It seems like only yesterday when California deer hunters enjoyed one of the most productive deer seasons ever. That was way back in the fall of 2007, when a series of cold storms had resident deer stirring and migratory deer hoofing it for lower ground.

Fast forward to 2008, and it's an entirely different story. Where I hunt there was only one weather event during the general deer seasons. It was a warm rain that encouraged some localized deer movement, at least on the first day, but that was about all. The rest of the time it was hot and dry. And given those conditions, most of the deer that migrate from high-elevation summer range to wintering grounds did not move down until most general deer seasons were over.

As a result, those deer were out of reach of most hunters all season long.

In 2007, thanks to the stormy weather, the statewide take of bucks was more than 33,000. By comparison, in 2008, the estimated harvest was 28,171, or 4,829 fewer bucks overall.

Oh well, that's the norm for the Golden State. Unsettled, cold weather, which comes along every three or four years, means more bucks for hunters than the warm years. However, regardless of the current situation, plenty of hunters have their fair share of good luck.

Let's take a look at the state's various general season hunt zones and compare 2008 with 2007 just to get a handle on the trends.

ZONE A
To begin with, Zone A is huge. It covers an area from western Los Angeles County north to Mendocino County and east as far as State Route 99. Much hunting in this zone takes place on private land. However, in some counties, there is some Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service land as well. There are 65,000 tags available for this zone, of which 31,405 were sold in 2008.

Zone A presents a unique set of circumstances for hunters because of the timing of the archery and rifle seasons, which are the earliest in the West. Bowhunting starts on the second Saturday of July and closes 23 days later, while the 44-day rifle hunt starts the second Saturday in August.

In a banner year -- like 2007 -- the take in all of Zone A is about 8,400 deer. In 2008, the harvest was 8,033. Still, a zone that coughs up around 8,000 bucks each fall is nothing to sneer at, and a lot of hunters would rather hunt the A Zone than anywhere else. Last year, hunter success in this region was around 26 percent.

One hunter who likes Zone A is 21-year-old Brittany Lehman. She took a very nice 3x3 blacktail near the coastal town of Cambria, in San Luis Obispo County. To make a living, the Lehmans raise stone fruit near Fresno. Most of their hunting takes place on the family's cattle ranch, where she started hunting as a kid with her dad. To date, she's taken several bucks on the property, including her biggest in 2008.