Hey from California Upland.
Quail and chukar are open across the state now, and the next opener is three Saturdays out: on Nov. 14, pheasant, the second dove season, and fall turkey all open together. Before then, one deadline is easy to miss, and it’s today. Applications close for CDFW’s drawn hunts on planted pheasants, Nov. 14–22, at wildlife areas from Shasta Valley to Imperial. Most need a junior in the party; others are for families, new hunters, and veterans. Tuesday’s note has the list, how to apply ($2.98, drawn at random), and which hunts may have a volunteer dog on hand if you don’t bring your own. Read →
This week’s lead. On the Calendar in California: November — the month ahead in date order: the next round of CDFW pheasant-hunt applications, for hunts from December into February as far south as San Jacinto (closing Nov. 15); CDFW’s upland game bird stamp art contest, which opens Nov. 2; the Nov. 14 openers; and a run of bird-dog field trials and hunt tests from Jamestown to California City, worth a morning’s watching if you’re still choosing a breed. Read →
What we published this week:
→ Hunting California Quail Without a Dog: First Light to the Cooler — for everyone who has written to Peter on Instagram with the license bought and no dog. Matt hunts without one himself until his Brittany comes home in the spring, and he takes you through the first morning on foot: listening for the covey calling at first light, flushing it, following up the scattered birds, finding the one you hit, and getting it into the cooler. Read →
If you’ve walked up quail without a dog this season, hit reply and tell us how it went: what you heard at first light, and what you’d do differently next time out. And if you have the license and the gear and haven’t gone yet, tell us what’s in the way. We read every one.
— Matt & Peter
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