Washington Deer — GMU 681

Bear River

Washington GMU 681 covers 87,304 acres and lies 45 miles west of Longview and 64 miles south-west of Tumwater. 7% of it is public land, mostly state land (3%) and wildlife refuge (2%). In 2025, hunters took 58 deer here. The 2026 draw put up 2 nonresident tags here.

Nonresident tags (2026):2 Firearm hunter success (2025):25% Public land:7% Size:87,304 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every deer license type on offer in GMU 681, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

1 license on offer · 2 tags in the 2026 draw

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
  • 1221 Bear River–Long Beach — Buck Deer Hunt, Any buck (Modern Firearm) 2 tags
    Cut level
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

Longview Tumwater Battle Ground Federal Way Bainbridge Island
GMU 681 within Washington
506 673 699 684
GMU 681 and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • Private 81,164 ac · 93%
  • State land 2,789 ac · 3%
  • National Wildlife Refuge 1,921 ac · 2%
  • State trust land 1,422 ac · 2%
  • County or city land 5 ac · 0%
  • BLM 1 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 58
2024 82
2023 63
2022 48
2021 53

What people carried (2025 harvest)

  • Archery 4 · 7% · 90 hunters, 4% success
  • Firearm 54 · 93% · 220 hunters, 25% 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)

How we compute draw odds · All Washington deer hunts