Washington Deer — GMU 181
Couse
Washington GMU 181 covers 170,289 acres and lies 38 miles south of Pullman and 59 miles east of Walla Walla. 13% of it is public land, mostly state land (11%) and state trust land (1%). In 2025, hunters took 169 deer here. The 2026 draw put up 25 nonresident tags here.
Your chance of drawing here
Every deer license type on offer in GMU 181, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.
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-
— Cut level
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| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1202 ↗ Blue Mtns. Foothills East — Buck Deer Hunt, white-tailed, 3 pt. min. (Modern Firearm) | — Cut level | — | 25 / — | Nov 7–19, 2026 |
| 1502 ↗ Blue Mtns. Foothills East — Youth Deer Hunt, Antlerless (Modern Firearm) | — Cut level | — | 20 / — | Oct 17–27, 2026 |
| 1509 ↗ Couse — Youth Deer Hunt, Any deer (Modern Firearm) | — Cut level | — | 10 / — | Oct 17–27, 2026 |
| 1606 ↗ Blue Mtns. Foothills — Deer Hunters 65 Years and Over, Antlerless (Modern Firearm) | — Cut level | — | 15 / — | Oct 17–27, 2026 |
| 1706 ↗ Blue Mtns. Foothills — Deer Hunters with Disabilities, Antlerless (Modern Firearm) | — Cut level | — | 10 / — | Oct 17–27, 2026 |
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 | $1,108.27 | $1,108.27 | $1,108.27 |
Application window: opens Apr 20, closes May 27, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.
Other licenses valid in GMU 181
Not in the table above because they had no result in the 2026 draw.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- Private 147,881 ac · 87%
- State land 18,031 ac · 11%
- State trust land 2,158 ac · 1%
- BLM 2,109 ac · 1%
- National Forest 99 ac · 0%
- County or city land 5 ac · 0%
- National Wildlife Refuge 3 ac · 0%
Source: WA DNR 'Non-DNR Major Public Lands' (NDMPL) layer, federal/state/county/city ownership parcels
How the hunting has gone
What Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. Washington's figures come from mandatory hunter reports. WDFW credits a multi-GMU special-permit hunt's harvest to every GMU it spans rather than splitting it, so unit totals add up to more than the statewide total.
| Season | Harvest |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 169 |
| 2024 | 212 |
| 2023 | 180 |
| 2022 | 157 |
| 2021 | 128 |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Archery 2 · 1% · 11 hunters, 18% success
- Firearm 106 · 72% · 330 hunters, 32% success
- Muzzleloader 39 · 27% · 109 hunters, 36% success
Boundary: WDFW Hunt Planner 'UnitSpatial' polygon layer (WP_HuntPlanner/Regulation/MapServer/0)
Harvest: WDFW Hunt Planner 'BigGame' harvest table (WP_HuntPlanner/Harvest/MapServer/1)