A look at the Los Padres National Forest Map and aerial photos -- like the kind you find on earth.google.com -- will give you a sense of just how rugged this country is.

Zone D13 shares a common season with zones D11 and D15. Hunters who have a tag for any of these three zones may hunt the other two as well. This was done several years ago to boost hunter access and hopefully, hunter-success rates.

The archery season in D13 is in September when weather conditions are extreme. This part of Southern California routinely gets daytime temperatures near the 100-degree mark.

The country is generally arid, and bowhunters have to contend with swirling winds and dry-leaf conditions, which make it difficult to move through brush without being detected.

Bowhunters can hunt D13, D11 and D15 with either a zone tag for these three zones or an archery-only (AO) tag in both the archery and rifle seasons, if they choose.

“Based on what I’ve seen from both ground travel and flyovers, it looks as though the Day Fire was a good burn for wildlife,” said Rebecca Barbosa, a Department of Fish and Game biologist. “It created a good mosaic, which is what we like to see.”

Zone D13 has no additional archery hunt, but companion zone D11 has a special A31 Either-Sex Hunt, which runs from September into December, with 1,000 tags available.

Zone A32’s Los Angeles-Ventura County Late-Season, Either-Sex Archery Hunt has 250 tags and runs from mid-November through early December.

Rifle hunters have it just a bit better, with a season that begins in the middle of October and runs to the middle of November.

There is also the M7, Ventura Muzzleloading Rifle, Either-Sex Hunt from late November to mid-December.

Four thousand tags are available for the D13 hunt, and hunter-success rates have normally been around 10 percent or a little below. This doesn’t sound very encouraging, but those who do know the country get a buck, and a few get quality deer each year.

CHAGOLLA’S TIPS
Rich Chagolla is one of those hunters in the know. He grew up in Fillmore, a small community on the southern border of the D13 Zone in Ventura County. He hunts D13 every year, and has developed a reputation for killing excellent bucks in his “home country.”

Since he began hunting in 1985, Chagolla has taken at least one buck from D13 every year except one, 2006, when he helped his daughter tag a doe. And in many of those seasons, he has filled two tags with D13 bucks.

Chagolla figures the basic reason for his success is that he knows the backcountry in D13 like his own backyard.

1. Get Away From Roads
“I know the mountains in D13 really well,” he said. “I graduated from high school in Fillmore, and my mom’s relatives all live in the area. I live in Riverside now, and I do see some deer around here (Riverside County’s D19 Zone). But D13 is what I know best.”

That familiarity with the country also translates into knowing that you need to get well away from the frequently traveled roads and areas of population to hunt these Southern California zones. Zone D13’s southern border is only an hour’s drive from 20 million people in the Los Angeles area. Add to that the day hikers, bird-watchers, motorcycle and OHV enthusiasts -- not to mention the other hunters -- and it’s clear you have to get away to find deer.

Chagolla notes that he and the other hunters he knows who hunt D13 normally hike at least a couple of miles into good deer habitat to hunt.

2. Steep Canyons, Thick Cover
A good look at maps of the D13 show that while it is populated around the edges and close to metropolitan areas, the center of the zone is roadless for the most part, crisscrossed by hiking trails rather than fire roads.

According to Chagolla, the big bucks make their homes in the steepest canyons, using the thick cover effectively. Where there is water, feed and cover well away from roads, you can find monster bucks in all these D Zones.

“I move into an area as quietly as I can, usually before daylight, and use good binoculars to glass for bucks. Whenever I move, I do it as quietly as possible,” said hunter Rich Chagolla.

The Department of Fish and Game information sheet has a pretty good synopsis of the best hunting areas within these zones. A look at the Los Padres National Forest Map and aerial photos -- like the kind you find on earth.google.com -- will give you a sense of just how rugged this country is.

Zone D13 shares a common season with zones D11 and D15. Hunters who have a tag for any of these three zones may hunt the other two as well. This was done several years ago to boost hunter access and hopefully, hunter-success rates.

The archery season in D13 is in September when weather conditions are extreme. This part of Southern California routinely gets daytime temperatures near the 100-degree mark.

The country is generally arid, and bowhunters have to contend with swirling winds and dry-leaf conditions, which make it difficult to move through brush without being detected.

Bowhunters can hunt D13, D11 and D15 with either a zone tag for these three zones or an archery-only (AO) tag in both the archery and rifle seasons, if they choose.

“Based on what I’ve seen from both ground travel and flyovers, it looks as though the Day Fire was a good burn for wildlife,” said Rebecca Barbosa, a Department of Fish and Game biologist. “It created a good mosaic, which is what we like to see.”

Zone D13 has no additional archery hunt, but companion zone D11 has a special A31 Either-Sex Hunt, which runs from September into December, with 1,000 tags available.

Zone A32’s Los Angeles-Ventura County Late-Season, Either-Sex Archery Hunt has 250 tags and runs from mid-November through early December.

Rifle hunters have it just a bit better, with a season that begins in the middle of October and runs to the middle of November.

There is also the M7, Ventura Muzzleloading Rifle, Either-Sex Hunt from late November to mid-December.

Four thousand tags are available for the D13 hunt, and hunter-success rates have normally been around 10 percent or a little below. This doesn’t sound very encouraging, but those who do know the country get a buck, and a few get quality deer each year.

CHAGOLLA’S TIPS
Rich Chagolla is one of those hunters in the know. He grew up in Fillmore, a small community on the southern border of the D13 Zone in Ventura County. He hunts D13 every year, and has developed a reputation for killing excellent bucks in his “home country.”

Since he began hunting in 1985, Chagolla has taken at least one buck from D13 every year except one, 2006, when he helped his daughter tag a doe. And in many of those seasons, he has filled two tags with D13 bucks.

Chagolla figures the basic reason for his success is that he knows the backcountry in D13 like his own backyard.

1. Get Away From Roads
“I know the mountains in D13 really well,” he said. “I graduated from high school in Fillmore, and my mom’s relatives all live in the area. I live in Riverside now, and I do see some deer around here (Riverside County’s D19 Zone). But D13 is what I know best.”

That familiarity with the country also translates into knowing that you need to get well away from the frequently traveled roads and areas of population to hunt these Southern California zones. Zone D13’s southern border is only an hour’s drive from 20 million people in the Los Angeles area. Add to that the day hikers, bird-watchers, motorcycle and OHV enthusiasts -- not to mention the other hunters -- and it’s clear you have to get away to find deer.

Chagolla notes that he and the other hunters he knows who hunt D13 normally hike at least a couple of miles into good deer habitat to hunt.

2. Steep Canyons, Thick Cover
A good look at maps of the D13 show that while it is populated around the edges and close to metropolitan areas, the center of the zone is roadless for the most part, crisscrossed by hiking trails rather than fire roads.

According to Chagolla, the big bucks make their homes in the steepest canyons, using the thick cover effectively. Where there is water, feed and cover well away from roads, you can find monster bucks in all these D Zones.

“I move into an area as quietly as I can, usually before daylight, and use good binoculars to glass for bucks. Whenever I move, I do it as quietly as possible,” said hunter Rich Chagolla.

The Department of Fish and Game information sheet has a pretty good synopsis of the best hunting areas within these zones.