27% |
| State land | 11,175 ac | 4% |
| BLM | 2,881 ac | 1% |
| Other public | 173 ac | <1% |
Source: Bureau of Land Management, Oregon State Office 2026 BLM /Washington Land Status Ownership.
▸ Sources 15
- 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 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 Archery Elk Harvest by Zone harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- ODFW 2024 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 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 Any Legal Weapon Elk Harvest… 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 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