Unit 45 (Fossil)
Oregon Hunting Guide — Elk, Pronghorn
Fossil sits inside a box of state highways, from Fossil north to Condon and south toward Mitchell. Public land is thin, so much of the elk hunting runs through private ground, and ODFW calls the herd at management objective.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 45
Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Oregon Unit 45 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 45
Fossil sits inside a box of state highways, from Fossil north to Condon and south toward Mitchell. Public land is thin, so much of the elk hunting runs through private ground, and ODFW calls the herd at management objective.
Where to Find Elk in the Fossil Unit: private ground between the highways
A highway box with little public land
ODFW's boundary runs from Fossil north on Hwy 19 to Condon, east on Hwy 206 to Hwy 207, south on Hwy 207, then southeast on Hwy 19 to US 26 and west to Bridge Creek near Mitchell. From there it follows the John Day River to Clarno and Hwy 218 back to Fossil. Public ground is a small share of that box. Two of the hunts are private-lands-only, split by Hwy 19, so most of your access questions land on a landowner's doorstep.
Higher points and ODFW's read on the herd
The high points are Baldy at 5892 ft, Keyes Mountain at 5727 ft, Juniper Butte, Flock Mountain and Iron Mountain. ODFW's forecast says elk in the Fossil and Heppner units are at management objective, with bull ratios unchanged from last year. It also says there are still good numbers of older-age-class bulls. That's a stable herd, not a booming one. Don't expect elk on every ridge, and don't expect public land to carry the hunt. Wheeler, Morrow, Gilliam and Grant counties all touch the unit. Spray, Fossil, Mitchell and Condon are the nearest towns, and OR 207, US 26 and OR 19 carry you around the edges. Forest Development Road 25 is the one named forest route.
The ground ODFW draws for this hunt
The Fossil Unit, WMU 45, covers about 1,407 square miles measured on ODFW's polygon, and ODFW rates it 16% public land. Named features inside the line fall in Wheeler County, Morrow County, Gilliam County and Grant County. Elevation runs from about 1,330 to 5,892 feet. The highest named points are Baldy (5,892 ft), Keyes Mountain (5,727 ft) and Juniper Butte (5,523 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 45 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 1,792–4,940 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 3,248 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 1,406.8 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
- 39 tanks
- 18 springs
- 782 stream segments
- 8 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: Wheeler Point (4,999 ft), Hog Ridge (4,774 ft), Butler Mountain (4,763 ft), Sutton Mountain (4,673 ft)
Holding ground: The Notch (4,752 ft), Long Prairie (4,560 ft), Tilley Canyon (2,780 ft), Black Snag Springs, Iremonger 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 Fossil Unit: knock on doors, then look for spikes
Elk Success Rates
Unit 45: 270 of 967 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) | 154 | 42 | 90.5% | 7 |
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 8 | 19 | 36.8% | 7 |
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 204 | 61 | 100.0% | 3 |
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 10 | 13 | 76.9% | 3 |
| Any Legal Weapon — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 121 | 13 | 100.0% | 1 |
| Any Legal Weapon — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 6 | 16 | 37.5% | 1 |
| Any Legal Weapon — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 253 | 55 | 100.0% | 5 |
| Any Legal Weapon — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 13 | 21 | 57.1% | 5 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 55 | 53 | 100.0% | 8 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 3 | 1 | 100.0% | 8 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 688 | 319 | 100.0% | 7 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 34 | 28 | 100.0% | 7 |
| Rifle — Controlled either sex (resident) | 50 | 18 | 100.0% | 2 |
| Rifle — Controlled either sex (nonresident) | 3 | 1 | 100.0% | 2 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 275 | 91 | 100.0% | 6 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 14 | 7 | 100.0% | 6 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 275 | 139 | 100.0% | 4 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 14 | 21 | 47.6% | 4 |
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.
- 245X Fossil Unit No. 1: 253 tags for 2026; 347 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 245B1 S. Fossil Private No. 1: 204 tags for 2026; 74 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 245C Fossil Unit: 121 tags for 2026; 76 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 pronghorn page cover?
What's the biggest 2026 pronghorn hunt here?
What was hunter success for pronghorn 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: 1,407 square miles · accessed 2026-10-30
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the boundary — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Baldy 5,892 ft, Keyes Mountain 5,727 ft · accessed 2026-10-30