Zone B4, California

Steep, rugged coastal ridges and valleys; CDFW notes the terrain can be very steep and vegetation extremely dense. The southern half of the zone is very steep, so the northern portion tends to be easier to hunt (CDFW B-4 fact sheet). Secondary aggregators (GOHUNT/HuntScore) list a total zone area of roughly 934 square miles, elevations from near sea level to about 4,000 feet, and about 80% of public land at slopes of 36 degrees or less; these figures are not from CDFW.

Zone B-4 is dominated by private ranch and timber land; the only significant public hunting ground is BLM's King Range National Conservation Area (KRCA), managed by the Arcata Field Office (707-825-2300) with a visitor center at 768 Shelter Cove Road, Whitethorn. Three distinct corridors reach KRCA from US Highway 101: (1) North — exit at Ferndale, drive to Petrolia via the Ferndale–Petrolia Road, then take Lighthouse Road approximately 5 miles to Mattole Campground, a common staging area near the Mattole Beach trailhead for the Lost Coast Trail. (2) Central — exit at South Fork–Honeydew and follow signs to Honeydew (~23 miles), then take Smith-Etter Road / Wilder Ridge Road east into the range, which provides access to the North Slide Peak, Kinsey Ridge, and Spanish Ridge trailheads; four-wheel drive is recommended on the upper reaches of this road. (3) South — exit at Redway and drive west on Briceland–Shelter Cove Road (~22 miles), then north on King Peak Road (unpaved, high-clearance/4WD recommended) or south on Chemise Mountain Road (paved ~2.5 miles, then unpaved ~4.5 miles to Four Corners junction), with Nadelos and Wailaki campgrounds serving as base camps near the Chemise Mountain trailhead. All KRCA access roads are narrow, steep, and winding; primitive roads may be seasonally closed during winter storms. The King Range Wilderness (42,585 acres) within KRCA is non-motorized — no vehicles, bicycles, or mechanized equipment — and overnight use requires a free-to-obtain permit reserved through Recreation.gov; day-use hunting requires no permit. BLM roads within KRCA are largely unmarked; hunters must stay on public roads and may not cross private land to reach public land without written, date-specific permission from the landowner. Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which adjoins the zone on the east, is closed to hunting.

Vegetation is highly varied, ranging from coastal scrub and mixed chaparral to oak-woodland, hardwood-conifer, and dense conifer habitats (CDFW B-4 fact sheet). Deer respond favorably to vegetation disturbance that enhances brush, such as wildfire and timber harvesting; riparian zones, recently burned areas, re-sprouted clear cuts, and acorn-producing oaks are productive. Lower deer densities occur in densely forested areas and older, decadent brushlands.

Deer are Columbian black-tailed deer and are generally considered resident, moving up and down the slopes rather than making long seasonal migrations (CDFW B-4 fact sheet). They move to higher elevations in late spring and drop below the snow line with the first heavy fall storms, a downward movement that often occurs during the hunting season. The herd is considered stable to slightly declining and is considerably below levels seen in the late 1960s and 1970s.