HuntingRulebook

California · Deer · 2026

Deer tags

California · 2026

Tags held

0

resident prices

Spend

$0

at the printed fee schedule

Seasons covered

drop a pin first

Bucks taken

0 of 2

"Hunters may obtain two deer tags per license year." Each tag names one hunt, and some hunts span several zones: a B tag is valid in any B zone, a C tag in all four C zones during the general season, a D3-5 tag in D3, D4 and D5, and a D11, D13 or D15 tag in any of those three (pp. 15, 32 and 41). The first-deer tag and the second-deer tag are separate purchases at separate prices, and a second-deer tag may only be used for an unrestricted or restricted hunt, or for a leftover premium tag issued from 2 August. Every zone hunt in the state is buck only. Digest, printed pp. 7 and 15-17.

You

What you pay, and in several states what you are even offered.

Residency

California Department of Fish and Wildlife prices residents and non-residents differently, and sells some tags to only one of them.

Licences

Without one of these there is no legal way to hunt deer here.

Tags and permits

Good anywhere in the state.

Tags for a unit

Drop a pin first — these are sold per deer hunt zone, and the app will not guess which one you meant.

Nothing to tick here yet.

Nothing in your wallet yet

Tick what you hold and the calendar starts answering for you rather than for everybody. California Department of Fish and Wildlife sells them at the link below.

Deer tag: the deadline has passed

Applications closed 2 June 2026, midnight — premium hunts only. There is nothing to do about it this season.
Buy licences and tags at California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Prices are what the California Department of Fish and Wildlife printed for 2026, and are here to help you recognise a tag rather than to sell you one.

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.