Zone D8, California

Per CDFW, Zone D-8 covers a large geographic area where "the terrain can be very steep and rugged" and vegetation can be extremely dense. Most areas considered summer range, particularly those between 5,000 and 8,000 ft, are also good early-migration hunting; the Tule Deer Herd migrates to intermediate and winter ranges between 3,000 and 4,000 ft. Designated wilderness within Sequoia NF includes Monarch, Jennie Lakes, John Muir, Golden Trout, South Sierra, and Dome Land. The northeastern portion includes Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, which are closed to hunting.

Zone D-8 is a large unit spanning Fresno, Tulare, and Kern counties, with the dominant public-land manager being the Sequoia National Forest (three ranger districts: Hume Lake, Western Divide, and Kern River). About 47% of the unit is public land; the remaining private land requires written landowner permission. The four primary highway corridors into and through the unit are Highway 180 (Kings Canyon Scenic Byway — enters from Fresno/Clovis and reaches Hume Lake Junction, then is closed at that junction in winter), Highway 155 (connects Bakersfield/Delano north through the Greenhorn Mountains to Kernville area and provides access to the Kern River Ranger District via SR 155 to Kernville and north on Sierra Way/Mountain Highway 99), Highway 190 (runs east from Porterville through Springville into the Tule River canyon toward the Western Divide, but is closed above Springville in winter), and County Road J-22 (provides interior north-south access in the western foothills). The Western Divide Ranger District — reached via M99 (Sierra Way/Johnsondale) from the Kern River Valley, or via M56 through California Hot Springs over Parker Pass (M50) to the Western Divide Highway (M107) — is the core backcountry corridor; campgrounds used as staging areas include Quaking Aspen, Belknap, Coy Flat, Holey Meadow, Lower Peppermint, Wishon, and Leavis Flat, with named trailheads at Forks of the Kern, Shake Camp, Jerkey Meadow, Lewis Camp, and Click's Creek. The Kern River Ranger District is accessed via Highway 178 east from Bakersfield to Lake Isabella, then north on Sierra Way (M99) through Kernville; staging campgrounds include Headquarters and Fairview (along the North Fork Kern), with the Cannell Meadow National Recreation Trail (trailhead just north of Kernville) offering foot/pack-stock entry into the backcountry. BLM lands (Bakersfield Field Office, ~612,000 acres across the region) sit primarily in the lower foothills and Kern County lowlands; road access on BLM parcels varies and hunters should verify open routes on the current BLM Surface Management Map. Six designated wilderness areas within the unit — Monarch, Jennie Lakes, John Muir, Golden Trout, South Sierra, and Dome Land — are non-motorized and require wilderness permits for overnight use; contact the relevant Sequoia NF ranger district for permit specifics. The northeastern corner (Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks) is closed to hunting entirely. The Western Divide Highway (M107) and several forest roads are closed to passenger vehicles in winter due to snow; 4WD/high-clearance is recommended for many interior forest roads during hunting season. Campfire permits are required on all National Forest lands.

CDFW describes vegetation as "highly varied," ranging from oak-woodland, mixed and montane chaparral, hardwood, hardwood-conifer, aspen and dense conifer to alpine habitats. Deer respond favorably to vegetation disturbance that enhances brush species (wildfire and timber harvesting); riparian areas, recently burned areas, and re-sprouted clear cuts are good areas to hunt, as are oak stands when acorns are abundant. Lower deer densities occur in more densely forested areas and in older, more decadent brushlands.

The subspecies is California mule deer. Higher-elevation deer are migratory: they hold on summer range until habitat, temperature, day length, and weather push them downslope. From mid-October or later, any significant winter storm can move some migratory deer to lower elevations, and a single severe storm may move a large percentage to winter range; deer often migrate just ahead of impending storms, following ridge tops and stream corridors. CDFW names several herds: Hume (northern zone, summer/fall range south of the Kings River between the two national parks), Kaweah (north-central, largely migratory and spending most of the year in the Park), Tule (central, migrating to 3,000-4,000 ft in late October), Greenhorn (southern, migratory), Kern River (eastern Tulare County summer range; basis of Additional Hunt G-6), and the non-migratory resident Foothill Deer Herd in the western Sierra Nevada foothills (mostly private land). Herd status: population trends are "stable to declining" and still considerably below late-1960s/1970s levels, with low recent fawn survival and buck-to-doe ratios remaining "in the 20's."