HuntingRulebook

California · Deer · 2026

This is every California deer season and the day it opens, the whole state at once. A pin turns it into a day-by-day calendar for one deer hunt zone, with your own tags marked against it.

California 2026 season

In the order they open

  • Jul 11 – Aug 2Archery Deer11 July to 2 AugustPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Jul 25 – Aug 16Archery Deer25 July to 16 AugustPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Aug 8 – Sep 20General Season Deer8 August to 20 SeptemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Aug 15 – Sep 6Archery Deer15 August to 6 SeptemberPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Aug 15–30Archery Deer15 August to 30 AugustPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Aug 22 – Sep 27General Season Deer22 August to 27 SeptemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 5–27Archery Deer5 September to 27 SeptemberPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 19 – Oct 25General Season Deer19 September to 25 OctoberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 19 – Oct 12General Season Deer19 September to 12 OctoberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 19 – Nov 1General Season Deer19 September to 1 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 19 – Oct 18General Season Deer19 September to 18 OctoberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 19 – Oct 4General Season Deer19 September to 4 OctoberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 26 – Nov 1General Season Deer26 September to 1 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 26 – Oct 25General Season Deer26 September to 25 OctoberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Sep 26 – Oct 11General Season Deer26 September to 11 OctoberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Oct 3–25Archery Deer3 October to 25 OctoberPrinted in 6 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Oct 3–18General Season Deer3 October to 18 OctoberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Oct 3 – Nov 1General Season Deer3 October to 1 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Oct 10 – Nov 8General Season Deer10 October to 8 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Oct 10 – Nov 1General Season Deer10 October to 1 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Oct 17 – Nov 8General Season Deer17 October to 8 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Oct 24 – Nov 22General Season Deer24 October to 22 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.
  • Nov 7–29General Season Deer7 November to 29 NovemberPrinted in 17 columns — check which covers your deer hunt zone.

Transcribed from the published 2026 California digest. Where this app and the digest disagree, the digest is the law. Read the California Department of Fish and Wildlife digest.

California deer seasons, 2026

California’s 2026 deer seasons run July 11, 2026 to November 29, 2026, and what is open on a given day depends on the deer hunt zone your stand is in. Drop a pin above and this app reads the deer hunt zone off it, then answers the rest from there — the dates, the legal arms, the bag limits and the shooting hours, transcribed page by page from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife digest. It is a planning aid, not the law: check the digest before you hunt.

Every screen for California

  • Today in California — Whether the season is open at your pin this morning, what you may take, and the legal light either end of the day.
  • Map in California — Drop a pin and see the unit, the public land and the property lines under it.
  • Weather in California — Wind, temperature and the scent cone over your ground, hour by hour, for the days you can still choose between.
  • Calendar in California — Every day your tags are good for in your unit, from opening day to the end of the season.
  • Rut in California — When the rut runs where you hunt, and which week is worth taking off.
  • Rules in California — The legal arms, bag limits, antler restrictions and shooting hours that apply at your pin.
  • Tags in California — The licences and permits you hold — what turns the published season into your season.

The other states

Every state — the app opens on whichever one your own pin falls in.