Unit 26 (Powers)
Oregon Hunting Guide — Elk, Deer (Antlerless)
Powers runs from the Rogue River near Grave Creek to Powers and Hwy 42, then loops east to I-5. About half the unit is public, but the private-lands hunt has no public ground at all, and ODFW says the herd is near objective.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 26
Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Oregon Unit 26 guide around your hunt: three ranked spots with morning, afternoon and evening plays, a day-by-day plan, topo maps with every pin numbered, a camp and access plan, the legal and retrieval rules for this unit, shot discipline, a meat-care and pack-out plan, and a pre-trip checklist. Every coordinate sits on land recorded as public.
Free accounts get one report a year with the top spot unlocked. ProHunt Pro includes unlimited reports, all three spots, the full camp plan, and GPX/KML downloads for onX and Google Earth. Prefer to see one first? Open the builder and pick any unit.
Elk Hunting in Unit 26
Powers runs from the Rogue River near Grave Creek to Powers and Hwy 42, then loops east to I-5. About half the unit is public, but the private-lands hunt has no public ground at all, and ODFW says the herd is near objective.
Where to Find Elk in the Powers Unit: low ground and the private-lands hunt
A boundary that starts on the Rogue
The unit starts at Grave Creek Bridge on the Rogue River, runs west to Illahee, then north to Powers. It follows the Powers Highway to Hwy 42 and east to Tenmile. It then drops south through Horse Prairie along Olalla Creek Road, and returns by the railroad tracks, a power line and I-5. The named summits are modest: Mount Bolivar at 4308 ft, Saddle Peaks, Mount Reuben, Grayback and August Knob.
Where the herd sits when the weather turns
ODFW's forecast puts elk in Powers at or close to management objective, with better bull ratios from the past winter's surveys. It also expects cooler weather to push herds down earlier than normal. Its advice is to look at lower elevations, in the places where you've found elk before. Because one hunt is private-lands-only with no public ground at all, the low country is also where your permission has to come from. Glendale, Powers, Riddle and Tri City are the nearest towns, and OR 42, OR 542 and Forest Road 33 are the named roads. About half the unit is public, but the private-lands hunt has none of it. Check which ownership your tag points to before you drive in.
The ground ODFW draws for this hunt
The Powers Unit, WMU 26, covers about 825 square miles measured on ODFW's polygon, and ODFW rates it 49% public land. Named features inside the line fall in Douglas County, Coos County, Josephine County and Curry County. Elevation runs from about 272 to 4,308 feet. The highest named points are Mount Bolivar (4,308 ft), Saddle Peaks (4,104 ft) and Mount Reuben (4,020 ft). ODFW's line is the legal one, so check it against a current land-ownership map, and get permission before you cross private ground or a locked gate inside it.
Unit 26 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 272–3,365 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 2,235 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 825.2 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- BLM — 15%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 17%
Roughly 83% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 42 tanks
- 1 springs
- 455 stream segments
- 3 lakes
Counts from mapping data, so this is how many exist, not how many hold water in a dry year. Sitting water only pays where you find fresh tracks.
Named features inside the unit
Glass from: Mount Bolivar (4,308 ft), Saddle Peaks (4,104 ft), Mount Reuben (4,020 ft), Grayback (4,004 ft)
Holding ground: Anaktuvuk Saddle (3,289 ft), Sawmill Gap (2,724 ft), Horse Heaven (2,642 ft), Mud Spring, Bear Spring
Every one of these was tested against the unit polygon before it went on the map. They are starting points, not agency recommendations.
How to Hunt Elk in the Powers Unit: front-load the season and work low
Elk Success Rates
Unit 26: 96 of 339 hunters, 28%. Figures are ODFW's own 2025 harvest statistics.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 21 | 179 | 11.7% | 18 |
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 1 | 2 | 0.0% | 18 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 59 | 163 | 35.0% | 18 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 3 | 67 | 1.5% | 18 |
| Rifle — Controlled either sex (resident) | 25 | 91 | 27.5% | 6 |
| Rifle — Controlled either sex (nonresident) | 1 | 2 | 0.0% | 6 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 330 | 117 | 100.0% | 4 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 17 | 9 | 100.0% | 4 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 90 | 413 | 20.8% | 16 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 5 | 60 | 5.0% | 16 |
Data from 2025 draw results. Each row is one residency pool — read the label before the number.
Open in Draw Odds EngineFrom ODFW's 2026 regulations, residents and nonresidents together: 2026 tags against 2025 first-choice applicants.
- 226A Powers Private: 165 tags for 2026; 162 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 226Y Powers Unit No. 2: 165 tags for 2026; 126 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 226T Powers Unit Youth: 25 tags for 2026; 63 first-choice applicants in 2025.
ODFW sets a point cut-off per hunt each year; its point summary reports carry it.
Unit Logistics & Expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
What ground does this Oregon elk page cover?
What's the biggest 2026 elk hunt here?
What was hunter success for elk here in 2025?
What ground does this Oregon antlerless deer page cover?
What's the biggest 2026 antlerless deer hunt here?
What was hunter success for antlerless deer here in 2025?
Plan Your Hunt with ProHunt Pro
Unlock advanced tactics, the Tag-to-Trail Planner, AI hunt strategy assistant, and personalized camp and trip execution plans.
Upgrade to Pro — $49/yrSources & Verification
Every fact on this page is tied to a primary source below. Last fact-checked 2026-10-30.
- 2026 Oregon Big Game Hunting Regulations — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · supports: Hunt areas and boundary descriptions, Seasons, bag limits and 2026 tags · accessed 2026-10-30
- Big Game hunting forecast, 2026/27 — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · supports: Field reports by hunt area and WMU · accessed 2026-10-30
- Big game hunting harvest statistics, 2025 — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · supports: Hunters, harvest and success · accessed 2026-10-30
- Wildlife Management Units (ArcGIS) — Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife · supports: 825 square miles · accessed 2026-10-30
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the boundary — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Mount Bolivar 4,308 ft, Saddle Peaks 4,104 ft · accessed 2026-10-30