Unit research · California · Zone X8

Zone X8 — California

90% public hunting land across 332,827 ac. Real backcountry here — 36% 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 X8Full map — ownership, roads, wind →

4,830–11,370 ft

elevation range

90%

public hunting land

36%

of public >1 mi from a road

702 ac

landlocked public

1.79

road miles per mi²

343 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 X8: 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

■ Forest Service 82%■ BLM 6%■ State wildlife 2%▨ Parks & other public 1%□ Private 9%

Unit area332,827 ac

Public hunting land298,650 ac (90%)

Parks & other public2,611 ac · State conservation, State wildlife, State parks

Landlocked public702 ac (0.2%)

Deer draw pressure0.45 tags/mi² public (0.40 of total area)

Walk-in access5,503 ac

Motorized routes (MVUM + roads)932 mi

Mapped trails on public land343 mi

Backcountry

Public land >1 mi from a road106,977 ac (36% of public)

Road density1.79 mi/mi²

Managed byForest Service 273k ac · BLM 19k ac · State wildlife 6k ac

Elevation4,830–11,370 ft

Median elevation7,730 ft

Median slope16°

Where the ground sits

4,830 ft11,370 ft

Tap or hover the bars for each elevation band

Slope mix

Which way the slopes face

N 25%

E 27%

S 18%

W 29%

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

95,317 ac of this zone has burned — 29% of the unit. USGS migration corridors cover 70%. 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 LAKE TAHOE AIRPORT, 30 km from the unit’s center and ~1,500 ft below its median elevation — expect the unit to run colder. NOAA ISD-Lite hourly observations.

Harvest — agency survey estimates

Deer · 2024

20.7% success

no unit-level hunter count published

41 bucks (bucks only)

Deer hunter success · 2021–2024 · 36% → 21%

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

Nearby zones

Zone X1287% public · 21% remote Zone D529% public · 17% remote Zone D630% public · 20% remote Zone X7b60% public · 3% remote Zone X7a57% public · 2% remote Zone D424% public · 12% remote

Ready to scout it?

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

Open Zone X8 in the map

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