California Upland
Week of June 21
Hey from California Upland.
The publication went live this week. If you’re reading this, you’re one of the first hundred — thank you. This is the first Sunday note. They’re short by design: one paragraph from the week, then what we published, then what’s coming.
From the field. The hills west of the Sacramento Valley are still green in patches where the May rain held, brown where it didn’t. We watched a pair of valley quail run a strip of ditch grass at dusk on Wednesday — a hen and a cock, no chicks visible yet, which is later than we’d hope but not late enough to worry. The dove fields north of the bypass are getting cut. Foxtails are everywhere. Pull them off the dog.
What we published this week:
→ Planning a Sacramento Valley Dove Opener: What NorCal Hunters Should Do Now — Sept. 1 is 10 weeks out. Scouting safflower, sunflower, public land, and a non-lead supply that won’t be on the shelf in August. [link]
→ Bird Dog Field First-Aid for California Hunters — Foxtails, rattlesnakes, heat. A pocket-sized kit and the protocols that go with it. [link]
→ How to Find Chukar in the Owens Valley — The first of the pillar species pieces. Water, escape cover, and the elevation band that holds birds in October. [link]
What we’re working on:
A late-July piece on patterning non-lead loads — what actually breaks clay vs. what just looks tight on paper.
A Coast Range valley quail scouting piece for early August.
A long-overdue post on the upland stamp — what your $11 actually pays for, and which habitat projects got funded this year.
If a piece resonates, hit reply. We read everything.
Out the door, — Matt & Peter
californiaupland.com · @california_upland