Unit 45 Fossil

Mule deer are the backbone of Unit 45, common through the juniper breaks, canyon rims and sage benches, with the mix of canyon cover and wheat-edge feed producing quality bucks. Deer hunting is controlled (draw); the better-than-average public land in the John Day canyon and Umatilla NF gives more open opportunity than in surrounding units.

• →Glass juniper breaks, rimrock benches and canyon draws at first and last light
• →Work the transition where wheat and CRP feed meets canyon and juniper bedding cover
• →Use the John Day canyon BLM ground and Umatilla NF fringe for public opportunity; float to reach remote benches
• →Still-hunt juniper draws and side canyons midday, watching thermals in the broken terrain

Rocky Mountain elk hold in the timbered ridges, canyon breaks and juniper country of Unit 45, particularly toward the Umatilla NF and Ochoco/Blue Mountain fringe. It is a legitimate elk unit by north-central Oregon standards, with controlled tags; access to private plateau ground and finding the right cover/feed pattern drive success.

• →Hunt the timbered ridges and canyon-head cover of the eastern/southern Umatilla NF fringe
• →Glass canyon breaks and juniper benches at dawn and dusk; listen for bugles in the timber early season
• →Locate the herd's private-vs-public and cover-vs-feed pattern before the hunt and work the public seams
• →Be prepared to hike into the John Day canyon and NF ridges away from road pressure

Pronghorn use the open sage benches, bunchgrass range and wheat-fallow margins of the plateaus in modest numbers. This is a limited-entry opportunity hunt, with much antelope range on private ground between the wheat blocks.

• →Glass open benches and fallow fields from rises early and late
• →Work the sage-range fringes between wheat blocks where bucks hold
• →Plan long open-country stalks using rims and terrain folds for cover
• →Arrange private-land permission ahead of the season for the best flats

California bighorn range the John Day River canyon on and near the unit's western boundary around Clarno, part of the strong Lower John Day herd complex. Any Unit 45 sheep tag is a once-in-a-lifetime, near-zero-odds draw, but a drawn tag puts you into healthy canyon sheep country.

• →Glass the rimrock, talus and canyon benches of the John Day corridor from opposite rims
• →Float or work canyon road ends to reach benches sheep use year-round
• →Coordinate with ODFW biologists on recent John Day survey locations
• →Treat a drawn tag as a multi-week campaign focused on the specific canyon reach

Black bears occur at low density in the timbered ridges, juniper draws and canyon cover of Unit 45, most likely toward the forested Umatilla NF/Ochoco fringe. ODFW offers a spring controlled opportunity; encounters are uncommon but more plausible here than in the open wheat units.

• →Focus on the forested eastern/southern fringe and brushy canyon bottoms
• →Glass green draws, riparian corridors and timber edges at dawn and dusk in spring
• →Hunt near seasonal food and water in the broken canyon country
• →Often an incidental opportunity for deer and elk hunters

Cougars follow the deer, elk and bighorn through the canyon breaks, rimrock and timbered ridges. Densities are low across the plateau country but the canyon-and-forest mix supports resident cats; most are taken incidentally or by hunters cutting fresh sign.

• →Cut tracks in snow along canyon rims, bottoms and around deer/elk concentrations
• →Focus on the broken John Day canyon country and the timbered NF fringe where prey holds
• →Glass rimrock and predator-call in side canyons during winter
• →Treat as an opportunistic add-on to a deer, elk or winter scouting trip