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Units / California / Zone A-South

Unit research · California · Zone A-South

South Unit (110) — California

13% public hunting land across 16,998,055 ac. Real backcountry here — 31% of the public land sits more than a mile from any road. Watch the checkerboard: 77,094 ac of public land has no public route in.

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Zone A-SouthFull map — ownership, roads, wind →
-100–6,740 ft

elevation range

13%

public hunting land

31%

of public >1 mi from a road

77,094 ac

landlocked public

3.12

road miles per mi²

1,122 mi

trails on public land

Computed from primary government data by the AGPL pipeline. See the code →

Tags & season

General-zone tag — no draw.

Buy a Zone A-South deer tag from California Department of Fish and Wildlife — no application, no points. Zone tags are sold until the zone's quota is reached, if it has one; check California Department of Fish and Wildlife before you count on one.

Deer tag (2026-27)$42.38 resident · $377.35 nonresident
Plus: California annual hunting license (2026-27)$64.54 resident · $225.46 nonresident

Season dates: see California Department of Fish and Wildlife's regulations

2026 California Big Game Digest (rev. 2026-04-17) ↗

California deer draw calendar (premium hunts only — not Zone A-South)

  • Apr 15, 2027 — applications open
  • Jun 2, 2027 — application deadline

Fees and draw dates from California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 2026-27, verified 2026-08-05. Tag type from the agency's published draw statistics: a zone that appears in none of them is sold as a zone tag. Source: CDFW license items and fees (2026-27) · 2026 California Big Game Digest (rev. 2026-04-17) · CDFW big game hunting tags.

Land & access

■ Forest Service 8%■ BLM 4%■ State wildlife 1%■ Other hunting land 1%▨ Parks & other public 7%□ Private 80%
Unit area16,998,055 ac
Public hunting land2,217,430 ac (13%)
Parks & other public1,259,190 ac · State parks, Regional park district, Nonprofit preserve
Landlocked public77,094 ac (3.5%)
Walk-in access138,760 ac
Motorized routes (MVUM + roads)82,755 mi
Mapped trails on public land1,122 mi

Backcountry

Public land >1 mi from a road695,137 ac (31% of public)
Road density3.12 mi/mi²
Managed byForest Service 1311k ac · BLM 629k ac · State wildlife 150k ac
Elevation-100–6,740 ft
Median elevation730 ft
Median slope5°

Where the ground sits

-100 ft6,740 ft

Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band

Slope mix

Which way the slopes face

N 24%
E 25%
S 26%
W 26%

Share of ground steeper than 5° — flat ground has no facing

North slopes hold shade, cover and snow; south slopes open first.

USGS 3DEP 1 arc-second (30 m), slope at native resolution in a local metric projection, sampled on a 800 m grid. See the code →

Unit intelligence report · Pro, $5 a month or $49 a year

2,436,122 ac of this zone has burned — 14% of the unit. The full report assembles it into one printable document and keeps it current as the facts change.

Open the report →

Season conditions — measured, not vibes

Historical temperatures · 2000–2025

Monthly normal highs and lows, °F60° high36° lowJFMAMJJASOND

Normals for 2000–2025 — tap or hover for a month

Measured at PASO ROBLES MUNICIPAL ARPT, 57 km from the unit’s center. NOAA ISD-Lite hourly observations.

Harvest — agency survey estimates

Deer · 2024

30.4% success

no unit-level hunter count published

8,342 bucks · 5 does

Deer hunter success · 2021–2024 · 28% → 30%

CDFW estimates from hunter license reports, scaled by the published non-reporting rate; PLM and Section 554 landowner harvest excluded. Hunter success is estimated kill ÷ tags issued — for B, C and D3-5 group tags CDFW publishes quota and success per zone GROUP, so no zone-specific rate exists and none is shown. No hunter-effort estimates are published. Deer only. CDFW also publishes elk hunt statistics; that series is not carried here yet. Source: CDFW Statewide Deer Harvest Statistics (per year, by zone/hunt).

How these numbers are made

public_land_pct = public_area / unit_area
landlocked = public ∖ reachable(roads, corners)
remote = public ∖ buffer(roads, 1 mi)

Computed, not curated: no paid research team, no opinions dressed as data. If a number looks wrong, tell us at support@openhuntmaps.com — the fix ships for everyone.

Nearby zones

Zone D751% public · 42% remoteZone D827% public · 27% remoteZone D630% public · 20% remoteZone D1362% public · 38% remoteZone X9b98% public · 32% remoteZone D948% public · 10% remote

Ready to scout it?

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Take Zone A-South into the field

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What happens nextApr 15 — Deer applications open · details →Jun 2 — Deer application deadline · details →
Watch this unit — freeReturned and leftover tags, fire near the unit and weather warnings — by email. One unit free, no card.