In the C Zones, public hunting opportunities are fair. Depending on the zone, you can hunt on the Klamath, Shasta-Trinity or Lassen national forests and private timberland that’s open to hunting.

In 2007, the quota for C-zone tags was 8,575, down from 9,025 in 2006. The tags were sold out two months before the opening of the general seasons, so interested hunters should act early to acquire theirs. Hunter success last year was 22 percent.

D Zones
There are 16 D Zones, which start in Imperial County and extend north as far as Butte County in the central part of the state. Last year, hunter success in the D Zones ranged from just 3 percent in D15, to 17 percent in D17. The across-the-board average was 11 percent.

That said, a glance at the D Zones shows improvement in nine of them and a decline in the seven others.

In 2006, Zone D3 produced 863 bucks. In 2007, that figure increased to 1,097. Zone D4 went from 221 to 329. Zone D5 went from 1,119 to 1,699. Zone D6 improved from 673 to 881. Zone D7 went up a little from 522 to 574, and Zone D8 went from 576 to 647.

Zone D9 rose from 237 to 245. Zone D10 fell from 64 to 54. Zone D11 fell from 344 to 230. Zone D12 improved from 112 to 117. Zone D13 improved from 216 to 302, and Zone D14 fell from 227 to 178.

Zone D15 was in the same boat with Zones D10 and D11. All were affected by fire closures that blocked hunter access. Zone D15 dropped from 68 in 2006 to 18 in 2007.

Meanwhile, Zone D16 slipped from 285 to 265; Zone D17 fell from 132 to 84; and Zone D19 fell from 117 to 76.

In all, 82,650 tags were available for the D Zones, of which 73,766 were sold.

Despite the low overall success rate, certainly plenty of hunters get their bucks in the D Zones. One young hunter who illustrates the point is 14-year-old Justin Young, of La Quinta in Riverside County.

Justin was drawn for Junior Hunt J14, which takes place in Zone D19. In 2006, the boy got his first buck there with his dad Lance Young. It was a nice 3x3 mule deer, but nothing like the toad he got in last season.

This year, hunters must observe the ban on lead bullets in the condor range, which is the southern portion of Zone A and Zones D7, D8, D9, D10, D11 and D13.

Justin remembers how he and his dad spotted a big buck at dusk near the bottom of a rugged canyon on the San Bernardino National Forest. It was a long shot, and he missed the buck twice with his dad’s rifle.

On the third shot, it fell. The deer’s 4x3 antlers with eye guards were 26 inches wide.

Justin and his dad were hunting in a recovering burn area, which might explain the abundance of deer that day. “We saw two dozen deer,” Lance Young said, “and 12 of them were legal bucks. That kind of day is hard to beat, especially if you’re with your son when he bags a beautiful buck like Justin’s.”

X Zones
Last year, 8,020 tags were available for the 17 X Zones. All of those tags were awarded by a drawing in June. The tags are popular because the X Zones offer mule deer hunting and a good chance for success.