California Elk 305 — Zone Northeastern

Northeastern - General Methods - Bull · Northeastern Rocky Mountain Elk Hunt

What you may take
Northeastern - General Methods - Bull
Weapon
Rifle
Where
Northeastern — Rocky Mountain Elk Hunt
57% public of 6,733,574 acres
Season (2025)
Sep 17–28, 2025
Tags (2025)
15
for 3,463 first-choice applicants · nonresidents capped at 1
Rocky Mountain success here (2022)
79%
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. 12 tags, 3,463 first-choice applicants. Source: 2025 Elk Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2.

Points Your chance Applicants Drawn
0 <1% 243
1 <1% 174
2 <1% 151
3 <1% 158
4 <1% 178
5 <1% 170
6 <1% 140
7 <1% 134
8 <1% 122
9 <1% 134
10 <1% 131
11 <1% 115
12 <1% 109
13 <1% 114
14 <1% 96
15 <1% 96
16 <1% 106
17 <1% 100
18 <1% 116
19 <1% 91
20 <1% 121
21 <1% 137
22 <1% 151
23 5% 244

Points pass + random pass, from published pools. A dash means California Department of Fish and Wildlife did not publish a count for that level. How we compute these.

What it costs (2025 nonresident fees)

Cash to apply
$227.94
Out of pocket if unsuccessful
$227.94
Total if drawn
$2,053.79
Refunded if unsuccessful
$0

At the 2025 odds, expected cost per hunt-year ranges from $6,384.29 (enough points to draw) to $265,036.01 (lowest published odds).

Elk Tag Drawing Application · paid at application $8.13 source
Nonresident hunting license · paid at application $219.81 source
Nonresident elk tag (paid only if drawn) · paid if drawn, refundable $1,825.85 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: Sep 17–28, 2025 p. 2

How this tag has hunted

Across every license type in Northeastern, California Department of Fish and Wildlife counted 33 hunters and 26 rocky mountain taken in 2022 — 79% of them killed something. Full Northeastern profile: maps, public land, five years of harvest →

Hunters holding this license type (2022) — the rest of the area's hunters held something else:

What they hunted Hunters Harvest Success Days per animal
Rocky mountain 2 1 50%
Rocky mountain 9 8 80%
Rocky mountain 7 2 20%
Rocky mountain 15 15 100%

Post-season survey, not draw statistics. Source: 2022 Elk Harvest Statistics 2021 Elk Harvest Success Rates

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 15 3,463 230.9 3 tagsfrom 3,463 applications 2025 Elk Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2
2024 15 3,839 255.9 3 tagsfrom 3,839 applications 2024 Elk Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2
2023 15 3,986 265.7 3 tagsfrom 3,986 applications 2023 Elk Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2
2022 15 4,147 276.5 3 tagsfrom 4,147 applications 2022 Elk Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2
2021 15 4,145 276.3 3 tagsfrom 4,145 applications 2021 Elk Tag Drawing Statistics · p. 2
2020 15 4,225 281.7 3 tagsfrom 4,225 applications 2020 Elk Tag Drawing Statistics... · p. 4
2019 15 3,656 243.7 3 tagsfrom 3,656 applications 2019 Big Game Drawing Bighorn... · p. 1
2018 15 3,950 263.3 3 tagsfrom 3,950 applications 2018 Elk, Pronghorn Antelope... · p. 1
2017 15 3,887 259.1 3 tagsfrom 3,887 applications 2017 Elk, Pronghorn Antelope... · p. 1

Other licenses valid in Northeastern

Legal cartridges for elk 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.