Hey from California Upland.
Twenty-three days to September 1. The Sacramento Valley is deep into its August routine — safflower coming down field by field, irrigation water moving in the rice country, and the Cache Creek hills gone the color of a paper bag, the way that country always looks by mid-August. The next three weeks of cutting decide the opener more than anything you or we will do, which is a humbling thing to admit in a newsletter built on preparation. Peter and Alan are keeping to the early rotation at Quail Point: work done by eight, water pan before the crate, the three-year-old cocker’s conditioning log adding up one cool hour at a time. The dog is ahead of schedule; the handler claims no such thing. Matt spent his week with the drive-by piece and a windshield full of Sacramento Valley field edges — planning miles, not hunting miles, and honest about the difference.
From the field. This morning’s post is the one we’d tell you to read first: Sunflower vs Safflower vs Wheat: Decoding CDFW Dove Field Plantings — what each planting is actually for, when each one starts pulling birds, and how to tell from the road which fields will matter on September 1. Safflower that came down in early August hunts differently than safflower cut the last week of the month; sunflower pulls hardest as the heads dry and start dropping seed; wheat stubble matters right up until the disc buries it. None of that is visible in a CDFW planting list, and all of it is visible through a windshield if you know what you’re looking at. It’s the piece that turns the planting table into a map. Read →
What we published this week:
→ Sac Valley Dove Field Prep: A Pre-Opener Drive-By Method — the windshield-scouting system for the last four weeks: what to look for at 40 mph, when to stop and glass, and how to build a three-field opener plan — a first choice, a backup, and a wildcard — without burning a tank of gas or a Saturday. Read →
→ Nonlead Shot for Dove: What Works at 25 Yards — steel 7s, bismuth, chokes, and the honest ballistics of the shots dove hunting actually gives you. California is nonlead statewide and has been since 2019; this is the load answer, plus why you buy shells in August and not on August 31. Read →
→ Imperial Valley Dove: Why SoCal Has the Best Opener in the State — Peter’s planning case for the long drive south: bird numbers, heat you can lean on, the motel-and-gas math, and why the state’s best opener happens 600 miles from where most of its hunters live. Filed as planning, honestly — the November drive south is on our own calendar. Read →
What we’re working on:
· Tuesday — Wing-Shooting Drills for Dove: A 14-Day Tune-Up (the clays program that starts exactly two weeks out — which is Tuesday, not a coincidence — built around the crossers and quartering birds dove season actually throws).
· Wednesday — Strap Vest Setup for the Dove Opener (shells, water, birds, sunscreen, and where each one rides so you’re not digging while doves are trading overhead).
· Thursday — San Diego County Valley Quail: Cleveland NF Planning (a bonus Thursday slot — the October homework doesn’t stop for dove season, and the Cleveland’s chaparral country deserves the head start).
Also Wednesday: Peter takes the second Field Notes — a hot morning at Quail Point with Alan and the numbers that go with it. Between now and opener, the Wednesday notes are where the conditions live.
If a piece lands, hit reply.
Out the door, — Matt & Peter
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