Public comment opens on Oregon’s 2027 big game rules

Public comments are open on Oregon’s proposed 2027 big-game rules, and the clock is already running toward the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission’s Sept. 17-18 meeting in La Grande, where the package is scheduled for review.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife began taking comments July 23 and will accept them through Aug. 11, giving Union County hunters, landowners, guides, outfitters and gear sellers a narrow window to raise concerns before the rules move to the commission. ODFW also said it is hosting a series of online public meetings in July, where district wildlife biologists are presenting proposed changes to the 2027 big-game regulations and collecting feedback.

For local hunters, the most immediate issue is access and timing. ODFW’s July notice said modifications to the Elk General Western Oregon Coast seasons are under consideration, a change that could affect tag availability, season dates and how hunters plan trips that reach far beyond Union County. Oregon’s big-game hunting page says the state has more than 34 million acres of public land open to hunters, and those seasons cover elk, deer, pronghorn and bighorn sheep.

The La Grande meeting matters because it is the point at which the commission is set to take up the package after the public comment period and summer outreach meetings. ODFW says the rules do not become effective until the Fish and Wildlife Commission adopts them and they are filed with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, so the next few weeks are the best chance to influence what hardens into law.

ODFW’s season-setting process is built around biological data collection, population surveys and trends, wildlife health and disease, habitat conditions, drought and fire, harvest reporting, survival and mortality, and management concerns. Those are the factors the agency listed in materials for its Sept. 13, 2024 big-game discussions, and they shape whether a season expands, tightens or stays the same.

All comments submitted on each rule will be posted publicly on ODFW’s rulemaking page, giving hunters and other residents a transparent record of who backed the changes and who objected. For Union County, the practical stakes reach from the field to the storefronts in La Grande, where fall hunting seasons help drive sales, bookings and traffic tied to the outdoor economy.