Southeast Area

SE BIG GAME HUNTING

October 1, 2026

Currently open

Bear, cougar (check current harvest numbers), coyote, youth only controlled series hunts, premium, auction and raffle hunts, bighorn sheep and western gray squirrel.

• Select controlled deer season opens Oct 3.

*Check Big Game regulations for hunt details and purchase your license and required tag before hunting.

Announcements and resources

Reminder -- tag sale deadline and sports pac tag pickup for deer, bear, and cougar – by Oct 2!

Get tested – hunters must check in for CWD at these locations.

Make a plan with this year's Big Game Hunting Forecast and get ahead of the game!

Big game statistics - You'll find links to population, harvest and maps that can help you decide where to hunt this season.

Check the Leftover Tag List, don't miss an opportunity to hunt this year.

Youth can register for the Mentored Youth Hunter Program free of charge online, find more youth hunting opportunities here.

Point Savers available for purchase now through Nov 30, 2026.

Please report elk with hoof disease - If you see elk showing signs of elk hoof disease, including lame or limping elk or elk with damaged, injured, missing or deformed hooves, please report it using this online form.

Coyote and wolf ID - Coyote hunters need to take extra care to identify their target as wolves can look like coyotes, especially wolf pups in the mid-summer and fall. Test your ID skills. Please report any wolf sightings or wolf sign to ODFW using the online reporting system.

For the most current fire closures and restrictions--KNOW BEFORE YOU GO. 

District updates

Habitat conditions:

Watch local weather reports and prepare for possible weather changing conditions over the extension of your hunt. Areas are showing warmer and drier than normal conditions, please be mindful when recreating outdoors.

HARNEY COUNTY (Silvies, Malheur River, Steens Mt, Juniper, portions of Beatys Butte, and Wagontire)

Bighorn sheep: For those lucky enough to have drawn tags for bighorn sheep this year, second season dates from Sept 15 through Oct 14.

Elk: Currently cow elk hunts are beginning in various parts of the district and will continue to occur into November. Rifle bull hunts are as follows: First season Oct 28 – Nov 1 and Second season Nov 7 – Nov 15. When you have harvested an elk, drop by your local ODFW District office to have it sampled for chronic wasting disease. The district also requests liver and heart samples from elk harvested in the Silvies unit and are requesting a golf ball size piece of each organ placed in a sealable bag.

Deer: Controlled rifle deer seasons begin Oct 3 through Oct 14. When you harvest your deer drop by your local ODFW District office to have it sampled for chronic wasting disease.

Cougar: Cougar season is open year-round. An additional cougar tag may be purchased throughout the season; however, hunters must purchase the general season tag to be eligible for the additional tag. Focus on game rich areas with long ridgelines or saddles that cats typically travel. Setting up downwind of a deer or elk killed by a cougar and calling can be productive. Finding fresh snow has been a little difficult this year with the mild winter we have had, but that just means travelling around in the mountains may be easier. Typically utilizing fresh snow to follow tracks and predator calls can give you an advantage at targeting cougar.

Bear: The statewide fall bear season is open and will continue until Dec 31. Bear hunting continues to do well in the district, and targeting water sources or utilizing a predator call can be good advantages for harvesting a bear. Note that Centerfire Rifle Restrictions do apply for hunting bear and referring to page 19 in the Oregon Big Game Regulations for clarification is a must.

Coyote: Coyote hunting in the county should be good and requires a hunting license only to harvest coyotes. Remember to ask permission before accessing private property or refer to the Access and Habitat program where enrolled access areas give way to private ground for hunting.

MALHEUR COUNTY (Beulah, Owyhee, and Whitehorse)

Deer

SE-01

A decline in 2025 post-season buck and fawn ratios in contrast to the past 3-4 years will make hunting a little more challenging this year. While much of the northern portion of the hunt area has burned over the last two summers, those wildfires spared the majority of the best deer habitat in the unit. Tenmile Creek, the West Little Owyhee River headwaters, Jackson Creek Ridge, High Peak, Parsnip Peak, and Juniper Ridge remain unburned as the most likely places to find deer in the SE-01 hunt area.

SE-02

Both buck and fawn ratios dropped significantly this winter. Buck ratios likely came down due to tag increases in the area over the last 3 seasons as well as a harder winter on yearlings in 2024-2025. It is worth noting that the latest buck ratio of 18 bucks/100 does is still above the management objective of 15 bucks/100 does. A diminished 2025 fawn crop will mean fewer yearling bucks in the population and less buck opportunities overall. Big ridges, mature sagebrush, and secluded water sources will still be productive landscape features to key in on locating deer.

Elk

Beulah Unit 
Significant concern over elk populations neighboring Beulah elk have been raised although similar patterns are yet to be documented in Beulah. Early season hunts here were set up to be as difficult as ever, but some early fall weather systems have encouraged daytime elk movement and driven a prototypical rut. Dry summer forage conditions have led elk down to agricultural fields in valleys and few large herds remain in the Beulah portion of the Malheur National Forest. If the forest is not producing well for you, we recommend moving down to BLM grounds in the sagebrush or even to the Malheur Canyon where you may find some elk that have redistributed from the Coleman Creek Fire across the river. Please respect private property rights in your ventures and only hunt if you have permission.

Whitehorse and Owyhee Units 
The Whitehorse WMU is a low-density elk unit. The Big Grass Fire burned some 200,000 acres in Oregon and more than that across the border in Idaho there this summer. The burn included large extents of summer and winter range for Idaho's lauded Owyhee Elk Herd, which Oregon supports to some degree year-round. Burn severities and overall herd effects are still to be determined, but this hunting season will see as big a change in elk behavior, landscape use, and geographic occupancy as ever. In Oregon, it is a very good year to spend time hunting Whitehorse elk in traditional and non-traditional locations and checking burn perimeter flanks in the early season.

The Owyhee WMU typically holds more elk than the Whitehorse. It will likely see some spillover effect from that Big Grass Fire although early season reports have not indicated that. More elk would be expected to move out of Idaho as fall goes on. This would be a good year to focus elk hunting efforts along the southern and eastern portions of the unit and work further interior from there.

Cougar

Cougar densities are low and cats are maximizing the use of large home ranges this time of year as prey remains relatively abundant. Most cougar at this time will be harvested opportunistically during archery and early controlled rifle hunts, which is even more reason to make sure you have a cougar tag before you take off into the wilds.

Bear

Bears are being found at high elevations in the Malheur National Forest. The Monument Rock Wilderness is a productive area to find bears foraging on late-season berries and chokecherries. Bear can also offer a nice secondary game animal opportunity while pursuing other game during September seasons. Be sure you buy your General Season Fall Bear tag ahead of time and remember that you can purchase an Additional Tag at any time throughout the season.

Coyote

Coyote hunting opportunities abound almost anywhere you go in Malheur County and can make for an enjoyable alternative while hunting other species throughout the fall. Earlier courting, breeding, denning, and rearing intervals over this past light winter will mean increased opportunity as juvenile coyotes will be more active and mature than most years.