1st time draw units NE Oregon how does i
Elk
Trying to draw a draw unit in NE Oregon out of state are there units that I could draw first time
Not this year, the draw is closed. Odds will be out with the results end of next week. Some will be skewed because people burned points on new draw units. I wouldn’t pay nr prices to hunt here excepting a few units that take dbl digit nr points.
elk whisperer, without a bunch of PP's the answer is no unless you get very lucky. 25% of the tags go to a random draw for those that applied but did not draw a tag, so there is always a chance albeit remote.
there are some otc areas or units elsewhere in the state you have a better chance of drawing but as mentioned above, i'd spend my time and money elsewhere. in my experience, odfw is the most incompetent at managing wildlife of the western states.
if you are dead set on bowhunting elk in oregon, i would focus on the western part.
ODFW is beyond incompetent. Making most of eastern Oregon a draw under the guise of fixing hunter crowding is laughable. It's nothing more than a way for them to get 8 dollars more for each tag without having to raise tag fees. Game populations are well below management objectives and they continue to blame everything but predation since the management of predators is too political in this state.
The new draw units for elk were created so they can actually control the number of hunters in units. Several of the units are having large reductions in tag numbers due to low bull to cow numbers and or herd numbers below objectives. Some of the other units were included in the draw because they are in the same general region, and would become more crowded if they remained over the counter
The new eagle cap zone was issued around d 25 percent less tags for this year than the amount of people that hunted it OTC last year. Desolation is seeing a nearly 40 percent reduction in tag numbers.
The unit I hunt bull to cow ratios have gone from almost 20 bulls per hundred cows, down to 10 bulls per 100 cows since 2013. Hunter numbers have nearly doubled in that same time frame, wolf numbers have increased drastically, and hunter success rates have been on a steady decline over that same time period.
If the number of bulls in a unit is down 25-50 percent from 10 years ago, do you really think they should be allowing the same amount of hunters or more to hunt bulls in that unit?
NR currently pay over $750 for a license and Elk tag in OR. By changing unlimited OTC hunts to a draw, nr will now be restricted to a 5% cap in those areas. The increase in resident app fees at $8 ea, fails to make up the difference when NR are paying over $750 for a license and Elk tag. The shortage, based on last years numbers, will be over 500K. Nobody that understands how our draw works thinks it's about $8 app fees.
Under current state and federal law, ODFW has very limited options when it comes to predator control; essentially none that are effective. State law prohibits using dogs for Bear and Cougar as well as bait for Bears and ODFW can't do a thing about it. ODFW can selectively kill wolves but we have no option for hunting or trapping under our current wolf management plan and likely never will. That wolf plan also has no maximum population. With all those restraints, ODFW can limit hunters or limit tags and that's about it.
Bowhunt listed one of the main reasons for adding the remaining core Elk areas to controlled hunting. Unlimited otc hunting is a poor excuse for game management, especially when that state manages for 10-15/100 ratios.
"Under current state and federal law, ODFW has very limited options when it comes to predator control; essentially none that are effective. State law prohibits using dogs for Bear and Cougar as well as bait for Bears and ODFW can't do a thing about it."
Correct, but what they can do is advocate for hunters and changes at a much greater level and frequency. They do not do that. I forget the percentage but a significant amount of ODFW employees do not hunt.
I am in no way saying that a tag reduction isn't needed. Mule deer hunting should be shut down entirely until populations have been given a chance to recover. Going to the draw for deer accomplished nothing since there were leftover tags in almost every unit. Switching blacktail hunts to spike or better rather than forken horn is yet another example of ODFW's failures. By no means are there so many blacktails that we should be allowing unlimited spike harvest. Where they have the ability to manage predators they don't. Limiting tags for spring bear for example. There is far from a shortage of bears yet they limit harvest. If they don't get the politicians out of game management there will be nothing left. The declines in deer and elk populations are quite astounding in the last 20 years and that's coming from someone who works in the woods and spends most of his free time there.
To answer the original question; I think all of the units that just went to the draw can be picked up by just applying. I would look at the units and compare the number of tags allocated to the number of hunters that went there in the past two or three years. As far as wildlife management is concerned, I do not see things changing for the better for hunters. Landowners including different agencies that manage huge tracks of land have a voice in game management. Ranchers that graze public have a say, and so do grandmas with their tennis shoes and binoculars. ODF&W is not an agency that can or should be an advocate for hunters to the detriment of others interested in game management. The biologists are wildlife managers. I am surprised it took the game commission as long as it did to require all of NE Oregon to be draw only. Their cow elk management was pushing more and more hunters into fewer areas open for general cow harvest. It was getting to be too much for some units. I too am saddened that elk hunting has gone the way it has, but not surprised, and I am not blaming anyone.
If you are dead-set on bowhunting elk in Oregon, there is still the OTC general archery tag...but you can only use it in the units that have very poor elk populations...Under this new system effective 2022, It's anybodys guess about crowds...because so many huntable units are a controlled hunt this year......nobody really knows how it will play out....We will know in about another week. I am anxious to see how the new Traditional Bow Only hunts work out...
Elk whisperer, as stated above you already missed the deadline to apply for the NE Oregon hunts. The application deadline is May 15th every year.
Non Residents are limited to 5 percent of available tags on controlled hunts. If large numbers of non residents quit hunting Oregon, you MIGHT be able to draw each year. I doubt that will be the case.
In 2021 around 280 non resident hunters hunted the units that make up the new eagle cap zone, in 2022 there will only be 85 tags available to non resident. If the same amount t of guys keep applying to hunt those units they would only draw every 3-4 years. Most of the other units I looked at will also have very significant reduction in non resident opportunities.
I think it is going to be 2-3 years until anyone can start to figure out the trends for these new hunts.
I applied for my normal area as a first choice, and have 5 points this year.
