Unit research · California Zone X12

Zone X12 — California

87% public across 659,893 ac. Road access is easy — only 21% of the public land is more than a mile from a road. Almost none of the public land is landlocked.

Open in map

Deer draw odds (1)Odds and pins: free, no account

Zone X12Full map — ownership, roads, wind →

4,990–12,240 ft

elevation range

87%

public land

21%

of public >1 mi from a road

2,586 ac

landlocked public

1.93

road miles per mi²

307 mi

maintained trails

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

Tags & season

Draw hunts on this ground.

One limited-entry deer hunt is drawn on Zone X12: apply in the California draw, by the agency's deadline below.

Deer tag · 1 draw hunt (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

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

CDFW big game hunting tags ↗Draw odds for California deer →How the California draw works →

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 has no limited-entry hunt we know of. Source: CDFW license items and fees (2026-27) · 2026 California Big Game Digest (rev. 2026-04-17) · CDFW big game hunting tags.

Land & access

■ USFS 56%■ BLM 27%■ SFW 3%■ Other public 1%□ Private 13%

Unit area659,893 ac

Public land576,932 ac (87%)

Landlocked public2,586 ac (0.4%)

Deer draw pressure0.39 tags/mi² public (0.34 of total area)

Walk-in access19,077 ac

Motorized routes (MVUM + roads)1,993 mi

Maintained trails307 mi

Backcountry

Public land >1 mi from a road119,975 ac (21% of public)

Road density1.93 mi/mi²

Managed byUSFS 371k ac · BLM 181k ac · SFW 19k ac

Elevation4,990–12,240 ft

Median elevation7,980 ft

Median slope13°

Where the ground sits

4,990 ft12,240 ft

Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band

Slope mix

Which way the slopes face

N 25%

E 29%

S 22%

W 24%

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

83,856 ac of this zone has burned — 13% of the unit. USGS migration corridors cover 69%. The full report assembles it into one printable document and keeps it current as the facts change.

Open the report →

Harvest — agency survey estimates

Deer · 2024

40.2% success

no district-level hunter estimate published

130 bucks (bucks only)

Deer hunter success · 2021–2024 · 45% → 40%

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)
# AGPL — read the pipeline →

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.

Nearby zones

Zone X891% public · 36% remote Zone X9a96% public · 19% remote Zone D655% public · 45% remote Zone A-South20% public · 24% remote Zone D531% public · 16% remote Zone D757% public · 46% remote

Ready to scout it?

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

Open Zone X12 in the map

What happens nextApr 15 — Deer applications open · details →Jun 2 — Deer application deadline · details →