Unit 49 (Ukiah)
Oregon Hunting Guide — Elk
Ukiah stretches from Pendleton south along the North Fork John Day River to Highway 244 and Tower Mountain Road. ODFW says elk are above objective in Ukiah, and the hunt splits into private valley ground, mixed middle ground and mostly public country in the south.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 49
Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Oregon Unit 49 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 49
Ukiah stretches from Pendleton south along the North Fork John Day River to Highway 244 and Tower Mountain Road. ODFW says elk are above objective in Ukiah, and the hunt splits into private valley ground, mixed middle ground and mostly public country in the south.
Where to Find Elk in the Ukiah Unit: north of Highway 244 versus the public south
Two public-land worlds
ODFW's hunt descriptions split the unit at Highway 244. The part south of Highway 244 is mostly public land. The belt north of it, between the highway and East Birch Creek Road, Indian Lake Road and Forest Road 21, is mixed with a lot more private. The boundary itself begins at Pendleton, takes in Kamela and the Forest Road 21 route, follows Tower Mountain Road past Frazier Forest Camp, and then runs along Meadow, Big and the North Fork John Day River before coming back on US 395.
Buttes and campgrounds
Winom Butte at 5967 feet is the high point, with Table Mountain, Carney Butte, Owens Butte and Storm Mountain all above 4400 feet. The low ground drops to 1380. Marshall Camp, Pinchot Peak Camp and Douglas Camp sit in the public timber, and Emigrant Springs Campground is on the Pendleton end. The forecast says elk in Ukiah are above management objective. ODFW lists no named roads for the unit, so lean on the Umatilla National Forest road maps. Pilot Rock, Ukiah, Pendleton and La Grande are the nearest towns, and Pinchot Peak Camp is a handy base for the south half. Plan your fuel for long drives.
The ground ODFW draws for this hunt
The Ukiah Unit, WMU 49, covers about 874 square miles measured on ODFW's polygon, and ODFW rates it 35% public land. Named features inside the line fall in Umatilla County and Union County. Elevation runs from about 1,380 to 5,967 feet. The highest named points are Winom Butte (5,967 ft), Table Mountain (4,999 ft) and Carney Butte (4,798 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 49 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 2,084–5,864 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 3,959 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 874.5 sq mi inside the boundary. Big enough that picking one drainage beats driving three.
Who owns the ground
- National Forest — 60%
- State Trust — 8%
- Private / Other — 32%
Roughly 68% is public. Carry a land-status layer anyway — these are area percentages, not a map of where the boundaries fall.
Water on the ground
- 7 tanks
- 373 stream segments
- 2 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: Winom Butte (5,967 ft), Pearson Ridge (5,726 ft), Owens Butte (4,579 ft), Upper Bench (4,473 ft)
Holding ground: Hidaway Meadows (5,409 ft), Upper Long Meadow (5,355 ft), Sagebrush Flat (5,140 ft), Lookout Spring, Willoughby 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 Ukiah Unit: north-facing cover, wildfire checks and bow-season timing
Elk Success Rates
Unit 49: 347 of 2,198 hunters, 16%. Figures are ODFW's own 2025 harvest statistics.
Elk Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 468 | 2,332 | 19.1% | 12 |
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 23 | 145 | 15.9% | 12 |
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 990 | 122 | 100.0% | 4 |
| Archery — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 50 | 11 | 100.0% | 4 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 83 | 179 | 45.8% | 5 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 4 | 7 | 14.3% | 5 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 83 | 308 | 26.6% | 9 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 4 | 5 | 20.0% | 9 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 220 | 451 | 46.3% | 13 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 11 | 42 | 26.2% | 13 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 1300 | 205 | 96.6% | 12 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 65 | 110 | 59.1% | 12 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 66 | 61 | 100.0% | 5 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 3 | 8 | 37.5% | 5 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (resident) | 110 | 23 | 100.0% | 9 |
| Rifle — Controlled bull/buck only (nonresident) | 6 | 4 | 100.0% | 9 |
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.
- 249R2 Ukiah Unit Bow No. 1: 1,300 tags for 2026; 493 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 249A2 Ukiah Unit No. 2: 990 tags for 2026; 2,477 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 249A1 Ukiah Unit No. 1: 468 tags for 2026; 5 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 249E Ukiah Valley Private: 110 tags for 2026; 69 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 249B Central Ukiah: 83 tags for 2026; 133 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?
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: 874 square miles · accessed 2026-10-30
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the boundary — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Winom Butte 5,967 ft, Table Mountain 4,999 ft · accessed 2026-10-30