Oregon Elk · Unit 66 Malheur River
Oregon Unit 66 spans 1,852,836 acres, centered 34 miles east of Burns. 68% of it is public land, mostly BLM (46%) and national forest (16%). In 2025, 1,598 people hunted elk here and took 266, a 17% success rate (sum of published weapon rows). Its most applied-for hunt, 266R, put up 425 tags (all residencies) in the 2026 draw for 60 nonresident first-choice applicants, 14 of whom drew, and the last tag went to someone with 3 points.
8 licenses · NR capped at 5%
first choice, NR
2025, all licenses
46% BLM
1,852,836 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
- 17%
- Season
- Aug 15 – Sep 30
- Tags / Apps
- 121 / 1
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 17%
- Season
- Aug 15 – Sep 30
- Tags / Apps
- 165 / 0
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 17%
- Season
- Aug 29 – Sep 27
- Tags / Apps
- 425 / 60
- If Drawn
- $863
- Success
- 17%
- Season
- Nov 7–15
- Tags / Apps
- 358 / 55
- If Drawn
- $863
Every License in Unit 66
| What | Season | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 266A1 | Drewsey Valley No. 1 | 100% | 0 | |
| 266A2 | Drewsey Valley No. 2 | 91% | 1 | |
| 266B | N Malheur Rvr | 33% | 1 ▼1 | |
| 266C | S Malheur Rvr | 100% | 0 | |
| 266R | N Malheur Rvr Bow | 97% | 3 ▲3 | |
| 266T · youth | N Malheur Rvr Youth | 9% | 4 ▲2 | |
| 266X | N Malheur Rvr No. 1 | 20% | 2 | |
| 266Y | N Malheur Rvr No. 2 | 26% | 3 ▲2 |
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) | 1,598 | 266 | 17% |
| 2024 (summed) | 1,694 | 339 | 20% |
| 2023 (summed) | 1,878 | 254 | 14% |
| 2022 (summed) | 1,901 | 368 | 19% |
| 2021 (summed) | 2,225 | 452 | 20% |
| 2025 by License | Hunters | Elk | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| 266a1 drewsey valley no. 1 | 70 | 17 | 25% |
| 266a2 drewsey valley no. 2 | 33 | 4 | 12% |
| 266b n malheur rvr | 223 | 50 | 22% |
| 266c s malheur rvr | 75 | 2 | 3% |
| 266t n malheur rvr youth | 9 | 2 | 29% |
| 266x n malheur rvr no. 1 | 268 | 36 | 13% |
| 266y n malheur rvr no. 2 | 305 | 42 | 14% |
| 278a1 high desert no. 1 | 102 | 16 | 15% |
| 278a2 high desert no. 2 | 97 | 10 | 10% |
| 278t high desert youth | 3 | 1 | 50% |
| 200r oregon youth bow | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 266r n malheur rvr bow | 352 | 74 | 21% |
| Eastern elk archery | 40 | 9 | 23% |
| 278m high desert muzzleloader | 20 | 3 | 12% |
2025 split: rifle 180 (68%) from 1,185 hunters, 15%, archery 83 (31%) from 393 hunters, 21%, muzzleloader 3 (1%) from 20 hunters, 15%
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
| BLM | 852,862 ac | 46% |
| Private | 585,664 ac | 32% |
| National Forest | 292,982 ac | 16% |
| State land | 106,510 ac | 6% |
| Tribal | 9,592 ac | <1% |
| Bureau of Reclamation | 5,550 ac | <1% |
| County or city land | 312 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 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 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.
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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 · All Oregon elk hunts