California Deer X6A — Zone X6A

Zone X6A General Season - Buck

What you may take
Zone X6A General Season - Buck
Weapon
Rifle
Where
Zone X6A
50% public of 789,651 acres
Season (2025)
Oct 4–19, 2025
Tags (2025)
329
for 2,601 first-choice applicants
Hunter success here (2025)
77%
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. 297 tags, 2,601 first-choice applicants. Source: 2025 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1.

Points Your chance Applicants Drawn
0 1% 504 plus 87 party applications averaging just under 1 points
1 1% 318 plus 68 party applications averaging just under 2 points
2 1% 281 plus 92 party applications averaging just under 3 points
3 1% 221 plus 62 party applications averaging just under 4 points
4 1% 199 plus 49 party applications averaging just under 5 points
5 1% 204 plus 47 party applications averaging just under 6 points
6 6% 181 plus 82 party applications averaging just under 7 points
7 100% 124 plus 16 party applications averaging just under 8 points
8 100% 30 plus 8 party applications averaging just under 9 points
9 100% 11
10 100% 9
11 100% 2
12 100% 3 plus 2 party applications averaging just under 13 points
13 100% 0
14 100% 1
15 100% 0
16 100% 0
17 100% 0
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)

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 $42,336.38 (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 X6A, California Department of Fish and Wildlife counted 247 deer taken in 2025 — 77% of them killed something. Full Zone X6A 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 329 2,601 7.9 32 tags 2025 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2024 329 2,778 8.4 32 tags 2024 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2023 329 2,647 8.0 32 tags 2023 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2
2022 329 2,249 6.8 32 tags 2022 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 1
2021 329 2,587 7.9 32 tags 2021 Deer Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2
2020 329 2,665 8.1 32 tags 2020 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1
2019 329 2,498 7.6 32 tags 2019 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1
2018 329 2,458 7.5 32 tags 2018 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1
2017 329 2,521 7.7 32 tags 2017 Deer Tag Drawing... · p. 1

Other licenses valid in Zone X6A

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.