Big Game Hunting
Northwest Area
From the rugged Coast Range to the Cascade Mountains, this vast area offers good general season hunting opportunities.
From the Pacific Ocean to the Willamette Valley, much of the Coast Range is open to hunt through access programs. Dense forests and steep hillsides can make finding game a challenge. But hunters may have a chance to spot their prey in recent timber harvests. The Willamette Valley is mostly private land with few public big game hunting opportunities. The Cascade Range, with its active timber harvest and forest fires, can create forage habitats for big game.
Species in Northwest Area
Black bears can be found throughout Oregon. Both fall and spring hunting opportunities are available.
Tag Sale Deadline (General):
Black bear: Sept. 28
Bear (SW Additional): No deadline - general season tag must be purchased prior to deadline to be eligible for additional tag.
Tag Sale Deadline (Controlled):
Day before earliest hunt period opens
For hunt details and controlled hunt information, visit eRegulations
Roosevelt elk are the third largest land mammal in North America. They are named after President Theodore Roosevelt, who created what is now Olympic National...
Black-tailed deer make their home in the timber and heavy brush of western Oregon. Recently disturbed habitats such as clearcuts or burns -- with their...
Oregon has about 6,000 cougars statewide, up from an estimated 200 in the late 1960s. Cougars are found in all suitable habitat in Oregon and...
Tag Sale Deadline (General):
Cougar: Sept 28
Cougar (Additional): No Deadline - General season tag must be purchased prior to deadline to be eligible for additional tag.
For hunt details and regulations, visit eregulations
The Western gray squirrel is the largest native tree squirrel in the state. Requiring only a hunting license, it's a good introductory game species.
For hunt details and regulations, visit eregulations
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Mentored Youth Hunter Program allows youth 9 through 15 years of age to hunt without first passing an approved hunter education...
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Where to hunt big game
All funds raised by deer and elk auction and raffle tags go directly to the Access and Habitat Program....
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Private lands accounts for just over half of Oregon’s land base and include farms, range lands, wetlands, forests and stream...
Where to hunt big game
Oregon Open Fields is a grant that the A&H Program has been awarded from the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA)...
Current conditions and opportunities to fish, hunt and view wildlife. Updated weekly by fish and wildlife biologists throughout the state.