Help me understand CA deer regs

[colasweet]

Howdy folks, I've never hunted in CA before, being a Michigan transplant. I read through the DF&G web PDF of the 2005/2006 season regulations and most of it makes sense. However I had a couple of questions -- I understand I can take 2 forkhorn or larger deer- does it matter if they are black tail or mule?

When I buy a tag I just put down what zone I want? I saw there are special drawings for the X-zones, do they draw for the other zones (A, B, etc) or do you just get issued the tags?

Also I noticed that the B zone is split into B-1 through B-6, do I apply for a specific part of B-zone or do you get a tag that is good for all of them?

I saw the deadline for entering the draws, but when can you start to buy your tags?

I also have read posts where people refer to saving draw points, what is a draw point and how do I save them?

Thanks for helping me out!

 

[henriksson]

Here in California you don't by the tag, you buy the application. You send the application in to DFG and they issue you a tag. You only get one tag per application and there are different applications (and different price) for the first and second deer. The applications start to sell in late April and you also have to buy your hunting license in order to buy the applications.

On the application you can put down up to 3 choices of hunting zone in order of priority. If you don't get you first choice you get a preference point as long as the application is with DFG before the drawing deadline. DFG keeps track of the preference points for you. These are what you call draw points.

A zone, B zones, and many D zones never reach their quota and are considered over the counter, in other words, you can always get a tag. All X zones and some other zones are by lottery only. The preference points give you a better chance of getting drawn.

Hope this helps. In the spring DFG comes out with their Big Game booklet that explains the regs fairly good and it has a lot of info on the various zones. You can get it for free from DFG or a license agent.

Good luck.

 

[shaun748]

I was in the same boat as you just about 6 years ago and can relate(wish I could give you help for that area)..It is confusing at first, but it will all start to make sense as you go..

They wont let you get a License here without a hunter safety card or prior hunting license..If you took the safety course call your States DFG to get a copy. They had mine on file and I took it when I was 12 years old, so they go back a ways.

OR just go to BIG-5 and get a license there since most cashiers don't even know to check for it,,Because any knowledgable Outdoors store will probably ask for it(Turners Outdoorsmans did)

As far as the deer I have not seen or heard anything that differenciates between blacktail/mulie.

I am lucky since I primarily bowhunt..Bowhunters can hunt the whole state with a single Archery Only deer tag(with a few area restrictions of course) and hell will probably freeze over before archery tags sell out..

As an example, last year I called DFG 2 months after a special "either-sex tags" drawing and found out only 1/2 of the quota had even been sold( so I got a draw tag 2 months after the draw ended because they did not sell all the quota) ...

I understand that gun hunters pretty much have to apply for particular zones they want to hunt,,So if you have any desire to bowhunt it sure can make life a lot easier out here..

Plus with Bowhunting you can start hunting in late July in A-zone then just bounce from zone to zone for the next several months(a pretty cool deal)..

One thing nice about California is all the National Forest is available for hunting and hunting is generally not as wide spread here as where I grew up,,The first day of deer season is a school holiday where I am from.


Good luck..