April 2, 2025

Eastern Oregon Deer Hunts

From WMUs to Deer Hunt Areas in 2026

mule deer; big game hunts; Oregon; Mule Deer Plan; Eastern Oregon deer hunting

Hunters should be aware of potential changes coming for deer hunts in Eastern Oregon in 2026. Hunts will be structured based on Deer Herd Ranges, not WMUs, to reflect mule deer biology and allow for more accurate monitoring and management.

Use this map to compare new Deer Herd Ranges vs Wildlife Management Units. Zoom in to see WMU boundaries which are in white.

View the interactive map

Introduction

The wildlife management units (WMUs) used to structure Oregon's big game hunts and collect population data were created in the 1950s. Based on conventional wisdom about animal distributions and movements at that time, WMUs were used primarily for managing hunter distribution. Easily recognized landmarks and socio-political boundaries were used as boundaries for ease in identification.

Extensive research using GPS-collared deer has shown that WMUs rarely contain all the resources a deer herd needs in a year. For example, many animals within a herd spend summer/early fall (when they are harvested by hunters) in different WMUs than during winter (when they are counted by ODFW).

Based on the movements from over 1,400 mule deer collared in recent years, ODFW has identified 22 distinct mule deer herd ranges in eastern Oregon. A mule deer "herd range" includes the entire area a herd uses in a year, including summer ranges, winter ranges, and the migration corridors between them. These ranges now form the basis for ODFW's mule deer monitoring and management, including harvest management.

ODFW's improved, stronger population models now integrate multiple data streams, including herd composition (buck and doe ratios) and abundance data. To function properly, these models also require accurate harvest data to be collected within a herd range, which is difficult with the current WMU hunt structure.

To address this misalignment, ODFW is proposing to transition mule deer hunting from WMUs to new Deer Hunt Areas within herd ranges in 2026. This change will better align hunting effort and associated harvest with Oregon's mule deer populations and management goals, improve monitoring of population trends, and allow for quicker management responses/accurate evaluation of management actions.

The Commission will be asked to adopt the new deer hunting system and tags in September 2025 for the 2026 deer seasons.

Frequently Asked Questions

How will hunts change? Many hunters won't see significant impacts to their hunt. The changes hunters will notice are:

New naming system: Deer Hunt Areas will use a new alphanumeric system to identify hunt areas within herd ranges. For example, hunt area #1 within the Northeast herd range would be NE-01.

Larger hunt areas: Expect new hunting areas that are different and often larger than traditional WMUs. These larger hunt areas will be less impacted by emergency closures and allow hunters more flexibility in response to wildfire or hunting pressure.

Tag adjustments: In the short term, there may be slight tag changes to manage hunter pressure. Adjustments could fluctuate over the next few years as hunters and ODFW adapt to these new hunt areas.

Fewer total hunts: Larger hunt areas mean fewer individual hunts overall.

Preference points: There are no changes to the preference point system. An individual hunter's buck deer preference points will be the same number as they are after the 2025 drawing and will apply to the new buck hunt areas. But like all new hunts, there will be a period of uncertainty regarding how hunters in 2026 decide to select hunts, apply their points, and the number of preference points needed to draw a tag for a given hunt area. Hunters should consider this uncertainty when deciding how to use preference points over the next few years.

Landowner preference tags: These tags may also change based on how properties fall within new herd ranges and hunt areas.

What hunts will be affected: New hunt areas will apply to all eastern Oregon mule deer hunting including buck hunts, doe hunts, and for all weapon types.
How come the proposed 2026 NE Oregon hunt boundaries still align with WMUs? Boundaries for hunts NE-02-NE-06 still align with WMUs as ODFW is still deploying collars in this area and data collection and interpretation are not yet complete. Once new information has been collected and analyzed, ODFW will likely propose different hunt areas for that NE herd range in the coming years. Note NE-01 will likely remain unchanged as most monitoring has already occurred in this area.

Twin spotted fawns lie under a forest tree

Why is the change necessary?: Mule deer populations are in decline across much of the western U.S. due to factors such as habitat degradation, habitat loss to development, predation, climate change and poaching. The state's new Mule Deer Plan adopted in June 2024 directs implementation of herd ranges as the basis of all data collection, including harvest. With these changes ODFW can improve population modelling to allow for effective monitoring of mule deer population trends, identification of declining populations, and rapid management response to population declines.

When will 2026 tag numbers be available? Proposed hunts and tag numbers will be available online in July 2025 and will be presented at big game public meetings per the usual public process. The Commission will be asked to adopt 2026 Big Game Regulations including tag numbers Sept.12, 2025 meeting in Ontario.

How will this impact the 2025 season? There are no changes to the 2025 season. But hunters will want to consider use of their points in 2025 if they are set on a particular hunt as it is currently structured. Archery hunters wishing to hunt both deer and elk should also explore hunt boundaries because elk and deer hunt boundaries will be different in 2026.

Can't the change be delayed? Delaying implementation of new hunt areas further delays collection of accurate herd range scale harvest data and reduces the accuracy of new monitoring and modeling techniques. MOs are also set to be reviewed in 2029; the sooner harvest aligns with mule deer biology, the more accurate population performance and abundance estimates will be.

What about whitetails—are there hunt areas changing? Areas with substantial white-tailed deer populations and harvest will see separate hunts for each species (both remain in the 100 series).

What about management objectives? MOs for population and buck:doe ratios were restructured to align with herd ranges and adopted as part of the new Mule Deer Plan. It's important that harvest and population data are collected at the same scale. The new plan also incorporates population growth rate into MOs, with each herd assigned a score based on growth concerns. See the Plan for more detail.