Deer Hunt Area EH-01 (Elkhorn 01)

A boundary that follows the roads

ODFW draws this area along I-84, Huntington Road, Willow Creek Road, US 26 at Ironside, the North Fork Burnt River Road, Highway 7, Greenhorn Road and the Anthony Lakes Highway. It covers parts of Baker, Malheur and Grant counties. Nearly all of it comes from the Sumpter unit, with a sliver from Desolation. Half the ground is private, so the map matters as much as the topography.

The Elkhorn crest and the ground below it

The big relief is on the crest. Rock Creek Butte, Elkhorn Peak, Red Mountain and Twin Mountain all sit near or above 8887 ft. Deer drop from there to the lower country near Baker City, Sumpter, Unity and Haines. ODFW's forecast says the herd still sits below management objective. In the Union district's part of the Elkhorn, South Wallowas and Northeast herd ranges, ODFW counted 51 fawns and 24 bucks per 100 does, with stable harvest. Whitetail numbers are steady too, with high buck ratios, and ODFW calls the late muzzleloader whitetail hunt a good opportunity. Sumpter and Unity sit closest to the crest, while Baker City and Haines serve the valley side. Plan your drive so you're on the right side of the divide before light.

The ground ODFW draws for this hunt

ODFW's Deer Hunt Area EH-01 covers about 1,521 square miles measured on ODFW's own polygon, and ODFW rates it 46% public land. It takes in parts of these WMUs: Sumpter (about 94%) and Desolation (about 6%). Named features inside the line fall in Baker County, Malheur County and Grant County. Elevation runs from about 2,399 to 9,077 feet. The highest named points are Rock Creek Butte (9,077 ft), Elkhorn Peak (8,929 ft) and Elkhorn Mountains (8,903 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.

Mule deer or whitetail

This area runs four different buck hunts, and they don't hunt alike. The rifle mule deer tag is a high-pressure window, so give yourself a mile of walking beyond the nearest road. The bow hunt runs long, which lets you watch bucks settle into a pattern before you commit. The whitetail rifle tag and the late muzzleloader whitetail tag send you toward creek bottoms and private-edge cover instead of the crest.

Public land strategy

Park at the boundary roads and walk in. Glass early and late from a bench, since deer feed in the open and bed out of sight. Deer Creek Campground is the listed camp on the public side, and A Frame RV Park and Mountain View RV Park serve the valley. Whitetails live heavily on private ground, so knock on doors before the season, not during it. If you drop a buck on steep slope, plan to quarter it and carry it out in loads. The pack out is half the hunt.

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.

• EH101 Elkhorn 01 Mule Deer, Oct. 3 - Oct. 14: 825 tags, one mule deer buck with visible antler.
• EH101R Elkhorn 01 Bow, Aug. 29 - Sep. 27: 512 tags, one buck with visible antler.
• EH101M Elkhorn 01 Muzzleloader, Dec. 1 - Dec. 15: 275 tags, one white-tailed deer.
• EH101-1 Elkhorn 01 Whitetail, Oct. 3 - Oct. 14: 33 tags, one white-tailed deer 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.

• Sumpter (about 94% of this area): 758 hunters, 358 animals, 47% success over 3,464 hunter days.

Roads in and the nearest towns

The longest named roads through this ground are I 84;US 30, NF 73, Willow Creek Road and US 26. The nearest towns are Baker City (11 mi), Sumpter (15 mi) and Unity (19 mi), measured from the centre of the unit.