Deer Hunt Area CR-01 (Crooked River 01)

A mix of three herd ranges

Crooked River 01 draws just under half its ground from Maury, nearly a third from Ochoco and a bit over a fifth from Silvies. It starts at Prineville, follows US 26 and the Ochoco Ranger Station Road east, and then runs south along Wolf Creek Road and the Paulina-Suplee Highway before looping back along US 20 and OR 27.

North Point, South Point, Hampton Butte, Drake Butte and Tower Point are the named high spots. Low ground sits just above twenty-nine hundred feet.

Water is the draw this year

ODFW's forecast says the winter was historically light, and that dry spring and summer left much of the forest and desert in drought. It says water will be highly valuable for wildlife this fall, as will areas with fresh growth.

That points to springs, reservoirs and green draws. Antelope Reservoir and Wiley Flat are on the map, and Elkhorn and Double Cabin campgrounds give you bases. Mitchell, Hines, Burns and Dayville are the nearest towns.

ODFW also says deer populations remain below objectives, and fawn survival decreased slightly across the three units.

The ground ODFW draws for this hunt

ODFW's Deer Hunt Area CR-01 covers about 2,299 square miles measured on ODFW's own polygon, and ODFW rates it 54% public land. It takes in parts of these WMUs: Maury (about 48%), Ochoco (about 30%) and Silvies (about 22%). Named features inside the line fall in Crook County, Harney County and Deschutes County. Elevation runs from about 2,912 to 6,929 feet. The highest named points are North Point (6,633 ft), South Point (6,609 ft) and Hampton Butte (6,348 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.

Hunt the water in a dry year

Drought concentrates deer. Find a spring, a pond or a green strip and watch it from a distance in the first and last hour of light. Bucks may come in when it's cool and quiet.

ODFW says buck ratios are near management objectives for the Maury and Ochoco units, with a district-wide average of twenty bucks per hundred does. That's a decent herd structure but not a high one.

Take your time with the bucks

The forecast says recent surveys found a good number of mature bucks with strong horn growth. It advises taking your time and looking at several bucks. The light winter also means more yearling bucks, so you'll see small ones.

The rifle hunt is short, so scout early. The bow season is long, and the archery tag here is for a white-tailed deer, so read the tag.

Check land manager sites for fire and closure information. The forecast mentions access restrictions across the region.

Plan your pack-out on steep or rough ground, and take game bags and a partner if the haul is long.

ODFW's 2026 buck deer hunts on this ground

Seasons, bag limits and tags come from ODFW's 2026 regulations. Check the current book before you apply or go, because these change every year.

• CR101 Crooked River 01, Oct. 3 - Oct. 14: 851 tags, one buck with visible antler.
• CR101R Crooked River 01 Bow, Aug. 29 - Sep. 27: 281 tags, one white-tailed deer.

The 2025 harvest in ODFW's numbers

ODFW has no harvest figures on the new hunt areas yet. Its 2025 statistics are by WMU, for all deer hunters, every season and tag type, so these are the units this area was drawn from, and each covers more or less ground than the area does.

• Maury (about 48% of this area): 221 hunters, 79 animals, 36% success over 974 hunter days.
• Ochoco (about 30% of this area): 1,473 hunters, 318 animals, 22% success over 7,857 hunter days.
• Silvies (about 22% of this area): 739 hunters, 351 animals, 47% success over 3,522 hunter days.

Roads in and the nearest towns

The longest named roads through this ground are OR 27, US 20, FS 45 and Grindstone Road. The nearest towns are Prineville (38 mi), Mitchell (39 mi) and Dayville (47 mi), measured from the centre of the unit.