Unit research · California · Zone X5b

Zone X5b — California

73% public hunting land across 597,340 ac. Real backcountry here — 34% of the public land sits more than a mile from any road. Almost none of the public land is landlocked.

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

Zone X5bFull map — ownership, roads, wind →

4,010–7,890 ft

elevation range

73%

public hunting land

34%

of public >1 mi from a road

1,991 ac

landlocked public

0.65

road miles per mi²

9 mi

trails on public land

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

Tags & season

Draw hunts on this ground.

One limited-entry deer hunt is drawn on Zone X5b: 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

■ BLM 73%■ State lands 1%□ Private 26%

Unit area597,340 ac

Public hunting land439,030 ac (73%)

Parks & other public2,399 ac · State wildlife

Landlocked public1,991 ac (0.5%)

Walk-in access81 ac

Motorized routes (MVUM + roads)602 mi

Mapped trails on public land9 mi

Backcountry

Public land >1 mi from a road148,698 ac (34% of public)

Road density0.65 mi/mi²

Managed byBLM 435k ac · State lands 4k ac

Elevation4,010–7,890 ft

Median elevation5,470 ft

Median slope5°

Where the ground sits

4,010 ft7,890 ft

Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band

Slope mix

Which way the slopes face

N 22%

E 23%

S 27%

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

320,497 ac of this zone has burned — 54% of the unit. USGS migration corridors cover 17%. 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

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

Measured at RENO/TAHOE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 139 km from the unit’s center and ~1,100 ft below its median elevation — expect the unit to run colder. NOAA ISD-Lite hourly observations.

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, tell us at support@openhuntmaps.com — the fix ships for everyone.

Nearby zones

Zone X5a73% public · 21% remote Zone X3a53% public · 6% remote Zone X462% public · 5% remote Zone X3b63% public · 15% remote Zone X6a50% public · 0% remote Zone X6b77% public · 1% remote

Ready to scout it?

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

Open Zone X5b in the map

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