California Deer X3A — Zone X3A
Zone X3A General Season - Buck
- What you may take
- Zone X3A General Season - Buck
- Weapon
- Rifle
- Season (2025)
- Oct 4–19, 2025
- Tags (2025)
- 354
- for 1,714 first-choice applicants
- Hunter success here (2025)
- 63%
- 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. 319 tags, 1,714 first-choice applicants. Source: 2025 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1.
| Points | Your chance | Applicants | Drawn |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3% | 292 plus 34 party applications averaging just under 1 points | — |
| 1 | 3% | 251 plus 37 party applications averaging just under 2 points | — |
| 2 | 3% | 212 plus 47 party applications averaging just under 3 points | — |
| 3 | 3% | 179 plus 63 party applications averaging just under 4 points | — |
| 4 | 3% | 158 plus 83 party applications averaging just under 5 points | — |
| 5 | 76% | 158 plus 89 party applications averaging just under 6 points | — |
| 6 | 100% | 42 plus 17 party applications averaging just under 7 points | — |
| 7 | 100% | 23 plus 2 party applications averaging just under 8 points | — |
| 8 | 100% | 6 plus 12 party applications averaging just under 9 points | — |
| 9 | 100% | 3 | — |
| 10 | 100% | 2 | — |
| 11 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 12 | 100% | 3 | — |
| 13 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 14 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 15 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 16 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 17 | 100% | 1 | — |
| 18 | 100% | 0 | — |
| 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)
At the 2025 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $588.01 (enough points to draw) to $23,436.03 (lowest published odds).
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)
How this tag has hunted
Across every license type in Zone X3A, California Department of Fish and Wildlife counted 209 deer taken in 2025 — 63% of them killed something. Full Zone X3A 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 | 354 | 1,714 | 4.8 | — | 35 tags | 2025 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1 |
| 2024 | 354 | 1,943 | 5.5 | — | 35 tags | 2024 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1 |
| 2023 | 354 | 1,990 | 5.6 | — | 35 tags | 2023 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1 |
| 2022 | 354 | 1,819 | 5.1 | — | 35 tags | 2022 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1 |
| 2021 | 354 | 1,807 | 5.1 | — | 35 tags | 2021 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1 |
| 2020 | 354 | 1,844 | 5.2 | — | 35 tags | 2020 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1 |
| 2019 | 354 | 1,529 | 4.3 | — | 35 tags | 2019 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1 |
| 2018 | 354 | 1,753 | 5.0 | — | 35 tags | 2018 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1 |
| 2017 | 354 | 1,720 | 4.9 | — | 35 tags | 2017 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1 |
Other licenses valid in Zone X3A
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.
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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.