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Units / California / Zone D15

Unit research · California · Zone D15

Zone D15 — California

8% public hunting land across 2,084,492 ac. Road access is easy — only 17% of the public land is more than a mile from a road. Almost none of the public land is landlocked.

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Zone D15Full map — ownership, roads, wind →
0–5,650 ft

elevation range

8%

public hunting land

17%

of public >1 mi from a road

5,038 ac

landlocked public

9.62

road miles per mi²

277 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 D15 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 D15)

  • 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 7%■ State wildlife 1%■ BLM 1%▨ Parks & other public 14%□ Private 78%
Unit area2,084,492 ac
Public hunting land169,382 ac (8%)
Parks & other public285,183 ac · County, Regional park district, Nonprofit preserve
Landlocked public5,038 ac (3.0%)
Walk-in access19,831 ac
Motorized routes (MVUM + roads)31,331 mi
Mapped trails on public land277 mi

Backcountry

Public land >1 mi from a road29,425 ac (17% of public)
Road density9.62 mi/mi²
Managed byForest Service 136k ac · State wildlife 20k ac · BLM 12k ac
Elevation0–5,650 ft
Median elevation850 ft
Median slope3°

Where the ground sits

0 ft5,650 ft

Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band

Slope mix

Which way the slopes face

N 22%
E 24%
S 25%
W 28%

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 200 m grid. See the code →

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

325,140 ac of this zone has burned — 16% 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, °F67° high49° lowJFMAMJJASOND

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

Measured at J. WAYNE APT-ORANGE CO APT, 25 km from the unit’s center and ~800 ft below its median elevation — expect the unit to run colder. NOAA ISD-Lite hourly observations.

Harvest — agency survey estimates

Deer · 2024

5.4% success

no unit-level hunter count published

52 bucks (bucks only)

Deer hunter success · 2021–2024 · 6% → 5%

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 D1457% public · 15% remoteZone D1145% public · 18% remoteZone D1932% public · 46% remoteZone D1631% public · 14% remoteZone D1760% public · 32% remoteSouth Unit (110) · Zone A-South13% public · 31% remote

Ready to scout it?

Everything on this page, live on the map — ownership, boundaries, roads, and your own waypoints.

Take Zone D15 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.