Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Oregon Results are Up

Sorry for the question from an eastern flatlander. So, in Oregon, you have to draw a tag to hunt deer? I get elk, but deer? I know the concept of units, so is it just for some units? Or is it state wide? If you don't draw a deer tag, you just don't hunt deer that year? Are there any over-the-counter tags available? It's just a foreign concept to me to have to draw tags to deer hunt. Here in Virginia, it's all OTC and in some counties the bag limit is unlimited.

Here in eastern Oregon (the dry side) we have more hunters than deer, so we apply for specific units with only a limited number of tags available. Across the board one can probably do deer and elk about every other year with our tag draws. For some of the primo trophy class units though, one might need 20 years of preference points to be assured of a tag.

Also, if we don't plan on hunting, we can buy a point without going through the application process.

For years our party did out of state hunts for elk and I accumulated 20+ elk points before applying for one of our trophy units. Being the highest point holder, I was awarded the first tag.

We're not pronghorn wealthy, so an average person may need 12 to 20 preference points to be assured of a tag.

On the west side of the state (wet side) one can pretty much do black tail deer every year.

In Oregon, we can apply for first, second, third choice options. If one does not draw a first choice but scores a second, he still gets a preference point. About 75% of the available tags go to the highest point holders. There is a random draw for the remaining 25% with all applicants in the pool, so one always has some chance of being selected with no points at all.

We do not have a point system for sheep or goats, so it's a random draw every year, and I'm yet to score in the 50 years I've lived here. They are a one tag in a lifetime deal in Oregon.

When I initially moved here, deer and elk were across the counter. Hunts were a miserable experience with one finding people and or fleeing animals wherever he went. I actually quit elk for several years as it simply wasn't fun. With our limited tags now, one can spot and stalk animals, and he may not bump into another hunter for days.

Have some relatives back in Va, WVa, and Maryland. Some pick up a dozen or so deer a year until they run out of money or folks to give them to.

Some of the western states also have slightly different point systems where one gets more tickets in the hat. With a completely random draw though, the highest point holder still may not get drawn.