California Deer X2 — Zone X2

Zone X2 General Season - Buck

What you may take
Zone X2 General Season - Buck
Weapon
Rifle
Where
Zone X2
76% public of 1,037,086 acres
Season (2025)
Oct 4–19, 2025
Tags (2025)
189
for 1,310 first-choice applicants
Hunter success here (2025)
47%
of everyone who hunted the area

Showing nonresident results. Switch to resident

Odds by point level — 2025 draw

Prior-draw probability for a first-choice nonresident applicant. 171 tags, 1,310 first-choice applicants. Source: 2025 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1.

Points Your chance Applicants Drawn
0 2% 182 plus 14 party applications averaging just under 1 points
1 2% 129 plus 21 party applications averaging just under 2 points
2 2% 133 plus 45 party applications averaging just under 3 points
3 2% 84 plus 22 party applications averaging just under 4 points
4 2% 109 plus 28 party applications averaging just under 5 points
5 2% 102 plus 20 party applications averaging just under 6 points
6 2% 71 plus 16 party applications averaging just under 7 points
7 2% 58 plus 12 party applications averaging just under 8 points
8 2% 70 plus 32 party applications averaging just under 9 points
9 100% 49 plus 28 party applications averaging just under 10 points
10 100% 50 plus 14 party applications averaging just under 11 points
11 100% 6 plus 4 party applications averaging just under 12 points
12 100% 3
13 100% 3
14 100% 0 plus 2 party applications averaging just under 15 points
15 100% 1
16 100% 1
17 100% 0
18 100% 1
19 100% 0
20 100% 0
21 100% 0
22 100% 0
23 100% 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. How we compute these.

What it costs (2025 nonresident fees)

Cash to apply
$588.01
Out of pocket if unsuccessful
$588.01
Total if drawn
$588.01
Refunded if unsuccessful
$0

At the 2025 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $588.01 (enough points to draw) to $37,208.76 (lowest published odds).

Nonresident hunting license · paid at application $219.81 source
Nonresident First-Deer Tag Drawing Application (full tag price fronted at application) · paid at application $368.20 source

Next application window: opens Apr 15, closes Jun 2, 2027 (expected) · results ~June 15. Last cycle's schedule rolled forward — confirm when the agency publishes.

Point creep & years to draw

Insufficient history (0 of 3 draws) — a creep trend needs at least three draw years with a published drew-out level.

Seasons (2025)

Split 1: Oct 4–19, 2025 p. 1

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in Zone X2, California Department of Fish and Wildlife counted 78 deer taken in 2025 — 47% of them killed something. Full Zone X2 profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →

Post-season survey, not draw statistics. Source: 2025 California Deer Harvest Statistics 2024 California Deer Harvest Statistics

Year by year

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 Applicants per tag Points needed Random pass Source
2025 189 1,310 6.9 18 tags 2025 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2024 189 1,633 8.6 18 tags 2024 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2023 189 1,722 9.1 18 tags 2023 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2022 189 1,893 10.0 18 tags 2022 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2021 189 2,199 11.6 18 tags 2021 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2020 189 2,521 13.3 18 tags 2020 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1
2019 189 2,337 12.4 18 tags 2019 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1
2018 189 2,155 11.4 18 tags 2018 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1
2017 189 2,109 11.2 18 tags 2017 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1

Other licenses valid in Zone X2

Legal cartridges for deer in California

From the California hunting laws rules on file for a rifle. "Depends" means the rule turns on your specific load — check the state page.

.22-250 Remington
.223 Remington from $0.42/rd
.243 Winchester from $1.11/rd
.25-06 Remington
6.5 Creedmoor
6.5 Grendel
.270 Winchester from $0.16/rd
7mm-08 Remington
7mm Remington Magnum
.30-06 Springfield
.300 AAC Blackout from $0.56/rd
.300 Winchester Magnum from $1.25/rd
.30-30 Winchester
.308 Winchester
.338 Winchester Magnum
.350 Legend from $1.07/rd
.35 Whelen
.360 Buckhammer
.400 Legend
.444 Marlin
.450 Bushmaster from $2.00/rd
.45-70 Government from $1.97/rd
.50 Beowulf
Spot a data error on this page? Tell us.

Every report is checked against the agency source before we change anything.

How to read these numbers

Every percentage on this page is a prior-draw probability: the chance an applicant with that many points would have drawn in the draw year shown, computed from the agency's published results. It is not a forecast — quotas, applicant numbers, and point creep change every year. Every figure links to the agency document it came from. Where a state does not publish a number, we show a dash, never a zero. Hunts with fewer than five tags show counts instead of percentages. Fees show the fee year used. Read the methodology for the engine details.

Not an application service

This page is informational only. Draw rules, quotas, fees, and deadlines are set by the state agency and change by commission action — confirm everything on the agency's own site before you apply, and apply through the agency, not here. We disclaim all liability for reliance on this page.