California Elk — Bear Valley

Bear Valley Tule Elk Hunt

California Bear Valley covers 497,730 acres and lies 47 miles north-east of Santa Rosa. 16% of it is public land, mostly BLM (11%) and national forest (4%). In 2021, 3 people hunted elk here and took 2 — 67% of them killed something. The 2025 draw put up 2 tags here for 352 first-choice applicants.

Tags (2025):3 Nonresident share:capped at 1 Applicants:414 All elk success (2021):67% Public land:16% Size:497,730 acres

Your chance of drawing here

Every elk license type on offer in Bear Valley, with the prior-draw chance for a first-choice nonresident applicant. Type your points in to see your own number.

2 licenses on offer · 3 tags · 414 applicants in the 2025 draw

Chances are from the 2025 draw (the most recent) for a first-choice nonresident. "Points needed" = the cut in the last draw.

Simple view Odds at every point level
  • 329 Bear Valley - General Methods - Antlerless 1 tags · 62 applicants
    2% Point builder
  • 330 Bear Valley - General Methods - Bull 2 tags · 352 applicants
    <1% Point builder
What these columns mean
Your odds
the share of applicants at your point level who drew this tag in the 2025 draw. Not a forecast: quotas and demand move every year.
The badge
plain language for that number. Likely draw 75% or better · Real chance 40%+ · Long shot 15%+ · Point builder below that, so you are applying mainly to bank a point · Undersubscribed means fewer first-choice applicants than tags, so everyone who applied drew.
Points needed
the lowest point total that still got a tag in the 2025 draw, and how that cut has moved since the earliest draw we hold.
Tags / applicants
tags on offer and first-choice applicants for them, as the agency published them. Under five tags we print counts instead of a percentage, because one applicant either way swings it.

What it costs to apply (2025 nonresident fees)

License Up front Gone if you miss If you draw
Per application $227.94 $227.94 $2,053.79

Application window: opens Apr 15, closes Jun 2, 2027 (expected). Full fee breakdown.

The country

Santa Rosa San Francisco Salinas Santa Maria Oxnard
Bear Valley within California
Cache Creek East Park Reservoir Lake Pillsbury Mendocino Santa Rosa Sacramento Roseville Elk Grove
Bear Valley and its neighbours
Zoomable USGS topo, aerial imagery and shaded relief, with the neighboring areas drawn on.

Boundaries are drawn for orientation only — the written boundary description in the regulations governs.

Who owns the ground

  • BLM 56,008 ac · 11%
  • National Forest 21,386 ac · 4%
  • State land 1,755 ac · 0%
  • County or city land 688 ac · 0%
  • Other public 3 ac · 0%
  • Private or other non-public land 417,886 ac · 84%

Source: California Protected Areas Database (CPAD) 2026a -- Holdings by Agency Classification

How the hunting has gone

What California Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes for this area after each season — harvest statistics for everyone who hunted it, not draw odds and not a forecast. California Department of Fish and Wildlife publishes these per hunt rather than per unit; the rows below add its own figures together, since a hunter holds one tag for the species in a season.

All elk

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2021 3 2 67%

Tule

Season Hunters Harvest Success
2022 3 2 67%

Boundary: Elk Hunt Zones [ds786]

Harvest: 2022 Elk Harvest Statistics

Harvest: 2021 Elk Harvest Success Rates

How we compute draw odds · All California elk hunts