Deer Hunt Area DG-04 (Devils Garden 04)

Silver Lake and a piece of Sprague

About five-sixths of this area is the Silver Lake WMU, with the rest from Sprague. The boundary leaves Silver Lake on Hwy 31, runs to NF 28 and NF 30, then follows the Sycan River from Pikes Crossing, west on NF 44 and NF 46, and back east on Silver Lake Road.

Yamsay Mountain, at over eight thousand feet, anchors it. Hager Mountain, Fremont Point, Dead Indian Mountain and Foster Butte round out the named peaks.

Fire has helped

The Lake County forecast says significant wildfires in this hunt area between 2018 and 2021 created improved habitat, and that mule deer there are responding favorably. It adds that buck ratios are above management objective.

It tells hunters to concentrate on healthy understory or thinned areas with good forage next to cover. Fawn ratios across the county were higher than in recent years, which reflects better feed in the post-fire forests.

CR 600, NF 44, NF 28 and NF 2901 are the main roads. Silver Creek Marsh, Thompson Reservoir and the Buck Creek forest camps give you bases. Chiloquin and Paisley are the closest towns.

The ground ODFW draws for this hunt

ODFW's Deer Hunt Area DG-04 covers about 1,142 square miles measured on ODFW's own polygon, and ODFW rates it 66% public land. It takes in parts of these WMUs: Silver Lake (about 84%) and Sprague (about 16%). Named features inside the line fall in Lake County and Klamath County. Elevation runs from about 4,250 to 8,177 feet. The highest named points are Yamsay Mountain (8,177 ft), Hager Mountain (7,175 ft) and Fremont Point (7,133 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.

Burn edges and understory

Look for places where regrowth meets cover. A burn that's recovering gives deer feed, and the unburned edge gives them somewhere to hide. Glass these seams in the first and last hour, and walk the edges slowly through the middle of the day.

ODFW says older bucks are available to those with some patience, so plan to pass young bucks if that's your goal.

Water and the fire rules

In a dry fall, deer stay within a few miles of water, and they use dry seasonal creeks. Thompson Reservoir and the Sycan River are obvious places to start, along with the springs you find while scouting.

The forecast calls fire danger extreme, and says campfire restrictions will likely last through early fall. Check closures with the Forest Service and BLM before you go. ODFW notes that the area around the Wright Springs Fire is closed, but that fire sits in a different hunt area, so confirm your own map.

The area offers rifle, archery and youth hunts. The muzzleloader tag here is written for a white-tailed deer, so read it carefully.

Pack-out can be long from a roadless draw. Quarter and bag the meat, and keep it cool.

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.

• DG104 Devils Garden 04, Oct. 3 - Oct. 14: 1,573 tags, one buck with visible antler.
• DG104R Devils Garden 04 Bow, Aug. 29 - Sep. 27: 154 tags, one buck with visible antler.
• DG104M Devils Garden 04 Muzzleloader, Oct. 17 - Oct. 25: 32 tags, one white-tailed deer.
• DG104T Devils Garden 04 Youth, Sep. 28 - Oct. 14: 28 tags, one buck with visible antler.

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.

• Silver lake (about 84% of this area): 984 hunters, 195 animals, 20% success over 5,877 hunter days.
• Sprague (about 16% of this area): 388 hunters, 144 animals, 37% success over 2,207 hunter days.

Roads in and the nearest towns

The longest named roads through this ground are NF 28, NF 2901, OR 31 and National Forest Development Road 2878. The nearest towns are Paisley (36 mi), Chiloquin (40 mi) and Crescent (46 mi), measured from the centre of the unit.