In fall of 2005 The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife made the decision to offer a Hunt for The Columbia Whitetail Deer. This deer species hadn’t been hunted prior to this for several decades. The only huntable population is located in the Umpqua Valley in Douglas County, Oregon. The areas immediately around the town of Roseburg have a healthy population of this small and cagey racked whitetail. Unlike their Eastern cousin, they, like the Blacktail Deer live in various terrain and habitat and support smaller and narrower racks. I tell most of our clients that they resemble the look like that of a Coues Deer.

The Umpqua Rifle Tag (123A) is a great opportunity to harvest a Columbian Whitetail with your modern rifle. Your success is going to be dependent on having access to private land. We typically only take 1-2 hunters a year and on a very limited basis to make sure of a mature buck.

The Melrose – N. Habitat Rifle Tag (123B) is an extremely rare tag with only 3 tags being issued yearly. With the late season dates you could expect to possibly still see a little post rut. This hunt will become more popular because of the new unit boundary descriptions. Expect some monster bucks to be harvested on this tag if a tag holder is looking for the best Columbian Whitetail Buck around.
 

The Umpqua Bow Tag (123R2) is one of our favorite hunts. Be prepared to sit in extreme heat and get sweaty. We have had some great success on this hunt. Our biggest buck to date has been with archery tackle. You could draw this tag as a second choice as it was under subscribed in 2024.
 

The Melrose – N. Bank Habitat Bow Tag (123R2) is an ok tag. You don’t get much out of this tag other that you can hunt the N. Bank Habitat. The deer numbers in the N. Bank Habitat are struggling in our opinion.
 

The Melrose – N. Bank Habitat Muzzleloader Tag (123M2) is going to become very popular with its dates and unit boundary changes. These bucks should be possibly in the dead of the rut or maybe just tailing off a little. Expect to possibly crush a hammer buck.
These hunts are very limited. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife only gives out very few tags each year in the ODFW Big Game Draw. The only way to obtain one of these is to apply for one and burn your preference points or obtain a Guide/Outfitter Tag.

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If you have any questions regarding this deer species, feel free to give us a call.