Oregon Landowner Tags
Oregon's Landowner Preference Program gives tags that are valid only on the registered property, never unit-wide and never on public land. Forty contiguous acres qualifies for antlerless deer, western Oregon buck deer and some elk hunts; 160 contiguous acres is needed for eastern Oregon buck deer, bull elk and pronghorn. Tags may be transferred but not sold, and leased land is not in LOP at all.
Checked against Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife rules, October 20, 2026. Where the rule is silent or its sources disagree, the line says so.
Landowner Preference Program
contiguous, deeded and other tests apply
with an exemption
Hunting Your Own Land
ORS 497.075(3)(b) exempts a resident who both resides on and owns the land from the hunting licence, but expressly not for any tagged species, which includes all big game (source: or_ors_497).
Landowner Preference Program
Landowner Preference Program (LOP), OAR chapter 635 division 075
or 160 ac eastern Oregon buck deer, eastern Oregon bull elk,...
, not for sale
drawn with everyone else
not addressed in the rule
Who Qualifies
| Species | Deer, Elk, Antelope (Pronghorn) (Pronghorn LOP tags are for the landowner and immediate family only.) |
|---|---|
| Acreage test | 40 or more contiguous acres qualifies for 600-series antlerless deer, western Oregon buck deer, western Oregon elk and eastern Oregon antlerless elk; 160 or more contiguous acres is required for eastern Oregon buck deer, eastern Oregon bull elk, either-sex elk and pronghorn. Acreage is verified against county tax rolls, and leased land is not in LOP.1 |
| Land test | ✓ Contiguous✓ Deeded✗ Agricultural use within the property |
| Nonresident owner | Not addressed in the rulesNot addressed in the rule. OAR ch. 635 div. 075 and ODFW's LOP pages set a registration, acreage and tax-roll test with no residency bar and no affirmative statement that an out-of-state owner qualifies. |
| Who may hunt it | The landowner; stockholders, LLC members or partners; immediate family, broadly defined to include in-laws and grandchildren; and named non-family customers subject to the 50 percent antlered limit. |
| When to apply | May 15 for controlled applications plus registration and distribution forms (limited and mule deer hunts); otherwise before 5 pm on the last business day before the hunt. One-time $35 registration. |
What You Get
| The tag | Property-specific tags, never unit-wide and never valid on public land. Counts run from 2 tags at 40 or 160 acres to 14 at 160,000 or more acres. Tags are additive except that spike-only, all-elk and listed deer hunts are capped at the greater of 5 tags or 10 percent, Tier-2 mule deer at 5 tags or 15 percent, and there are no LOP tags for Premium (L, M, N) hunts. |
|---|---|
| Transfer or sale | Transfer only, not for sale. Transfer yes, sale no. All antlerless tags may go to anyone; for antlered tags up to half, rounded up, may go to non-family; a landowner holding only one tag may not transfer it. Brokers say Oregon tags cannot be sold, though trespass and guided fees attach; no price series exists. |
The 5 percent and 3 percent nonresident controlled caps expressly do not affect LOP.
New for 2025–26: SB 812 (2025) repealed the LOP sunset, making the programme permanent. DFW 6-2026 re-based the LOP mule deer formula onto herd ranges and Deer Hunt Areas using 2024 Mule Deer Plan concern levels, generally raising the statewide allocation.
General Season or Limited Draw?
General deer exists in western Oregon only (ALW units 10-30, Oct 3 - Nov 6; general archery Aug 29 - Sep 27). General elk covers West Cascade, Coast first and second seasons, general archery in western and eastern Oregon and the eastern Oregon second-season spike hunt. Fall bear and cougar are over the counter. There is no cap or quota on general and OTC tags; controlled caps are 5 percent nonresident for deer, elk and spring bear, 3 percent for pronghorn, and one tag per hunt under 35 - and those caps expressly do not affect LOP. The geography is WMUs, except eastern deer, which moved to Deer Hunt Areas for 2026.
New for 2025–26: Eastern Oregon has no general deer season in 2026 - every eastern buck hunt, archery included, is controlled, and eastern deer now uses Deer Hunt Areas (two-letter herd code plus three digits, e.g. AD101).
Per-unit classification: The pamphlet incorporated by reference into OAR ch. 635, published as a web edition at eregulations.com/oregon/hunting; the best single primary document for 2026 numbers is the DFW 107-2025 tracked-changes filing..
Check a parcel on the map →
Click the ground or paste a listing's coordinates: the unit for every species (208 Oregon units mapped), and whether the acreage clears the floor.
Oregon draw odds →
Every species, unit and hunt code, with the odds at each point level, fees and deadlines.
Things That Trip People Up
- LOP tags are property-specific and never valid on public land, so a unit answer is wrong.
- Leased land is not in LOP; acreage is verified against county tax rolls.
- The licence exemption for a resident who resides on and owns the land does not reach any tagged species, so it never applies to big game.
- There are no LOP tags for Premium (L, M, N) hunts.
- Eastern Oregon buck deer hunts are all controlled for 2026 and sit in Deer Hunt Areas, not WMUs.
Sources
- 1. Oregon Secretary of State · OAR chapter 635 division 075, Landowner Preference · retrieved 2026-10-20
- 2. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · Landowner Preference Program · retrieved 2026-10-20
- 3. Oregon Legislature · ORS chapter 497 (497.075 licence requirement and exemptions) · retrieved 2026-10-20
- 4. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · Limited Landowner Preference Mule Deer Tags 2026 · retrieved 2026-10-20
- 5. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · DFW 107-2025 big game permanent filing, tracked changes (filed 11-25-25) · retrieved 2026-10-20
- 6. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife / eRegulations · Oregon big game regulations web edition (incorporated by reference into OAR ch. 635) · retrieved 2026-10-20
- 7. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · Eastern Oregon Deer Hunt Areas map · retrieved 2026-10-20
This page summarizes agency rules for orientation. The statute, commission rule and the current year's application booklet govern; check them before buying land or applying.