Zone D4, California

HuntScore lists Zone D-4 as about 2,275 square miles (1,456,116 acres), with terrain that is largely steep. HuntScore reports elevations ranging from low foothill terrain (a few hundred feet) up to roughly 7,000 feet near the Sierra crest. CDFW-referenced boundaries use Sierra Nevada landmarks such as the American River drainage near Auburn and the Highway 49/89 corridor near Sierraville-Sattley.

Zone D-4 is a large (~2,275 sq mi), mostly private zone where huntable public land is concentrated in the eastern, higher-elevation portion. The two primary access corridors are Interstate 80 (running east-west through the northern part of the zone, with exits at Soda Springs, Cisco Grove, and Blue Canyon) and Highway 49 (running north-south through the western foothills). From these arteries, numerous county roads and USFS roads branch into the national forest. The El Dorado National Forest (Placerville RD, 530-622-5061) covers the southeastern public lands, and the Tahoe National Forest (Nevada City HQ, 530-265-4531) covers the northeastern portion; together they form the bulk of the ~21% public USFS land. Within Tahoe NF, the Foresthill Divide Road (Forest Road 10) runs east from the town of Foresthill and is the main spine for backcountry access in that corridor, with a China Wall staging area roughly 14 miles east of Foresthill; from Foresthill Road you can continue northeast via Forest Service Road 43 and Mosquito Ridge Road to reach the French Meadows Reservoir area (~40 miles from Foresthill), which has several USFS campgrounds and serves as a staging area for the surrounding national forest terrain. Named trailheads into the Granite Chief Wilderness (19,048 acres, Tahoe NF, non-motorized only, wilderness permit required) include Barker Pass Trailhead (on Barker Pass Road / Forest Route 03, accessible via Highway 89 south of Tahoe City, on the eastern zone boundary), Talbot Trailhead at Talbot Campground (four miles north of French Meadows Reservoir on a gravel road), Powderhorn Trailhead (on Barker Pass Road, high-clearance recommended), and the Tevis Cup Trailhead at the Foresthill Divide saddle between the North and Middle forks of the American River. West of Foresthill most land is private; BLM (Mother Lode Field Office, 916-941-3101) administers limited public acreage in the Iowa Hill Area but access there is described as extremely limited. The Feather River Wildlife Area (2,329 acres, shotgun/archery only) in the northwestern corner of the zone is accessed via Highway 70 or Highway 99 near Marysville/Yuba City. Deer hunting is also allowed in portions of Auburn State Recreation Area along the North and Middle forks of the American River near Auburn (some stretches near the Highway 49 bridge are closed to hunting; contact ASRA at 530-885-4527 for a current hunt map). Many backcountry USFS roads become impassable after early snowfall; a high-clearance or 4WD vehicle is advisable for any forest-road access, and hunters should check current Motor Vehicle Use Maps with the relevant ranger district before the season.

General western-Sierra cover types: lower-elevation oak woodland and chaparral foothills grading into mixed-conifer forest at higher elevations. No D-4-specific vegetation breakdown was found in an authoritative source; this reflects general Sierra Nevada foothill and west-slope habitat described for the C and D zones.

The C and D zones span the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, where there is genetic mixture between black-tailed deer and mule deer. The zone holds both resident foothill deer and migratory Sierra deer; deer concentrate on winter range as snow pushes them downslope and to the east side of the range, returning to high summer range in spring. HuntScore reports the rut can start as early as late October and run through late December, and describes the herd as stable to slightly declining. Specific herd-trend figures for D-4 alone were not available in an authoritative source.