Unit 66 (Malheur River)
Oregon Hunting Guide — Pronghorn, Elk
Malheur River is the Harney, Malheur and Grant County pronghorn unit between Burns, Juntura and Harper, with Calamity Butte at 6683 feet. It runs two either-sex rifle hunts, a bow hunt and a doe-and-fawn Harney Basin hunt.
Build your own PDF hunt guide for Unit 66
Answer a few questions about your tag, your season and your rig, and the Field Intelligence Report builds a print-ready Oregon Unit 66 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.
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Pronghorn Hunting in Unit 66
Malheur River is the Harney, Malheur and Grant County pronghorn unit between Burns, Juntura and Harper, with Calamity Butte at 6683 feet. It runs two either-sex rifle hunts, a bow hunt and a doe-and-fawn Harney Basin hunt.
Where to Find Pronghorn in the Malheur River Unit: Highway 20, Juntura and the Harney Basin edge
Burns to Harper and back
The boundary starts at Burns and runs north on US 395 to Seneca, east on the Logan Valley road to Forest Road 14, and southeast to Antelope Mountain. It then follows Otis Valley Road to Drewsey, runs south to US 20, and goes east to Harper. Harper-Follyfarm Road and Highway 78 bring it back to Burns. Calamity Butte, King Mountain, Jump-off Joe Mountain and Knox Mountain are the named highs. The low ground sits around 2869 feet.
A unit with two maps
The main hunts cover all of the unit. The Harney Basin doe-and-fawn hunt covers parts of this unit and its neighbours south and west of a line that starts at US 395 and a power line north of Burns, and ODFW says it's mostly mixed public and private. No campgrounds are named in the unit, so Juntura is the nearest town with services. Crowley Road and Highway 78 reach most of the south end. Juntura is the closest town, with Burns, Hines and Harper farther off. The named roads are OR 78, Crowley Road, US 20, US 395 and Forest Road 15. Fuel up before you go.
The ground ODFW draws for this hunt
The Malheur Rvr Unit, WMU 66, covers about 2,890 square miles measured on ODFW's polygon, and ODFW rates it 69% public land. Named features inside the line fall in Harney County, Malheur County and Grant County. Elevation runs from about 2,869 to 6,683 feet. The highest named points are Calamity Butte (6,683 ft), King Mountain (6,662 ft) and Jump-off Joe Mountain (6,522 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 66 terrain and land status
Measured from the unit boundary, not from the agency write-up
The lay of it
- 3,414–5,649 ft on a terrain sample , averaging 4,522 ft ; peaks can run higher.
- 2,890.5 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
- 47 tanks
- 61 springs
- 510 stream segments
- 9 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: Calamity Butte (6,683 ft), King Mountain (6,662 ft), Jump-off Joe Mountain (6,522 ft), Knox Mountain (6,507 ft)
Holding ground: Wolf Creek Meadow (5,987 ft), Dry Meadow (5,796 ft), Jackknife Flat (5,568 ft)
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 Pronghorn in the Malheur River Unit: glass the flats and use the bow window
Pronghorn Success Rates
Unit 66: 146 of 215 hunters, 68%. Figures are ODFW's own 2025 harvest statistics.
Pronghorn Draw Odds
| Season | Tags | Applicants | Draw % | Pts Req |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery — Controlled buck only (resident) | 77 | 1,601 | 4.7% | 23 |
| Archery — Controlled buck only (nonresident) | 4 | 80 | 2.5% | 23 |
| Archery — Controlled buck only (resident) | 77 | 1,108 | 6.8% | 23 |
| Archery — Controlled buck only (nonresident) | 4 | 47 | 4.3% | 23 |
| Rifle — Controlled buck only (resident) | 33 | 157 | 20.4% | 14 |
| Rifle — Controlled buck only (nonresident) | 2 | 7 | 14.3% | 14 |
| Rifle — Controlled buck only (resident) | 55 | 133 | 40.6% | 9 |
| Rifle — Controlled buck only (nonresident) | 3 | 13 | 7.7% | 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.
- 466A1 Malheur Rvr Unit No. 1: 88 tags for 2026; 897 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 466A2 Malheur Rvr Unit No. 2: 86 tags for 2026; 1,681 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 466R Malheur Rvr Unit Bow: 55 tags for 2026; 38 first-choice applicants in 2025.
- 466B Harney Basin: 33 tags for 2026; 1,155 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 pronghorn page cover?
What's the biggest 2026 pronghorn hunt here?
What was hunter success for pronghorn here in 2025?
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?
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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 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: 2,890 square miles · accessed 2026-10-30
- Geographic Names Information System — named features inside the boundary — U.S. Geological Survey · supports: Calamity Butte 6,683 ft, King Mountain 6,662 ft · 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