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Phillip W. Schneider Wildlife Area provides winter range for mule deer populations and year-round habitat for a variety of wildlife including mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Elk, deer, and bighorn sheep viewing is often good during winter and early spring. Bird watching is excellent all year. Native habitats include sagebrush shrubland, riparian, ponderosa pine forest, western juniper woodland and mixed conifer which support a diversity of fish and wildlife. The riparian areas along the mainstem John Day River, South Fork John Day River and Murderers Creek provide excellent habitat for many birds. Upland areas provide important habitat for passerines and…

Fire Closure: As of July 29, 2026, the northern portion of the wildlife area is closed. More information here: https://myodfw.com/news/odfw-closes-northern-portion-white-river-wildli… White River Wildlife Area was established in 1953. Located along the east slope of the Cascade Mountains in the north central part of Oregon, the wildlife area encompasses 29,480 acres. An additional 1,280 acres of land owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is managed by the ODFW bringing the total acres managed by the department to 30,760. The primary purpose of White River Wildlife Area is to provide winter range habitat for black-tailed deer and Rocky Mountain elk…

Always have your camera with you, explore your backyard and 10 more pro tips.

Resources to help prepare for a successful hunt in sagebrush country.

Dry conditions and the associated wildfire danger can have a large impact on your hunting opportunity. Check below for resources for finding fire closures and restrictions, and for ODFW's policy on tag refunds and restoration of preference points.

Starting in 2026, deer hunts in Eastern Oregon will be organized by Deer Hunt Areas instead of traditional Wildlife Management Units (WMUs). This transition is based on new research showing that deer move across multiple WMUs throughout the year, making old systems less effective for population monitoring and harvest management. Learn more below. 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 View Individual Hunt Areas 2026 Hunt Transition Guide

The Landowner Preference Program (LOP) was established to acknowledge the contribution of private lands to support wildlife and provide a form of compensation to landowners for resources used by wildlife. Tags are available to landowners, family members, and others designated by the landowner based on the acreage owned. Pronghorn hunts are only available to landowners and family members. Recipients of LOP tags may only hunt on the property for which they are registered. step-by-step instructions Create Landowner Account

Bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat the rarest game mammals in Oregon today, with less than 100 bighorn sheep tags and 20 Rocky Mtn goat tags offered in 2015. The tags are “once-in-a-lifetime” so hunters who draw them can’t draw them again.

In the spring of 2019, several clients chartered an ocean fishing trip out of Coos Bay. They were promised trophy-size lingcod. They got a demonstration in illegal fishing practices.

The Columbia Basin Wildlife Areas are a composition of four Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (department) managed wildlife areas located along the Columbia River, in the Columbia Basin. The four wildlife areas (Power City, Irrigon, Coyote Springs and Willow Creek) are within the Columbia Plateau ecoregion. Management agreements for these areas were initially established between 1971 and 1977 between the department and Federal agencies which own the lands. The Columbia Basin Wildlife Areas, which total approximately 1,885 acres, provide an important landbase for the conservation and recreation of fish and wildlife within a highly privatized and altered landscape and…

This newsletter provides a summary of Oregon’s 2023 sport halibut fishery.