Units / California / Zone D5
Unit research · California Zone D5
Zone D5 — California
31% public across 3,081,910 ac. Road access is easy — only 16% of the public land is more than a mile from a road. Almost none of the public land is landlocked.
Computed from primary government data by the open pipeline. See the code →
Tags & season
General-zone tag — no draw.
Buy a Zone D5 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.
Season dates: see California Department of Fish and Wildlife's regulations
California deer draw calendar (premium hunts only — not Zone D5)
- 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
Backcountry
Where the ground sits
Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band
Slope mix
Which way the slopes face
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 400 m grid. See the code →
Unit intelligence report
514,708 ac of this zone has burned — 17% of the unit. USGS migration corridors cover 12%. The full report assembles it into one printable document and keeps it current as the facts change.
Harvest — agency survey estimates
Deer · 2024
1,962 harvested
no district-level hunter estimate published
1,959 bucks · 2 does
Deer harvest · 2021–2024 · 2,050 → 1,962
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
Computed, not curated: no paid research team, no opinions dressed as data. If a number looks wrong, file an issue — the fix ships for everyone.
Ready to scout it?
Everything on this page, live on the map — ownership, boundaries, roads, and your own waypoints.
Take Zone D5 into the field
Download California’s pack and this unit works with no signal — boundaries, ownership, roads, elevation. Record your hunt with the screen off. Check what’s visible from any ridge.
Scan to install OpenHunt for Android. Open this page on the phone afterwards and it lands in the app.
