Are Premium Deer Tags Becoming Unrestricted?

August 8, 2013

Question: I have a question about premium deer tags. When reading the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) definition of what determines if a tag is premium, it is very clear and I understand it. What I have not found is information that clarifies the procedure for a premium tag becoming unrestricted. If a tag is premium and the quota does not fill on or before the first business day after July 1, does it become an unrestricted tag the following year? That would make sense, however, when I look back at the drawing statistics in past years I have noticed it is not always what happens. As an example, A22 was a premium tag from 2003 through 2008 even though most of the 1000 tags were left over each of those years. In 2009 it went back to unrestricted. This year A22 and A31 were premium and did not fill in the drawing. Will they still be premium next year? (Steve B.)

Answer: Under the current regulations:

1.   A Premium Deer Hunt is any hunt where the quota filled on or before the first business day after July 1, of the previous year.

2.   A Restricted Deer Hunt is any hunt that filled on or before the first business day after August 1 of the previous year.

3.   An Unrestricted Deer Hunt is any hunt that did not fill on or before the first business day after August 1, in the previous year.

The examples you provided occurred before the current regulations were adopted. The tag classification regulations that we have now where adopted in the 2009 big game drawing season.

This year, the deer tag quotas for A22 and A31 both filled on July 2, which is the first business day after July 1, so A22 and A31 will remain premium tags next year. The date in which a deer tag fills is the determining factor of which classification a tag is listed under, not whether the tag quota fills in the drawing or not. With this in mind, hunters need to pay close attention to which classification their tags are listed in each license year.