Washington Unit 162 Elk Hunting Guide

Washington Unit 162, the Dayton unit in the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington, is a general-season elk unit that also offers limited-quota draw hunts. For hunters researching Unit 162 elk hunting, the most important thing to understand upfront is that this is not a draw-only proposition — antlered and either-sex elk are available through the general season, while the limited-quota tags fill a supplemental role. Covering 134,418 acres with elevations ranging from 1,504 to 6,049 feet, Unit 162 is classic Blue Mountains elk country: steep timbered canyons, dry south-facing breaks, and high-elevation benches that elk use to put distance between themselves and hunting pressure.

This is a unit with a well-earned reputation among regional elk hunters, and with only 25% public land, it's also a unit where access strategy matters as much as physical conditioning. Recent harvest data shows a unit under real pressure — both from hunters and from documented wolf presence and at least one hard winter that thinned elk numbers in the last decade. Understanding what Unit 162 actually offers, versus its reputation from a decade ago, is essential before investing time or a tag here.

HuntPilot Analysis: Is Unit 162 Worth Applying For?

The data on Unit 162 tells a story of declining opportunity. Harvest success has been low and inconsistent over the last five years: 5% in 2025 (374 hunters, 18 harvested), 6% in 2024 (409 hunters, 23 harvested), a sharp dip to 2% in 2023 (451 hunters, 8 harvested), 4% in 2022 (456 hunters, 16 harvested), and 3% in 2021 (491 hunters, 13 harvested). Across five seasons, success has never cracked double digits, and hunter numbers have been gradually trending down — from 491 in 2021 to 374 in 2025 — which itself suggests word has spread that this unit is tougher than it used to be.

Forum accounts from hunters who have drawn tags here corroborate the numbers: good bulls are still available, but Unit 162 "is not what it was 10 years ago." Documented wolf presence and at least one significant winter die-off event are cited as contributing factors to reduced elk numbers. The terrain itself — steep, broken, heavily timbered canyon country — rewards hunters willing to get well off the beaten path, but that same terrain makes for grueling, low-percentage hunting when elk are pushed into the nastiest pockets of cover to escape pressure.

With only 25% of the unit in public ownership, the majority of Unit 162 is private land. That is a critical access constraint: DIY hunters are working with a quarter of the landscape, and successful hunts here likely depend heavily on identifying which public parcels hold huntable terrain and, in some cases, pursuing permission on adjacent private ground. This is not a unit where hunters can expect to find wide-open public access in every direction.

Trophy potential in the counties overlapping Unit 162 shows a moderate history of trophy-class production, which means genuinely good bulls have come from this area and continue to be possible, but the data does not support characterizing this as an exceptional or elite trophy unit. Combined with single-digit-to-low-double-digit success rates, hunters should view Unit 162 as a unit that demands serious scouting, physical capability, and realistic expectations — not a unit where success is likely without substantial legwork.

So is it worth applying for? For a hunter who wants a general-season elk opportunity in genuinely wild, physically demanding Blue Mountains terrain, and who is willing to scout hard and hunt the toughest-to-reach pockets, Unit 162 remains viable. For a hunter expecting the unit's older reputation — the one still circulating in some hunting forums — the current harvest data suggests tempered expectations are in order.

Harvest Success Rates

Unit 162's harvest numbers over the past five seasons paint a consistent picture of a difficult unit:

• 2025: 374 hunters, 18 harvested, 5% success
• 2024: 409 hunters, 23 harvested, 6% success
• 2023: 451 hunters, 8 harvested, 2% success
• 2022: 456 hunters, 16 harvested, 4% success
• 2021: 491 hunters, 13 harvested, 3% success

The five-year trend shows success rates bouncing between 2% and 6%, with no clear upward trajectory. The 2023 season stands out as a particularly difficult year, with only 8 elk harvested out of 451 hunters afield. The slight uptick in 2024 and continuation into 2025 at 5% suggests some stabilization, but hunters should plan for a unit where the vast majority of tag holders go home without an elk. This level of success is typical of heavily timbered, steep terrain where elk have abundant escape cover and hunting pressure concentrates hunters on accessible ground while elk retreat to the unit's most difficult corners.

Trophy Quality

Trophy records from the counties overlapping Unit 162 show a moderate history of trophy-class elk production. This is an important distinction — these records are attributed at the county level and are shared with neighboring units in the same counties, not attributable exclusively to Unit 162's boundaries. That caveat aside, the historical record indicates that genuinely mature, trophy-class bulls have come out of this corner of the Blue Mountains, and forum accounts from recent tag holders confirm that "good bulls are still available" in the unit.

However, moderate trophy history combined with low overall harvest success means mature bulls are not common on the ground — they exist, but finding and killing one requires locating elk that have successfully avoided pressure, often in the steepest and least accessible terrain in the unit. Hunters chasing a genuine trophy bull here should treat this as a long-odds pursuit requiring exceptional scouting and willingness to hunt terrain most other hunters avoid, rather than an unrestricted assumption of a big-bull unit.

Access & Terrain

Unit 162 spans a dramatic elevation range from 1,504 feet up to 6,049 feet across its 134,418 acres, putting river-bottom country and high timbered ridgelines within the same unit boundary. This elevation spread, combined with the Blue Mountains' characteristic steep canyon topography, creates a landscape of sharp relief — hunters can expect drainages that drop and climb quickly, with elk using elevation changes and heavy timber to escape hunting pressure.

The defining access challenge in Unit 162 is land ownership: only 25% of the unit is public land. That means three-quarters of the acreage is privately held, a significant constraint for hunters planning a DIY approach. With public land making up a minority share of the unit, successful hunters need to identify exactly where the public parcels lie relative to elk habitat and travel corridors, since much of the surrounding private ground will be off-limits without landowner permission. This is not a unit where hunters can count on expansive public access in every direction — careful pre-season mapping work is essential to understand which pockets of public ground are actually huntable and how they connect to adjacent cover.

Forum accounts from hunters who've drawn this unit consistently describe it as "steep and deep" country, advising that the best strategy is scouting extensively to find difficult-to-reach pockets where elk retreat to avoid hunting pressure. This matches the physical profile suggested by the elevation and acreage data: a unit where the easiest-access terrain gets hunted hard and elk respond by pushing into the roughest available ground. Hunters should be prepared for genuinely demanding physical terrain, not gentle rolling country.

No wilderness acreage is listed for Unit 162, meaning hunters face no special wilderness-area access restrictions here — this is multiple-use public and private ground rather than designated wilderness.

Herd Health & Population Trends

While formal population survey data isn't available in the structured data for this unit, the harvest trends offer some indirect insight into herd conditions. The declining number of hunters afield — from 491 in 2021 down to 374 in 2025 — alongside consistently low success rates suggests a unit that has not rebounded strongly in recent years. Forum reports corroborate this, citing documented wolf presence in the unit and at least one significant winter in the past decade that measurably reduced elk numbers. Combined, these factors point to a herd that has faced real pressure from both predation and winter mortality, and hunters should not expect the elk densities that may have existed in this unit a decade or more ago.

How to Apply

Washington Unit 162 operates on a dual structure: general-season hunts are available for antlered and either-sex elk, meaning hunters do not need to draw a special permit to pursue an antlered bull here — a general license covers that opportunity during the applicable general season. In addition to the general season, Unit 162 offers limited-quota (draw) hunts, which operate through Washington's special permit application system.

Washington's draw system does not use a preference-point structure in the way some neighboring states do; instead, the state uses a point-based weighted drawing for special permits where accumulated points increase the number of entries a hunter has in the draw pool, without guaranteeing a tag at any point level. Residents and nonresidents apply through the same special permit system, though nonresidents should note that purchasing a base license is typically required before applying for special permit drawings.

Because Unit 162 includes both general-season and limited-quota opportunities, hunters should carefully review which specific hunt type they're pursuing — a general-season tag covering antlered elk versus a limited-quota permit — since the application requirements and odds differ significantly between the two paths.

Application structures, deadlines, and fees change from year to year and should never be assumed based on past cycles. For current application windows, fees, and license requirements, see HuntPilot's Washington state page at /states/wa, or consult the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife directly for the most current regulations.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the terrain like in Unit 162? Unit 162 is steep, broken Blue Mountains terrain with elevations ranging from 1,504 to 6,049 feet across 134,418 acres. Hunters describe it as "steep and deep" country — heavily timbered canyons and ridgelines where elk retreat into the most difficult-to-access pockets to escape hunting pressure. It demands strong physical conditioning and a willingness to hunt away from easy access points.

What is harvest success like in Unit 162? Harvest success has been consistently low over the past five years, ranging from 2% to 6%. In 2025, 374 hunters harvested 18 elk for a 5% success rate; in 2024, 409 hunters harvested 23 elk for 6%; and in 2023, success dropped to just 2% with only 8 elk harvested among 451 hunters. This is a unit where the large majority of hunters do not fill their tag.

How big are the elk in Unit 162? Trophy records from the counties overlapping Unit 162 show a moderate history of trophy-class elk, and hunters who've recently drawn tags report that good bulls remain available, though the unit isn't considered what it was a decade ago. Mature bulls exist but are not abundant, and finding one typically requires locating elk in the unit's most remote, hard-to-reach terrain.

Is Unit 162 worth applying for? It depends on expectations. Unit 162 offers general-season opportunity for antlered and either-sex elk plus limited-quota draw tags, but harvest success has been low (2-6% over the last five seasons) and the elk herd has faced pressure from documented wolf presence and at least one significant winter die-off. Hunters willing to scout hard, hunt physically demanding terrain, and target the unit's least accessible corners can still find success and the occasional quality bull, but this is not an easy-opportunity unit.

What is public land access like in Unit 162? Only 25% of Unit 162 is public land, meaning the majority of the unit's 134,418 acres is privately owned. DIY hunters need to carefully map which public parcels are huntable and how they connect to surrounding terrain, since private land restricts access across most of the unit. This is not a unit with abundant open public access, and hunters should plan accordingly before relying on a purely public-land strategy.