Washington Deer — GMU 278
Wahluke
Washington GMU 278 covers 542,023 acres and lies 22 miles south-west of Moses Lake and 41 miles north of Richland. 32% of it is public land, mostly wildlife refuge (11%) and Bureau of Reclamation (9%). In 2025, hunters took 95 deer here. The 2026 draw put up 40 nonresident tags here.
Your chance of drawing here
Every deer license type on offer in GMU 278, 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
-
— Cut level
| Hunt | Your odds (0 pts) | Points needed | Tags / applicants | Season |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1327 ↗ Wahluke — Antlerless Deer Hunt, Antlerless (Archery) | — Cut level | — | 40 / — | Sep 1–25, 2026 |
| 1328 ↗ Wahluke — Antlerless Deer Hunt, Antlerless (Archery) | — Cut level | — | 40 / — | Nov 20 – Dec 8, 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.
The country
Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.
Who owns the ground
- Private 369,319 ac · 68%
- National Wildlife Refuge 61,664 ac · 11%
- Bureau of Reclamation 48,056 ac · 9%
- BLM 26,859 ac · 5%
- State trust land 19,002 ac · 4%
- State land 14,690 ac · 3%
- County or city land 2,161 ac · 0%
- Other public 269 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 | 95 |
| 2024 | 79 |
| 2023 | 81 |
| 2022 | 73 |
| 2021 | 81 |
What people carried (2025 harvest)
- Archery 13 · 16% · 84 hunters, 15% success
- Firearm 62 · 76% · 194 hunters, 32% success
- Muzzleloader 7 · 9% · 19 hunters, 37% 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)