California Deer D16
Zone D16 Archery and General Seasons - Buck in Zone D16, any legal weapon, Oct 28 – Nov 26, 2023. 51% public land, mostly BLM.
No longer drawn. The last draw was 2023.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife held its 2025 deer draw without D16. The odds, costs and history below are that record, not an offer.
Your odds at 0 points · 2023 draw
820 first-choice applicants (all residencies) for 3,000 tags (all residencies)
820 first-choice applicants for 3,000 tags (all residencies) in 2023, so every first-choice applicant drew and 2,180 tags went to the leftover draw. The 100% reflects low demand that year, and a code like this can flip the year demand catches up.
Years to draw on points: —
- Tags
- 3,000
- Applicants
- 820
- Success
- 11%
First-choice nonresidents. Success: all hunters in Zone D16, 2025.
Points Needed to Draw
Undersubscribed every year on file: 820–903 first-choice applicants for 3000 tags, 2021–2023.
Insufficient history (0 of 3 draws) — a creep trend needs at least three draw years with a published drew-out level.
What It Costs · 2025 NR Fees
The $219.81 nonresident hunting license is not refunded. The $368.20 nonresident First-Deer Tag Drawing Application (full tag price fronted at application) is not refunded.
▸ Every Fee, With Sources
- Nonresident hunting license · paid at application $219.81 CDFW 2025 Big Game Hunting Digest
- Nonresident First-Deer Tag Drawing Application (full tag price fronted at application) · paid at application $368.20 CDFW 2025 Big Game Hunting Digest
Details
Odds by Point Level · 2023 Draw
| Points | Chance | Applied | Drew |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 ← you | 100% plus 9 party applications averaging under 1 point | 713 | — |
| 1 | 100% | 73 | — |
| 2 | 100% | 13 | — |
| 3 | 100% | 2 | — |
| 4 | 100% | 7 | — |
| 5 | 100% | 1 | — |
| 6 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 7 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 8 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 9 | 100% | 2 | — |
| 10 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 11 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 12 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 13 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 14 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 15 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 16 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 17 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 18 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 19 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 20–21 | 100% same at every level | 0 | — |
Points pass + random pass, from published pools. A dash means California Department of Fish and Wildlife did not publish a count for that level: it prints exact counts around the cut and folds the rest into a band. California runs a second, random pass after the points pass. As a lower choice, D16 drew no one in 2023, so lower-choice odds are left out.
Draw results: CDFW 2023 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics, p. 1, retrieved Sep 1, 2026.
How It Hunted, 2025
| Who | Hunters | Harvest | Success |
|---|---|---|---|
| All of Zone D16 | — | 322 | — |
Across every license type in Zone D16, California Department of Fish and Wildlife counted 322 deer taken in 2025 (hunter counts not published). Post-season survey, not draw statistics. Source: CDFW 2025 Deer Harvest Statistics; CDFW 2024 Deer Harvest Statistics.
▸ Year-by-Year Numbers 2 draws
The standard draw for nonresidents, one row per year. California runs a second, random pass after the points pass; it is shown beside the year it belongs to.
| Year | Tags | Applicants | Per Tag | Points Needed | Random Pass | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3,000 | 820 | 0.3 | — | 300 tags | CDFW 2023 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics, p. 1 |
| 2021 | 3,000 | 903 | 0.3 | — | 300 tags | CDFW 2021 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics, p. 1 |
▸ Legal Cartridges 23 on file for California deer
23 cartridges on file are legal for deer with a rifle in California (this license takes any legal weapon). Rules and sources: California hunting laws.
▸ Sources 11
- CDFW 2023 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics, p. 1 · draw results, seasons, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2021 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics, p. 1 · earlier draws, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2026 Big Game Hunting Digest draw rules, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2025 Big Game Hunting Digest fees, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2025 Deer Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2024 Deer Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2023 Deer Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2022 Deer Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2021 Deer Harvest Statistics harvest, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- CDFW 2014 Deer Hunt Zones boundary, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
- GreenInfo Network 2026 Protected Areas Database a land ownership, retrieved Sep 1, 2026
About These Numbers
Odds are from the 2023 draw, the latest on file, computed from California Department of Fish and Wildlife's published results (points pass + random pass, from published pools). They are what happened in that draw, not a forecast. Under five tags a percentage carries a *, because one applicant either way swings it. A dash means the agency did not publish the number, and a date marked expected is last cycle's schedule rolled forward. How we compute these.
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We don't take applications: check California Department of Fish and Wildlife's site and apply there.
Prior-draw odds from California Department of Fish and Wildlife's results, not a forecast · Methodology · All California deer hunts