What Animals Can You Hunt in California? Game, Birds, and Furbearers

California lets you hunt six big game species (deer, black bear, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and wild pig), a long roster of upland game birds and waterfowl, tree squirrels and rabbits, several furbearers, and an open list of nongame mammals that includes coyotes, skunks, opossums, and most rodents. What animals you can hunt in California depends on the category the species falls into, because each category carries its own seasons, tags, bag limits, and in some cases a drawing you have to win before you can go.

Big Game

Six species qualify as big game: deer, black bear, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and wild pig. Each requires a separate tag on top of your hunting license.¹

Deer are the most commonly pursued. You can apply for up to two deer tags per license year, a first-deer tag and a second-deer tag, each valid for one deer in a specific zone and season. Submitting more than one application for either tag type in the same license year can cost you your tags for the current year and the next.²

Bear hunting is limited to one tag per license year, and only adult bears are legal. Cubs and females accompanied by cubs are off-limits.³

Elk, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep tags are distributed through limited-entry drawings, so most applicants will not draw one in any given year. Once you’ve been awarded a Nelson bighorn ram tag, you’re ineligible to receive another, which effectively makes it a once-in-a-lifetime hunt.

Upland Game Birds

Resident upland game birds, meaning species that live in California year-round, include pheasant; California, Gambel’s, and Mountain quail; chukar; sooty (blue), ruffed, and sage grouse; ptarmigan; wild turkey; spotted dove and ringed turtle-dove; and Eurasian collared-dove.

Migratory upland game birds include mourning dove, white-winged dove, band-tailed pigeon, and common snipe.⁴ Season dates and bag limits are set per species and published each year before the opener.⁵

Waterfowl

Ducks, geese, coots, gallinules, and black brant are all huntable in California. Common ducks include mallards, cinnamon teal, and ruddy ducks, along with many other species that move through the Pacific Flyway each fall and winter.

Waterfowl hunting takes more paperwork than most other categories. You need a Harvest Information Program (HIP) validation printed on your hunting license before taking any migratory game bird, including doves and snipe.⁶ For ducks and geese you also need a Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, the federal duck stamp, valid July 1 through June 30. An electronic version is valid from the date of purchase, with the physical stamp mailed later.⁷

Because these species are migratory, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sets the outer boundaries each year for season length, dates, and bag limits, and California picks its specific seasons within those frameworks.⁸ Waterfowl dates can therefore shift year to year even when upland seasons stay fairly stable.

Small Game, Nongame Mammals, and Furbearers

California splits huntable mammals outside the big game list into three classes, and the rules differ sharply between them.

Small Game Mammals

Tree squirrels and cottontail rabbits have set seasons and daily bag limits. For 2025–2026, tree squirrel season runs September through late January with a daily limit of four. Cottontail rabbit and varying hare season opens July 1 and runs through late January with a daily limit of five. Jackrabbits are open year-round with no bag or possession limit.⁹

Nongame Mammals

Coyotes, weasels, skunks, opossums, moles, and most rodents (excluding tree squirrels, flying squirrels, and species listed as furbearers or endangered) are classified as nongame mammals. You can take them any time of year, in any number, with no bag limit.¹⁰ A valid hunting license is still required.

Furbearers

Furbearers have tightly regulated seasons. Badger runs from mid-November through the end of February and gray fox from late November through the end of February, both with no bag limits. Raccoon seasons vary by region, opening as early as July 1 in parts of southern California and November 16 elsewhere, and closing March 31 statewide.¹¹

What You Cannot Hunt

Several furbearers are closed to hunting entirely. Fisher, marten, river otter, desert kit fox, and red fox may not be taken at any time.¹¹ Bobcat hunting and trapping have been prohibited since 2020, so older guides that list bobcat as a legal furbearer are out of date.¹²

The California Endangered Species Act prohibits taking, possessing, or selling any species the Fish and Game Commission has listed as endangered or threatened.¹³ A separate “fully protected” designation goes further still. Fully protected birds include the California condor, golden eagle, southern bald eagle, trumpeter swan, and white-tailed kite, among others.¹⁴ Separate statutes name fully protected mammals, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. No license or permit can authorize taking a fully protected species, with narrow exceptions for scientific research and species recovery.

Federally, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects hundreds of native bird species from unauthorized take; most native birds not designated as legal game are covered.¹⁵ The Lacey Act makes it a federal offense to transport wildlife across state lines in violation of any state, federal, or tribal law.¹⁶

License, Tags, and Ammunition

Anyone taking birds or mammals in California needs a valid hunting license.¹⁷ A resident hunting license currently costs $62.90, and a junior license for hunters under 16 costs $16.46.¹⁸ Proof of hunter education is required before a license will be issued; a prior California license, a current or recent license from another state or Canadian province, or a hunter education certificate from any U.S. jurisdiction will satisfy it, since hunter education carries reciprocity across all states.¹⁹

One rule catches out-of-state hunters more than any other: since July 1, 2019, California has required nonlead ammunition for all hunting with any firearm, covering everything from deer and bear down to quail and ground squirrels.²⁰ The Fish and Game Commission maintains a certified list of approved nonlead loads. Show up with standard lead rounds and you cannot legally hunt. A first offense carries a $500 fine, and subsequent violations run from $1,000 to $5,000.

Season dates, bag limits, and zone boundaries are revised every year based on population surveys and habitat conditions. CDFW publishes an updated regulations booklet before each season, and checking the current booklet is the only reliable way to confirm what’s open on the day you plan to hunt.²¹

1
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Big Game Hunting Tags
2
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 14 CA ADC 708.3 – Big Game Deer License Tags
3
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Bear Hunting
4
California Fish and Game Commission. Resident and Migratory Upland Game Bird Hunting Regulations
5
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Upland Game Bird Hunting
6
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Hunting Licenses and Tags
7
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Permanent Electronic Duck Stamp Act
8
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Migratory Bird Hunting Proposed Frameworks for Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations
9
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Small Game Mammal Hunting
10
California Fish and Game Commission. Mammal Hunting Regulations – Nongame Animals
11
California Fish and Game Commission. California Code of Regulations Title 14 – Furbearing Mammals
12
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Nongame and Furbearer Hunting
13
California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 2080 – Prohibited Acts Regarding Endangered and Threatened Species
14
California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 3511 – Fully Protected Birds
15
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. List of Birds Protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
16
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Lacey Act
17
California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 3031 – Hunting Licenses
18
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Hunting License Items and Fees
19
California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 3050 – Hunter Education Requirements
20
California Legislative Information. California Code FGC 3004.5 – Nonlead Ammunition
21
California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Fishing and Hunting Regulations