That was thought to be Deer lodge Montana, because the Det. who was interviewing Bryan at the hospital ,couldn’t let the victim tell him what Zodiac said, he had to interject by saying was it Deer Lodge Montana?

The detective actually said "Mountain Lodge", not Deer Lodge. It was changed to Deer Lodge later on for some reason.

hartnell hospital interview page 2, from sunday sept 28 1969 (the morning after the attack):

hartnell (describing what zodiac said): "And he says, ‘Nah..time’s running short,’ he says, ’cause I just got out of…’ – some prison in Montana, I don’t know what the name of it is. Feathers? Do you know what the name of it is? I’ll see if it sounds familiar. Fern or Feathers? It’s some double name, like Fern Lock or something…."

the cop: "It’s Lodge…"

ncsd crime report page 6, interview with ranger white:

"According to White, the male victim related to him that the subject advised him he was an ex-con out of Colorado and was en route to Mexico."

hartnell transcript of conversation with zodiac for napa sheriff’s office (i don’t have a date for this one but would assume it was days or weeks after the hospital interview):

hartnell: "what was the name of that prison?"
z: no reply
h: "No really, what did you say the name of it was? I’m just curioius."
z: (begrudingly) "Deer Lodge in Montana"

mel nicolai report, page 2 (from oct 3, 1969): "The victims reported the suspect said, "I want your money and your car keys. I’m an ex-con from Montana Deer Lodge. I have a stolen car and nothing to lose."

so we go from hartnell in the hospital the morning after the attack saying he can’t remember the name, but it’s some prison in montana that sounds like feather (wherein the police officer suggests "lodge"), to the interview with ranger white where he relates hartnell quoted the attacker saying he was an ex-con out of colorado, to the napa police report which states the attacker said "deer lodge in montana" to the nicolai report with says "montana deer lodge".

anyone can believe whatever they want, but if you’re basing a theory on some secret meaning behind "deer lodge" then you’re probably wasting your time.

Just a quick question. How big was Vallejo a the time? Hypothetically would someone from Sonoma, even Santa Rosa be familiar with the town.

Obviously I know this is dependent on a lot of factors but just trying to get a feel of the place in relation to nearby towns.

Hypothetically would someone from Sonoma, even Santa Rosa be familiar with the town.

Well, Sonoma is about 25 to 20 miles from Vallejo. Santa Rosa is nearly 50 miles. Think about some towns 25 to 50 miles away from your home. How familiar are you with them? My guess is not very. I know I’m not. Yes, he could have worked in Vallejo or grew up there, but I doubt very many people are well acquainted with a city over 30 miles away.

We know that because that is what he did when he told Fouke he saw the man with a gun run the another way , so he could escape. He told Bryan and Cecelia that he was just going to rob them , but his plan was to kill them both. He said he was going to shoot the kiddies on the bus , but then said the police needed to have holes in their heads if they believed that.
He sent a card to Paul Avery making him think he would be next. He purposely misspelled words to make it look like he did that on purpose. But I think he really did make mistakes in spelling , but he covered that up by making it look like it was done on purpose.

Doing a murder in SF I believe was to misdirect the police in thinking he could be living in SF.

He told Bryan and Cecelia that he had killed a guard from a prison he had escaped from. That was thought to be Deer lodge Montana, because the Det. who was interviewing Bryan at the hospital ,couldn’t let the victim tell him what Zodiac said, he had to interject by saying was it Deer Lodge Montana?

The state that was probably the correct one could have been "Denver Colorado federal prison". The word that Hartnell thought he said sounded like feather. Denver or federal could have been the word he heard?
It so happens that there was a movie in 1969 called "Take The money and Run" a Woody Allen movie about a jail break in Denver Colorado. We all know that Zodiac got his ideas from movies and comic books etc. There was lots of misdirection in the Zodiac case that is why it has been so hard to catch him.

A few things that are just standard MO of somebody committing crimes. But several of those are very valid explanations – thank you.

Hypothetically would someone from Sonoma, even Santa Rosa be familiar with the town.

Well, Sonoma is about 25 to 20 miles from Vallejo. Santa Rosa is nearly 50 miles. Think about some towns 25 to 50 miles away from your home. How familiar are you with them? My guess is not very. I know I’m not. Yes, he could have worked in Vallejo or grew up there, but I doubt very many people are well acquainted with a city over 30 miles away.

Would depend on the person, their job and if they grew up in the area, I suppose.

I did the test and looked at cities within 30 miles of where I live. One of them is where I was born and spent 18 years of life, so I know it like the back of my hand. And the surrounding cities I also know very well. But if I go 30 miles the opposite direction from where I live, I’ve rarely spent any time in them other than just driving through. So I really know nothing about them – or how their streets are laid out, escape plans to the freeway, etc.

So I think it’s really kind of a crapshoot.