Hey from California Upland.
The season is open. Yesterday, chukar opened statewide and all quail opened in Zones Q1 and Q3, and both run through January 31. Zone Q2 quail have been open since September 26, and Q1 mountain quail since September 12. The next upland opener is Saturday, November 14, when pheasant, the second half of dove, and fall turkey all open the same morning. CDFW’s upland page and zone map settle which dates cover your ground.
Opening weekend is when a dog that spent the summer in training meets wild coveys again, and almost everything it does in that first hour is information. That’s this week’s lead.
This week’s lead. Reading Alan: What a Flushing Dog’s Posture, Tail Set, and Cadence Tell You About a Covey — Peter on three seasons of watching an English cocker work California cover: what the tail says as scent builds, what it means when the head comes up, and the read hunters least want to accept, the one that says this piece of country is empty. Read →
Coming up in California:
→ CDFW Upland Game Bird Stamp art contest — entries are accepted November 2 through December 4, mailed or shipped only (no hand delivery), and this year’s stamp subject is the sooty grouse. Open to U.S. residents 18 and older; the art has to be an original hand-done painting or drawing, with no photography or digital work. Details →
→ Inland Empire NAVHDA mock test — Saturday, November 21, at Prado near Chino, three weeks ahead of the chapter’s December 11–13 test weekend. For anyone running a versatile dog in Southern California who wants a run-through first. Details →
What we published this week:
→ Reading a Young Burn for California Quail: The First Three Years, and What Comes After (updated) — our burn-scar planning piece, rewritten around California quail and how a burn becomes cover over its first growing seasons, with how to date one from the CAL FIRE record before you drive out. Read →
New on the site. We reorganized californiaupland.com this week so things are easier to find, especially on a phone. Birds is the old Species page: every bird we cover, each with its 2026–27 dates, and our county Harvest Map at the top. Dogs is new: eight breed pages, from the German shorthair to the English cocker, each on size, range, heat, foxtails, and health clearances in California. See the breeds → And Articles lists everything we’ve written, by topic and by region. Every article →
If opening weekend told you something you didn’t expect — about your dog, the cover, or the birds — hit reply. We read every one.
— Matt & Peter
californiaupland.com · @california_upland