CDFW's November Pheasant Draw Closes Oct. 25, and Most Hunts Take Your Dog
A dog brings a rooster back at the BLM and CDFW Sacramento River Bend pheasant hunt, Tehama County, November 2016. Photo: Eric Coulter, BLM / public domain — source
CDFW's drawn pheasant hunts put stocked birds on wildlife areas and other ground the department opens for them, and most welcome a trained dog. Applications for the November round close Sunday, Oct. 25. If you have a dog that hunts, a junior who's ready, or just a license and an open November weekend, it's worth five minutes this week.
What's Open
The November hunts run Nov. 14–22. Among them, north to south: Shasta Valley, Sacramento River Bend, the Yolo Bypass, Grizzly Island, O'Neill Forebay, Hensley Lake, Chowchilla, Mendota and Imperial. Junior Only hunts are for junior shooters only; Junior Required hunts need at least one junior in the party, and the junior starts the application. Family hunts are open to anyone with a license and the validation, kids or not. New Hunter hunts are built around hunters in their first five California license years, CDFW's definition of new, so check each hunt's terms. Veteran Only hunts may ask for a DD-214. Applications for the next round, Dec. 5 to Feb. 20, close Nov. 15.
The Dog
Hunters "may bring their own dogs, provided the dog is trained in the practices of hunting upland game," CDFW says, and every dog stays under its owner's control. A dog of your own is optional on most hunts and required at Chowchilla's Mobility Impaired hunt on Nov. 14, where volunteer dogs will be available, and at both Peace Valley junior hunts on Dec. 5. No dog? Grizzly Island, Napa-Sonoma Marshes, the Yolo hunts, Imperial, and San Jacinto list CDFW or volunteer dogs "Provided IF AVAILABLE." The Ray Azbill Memorial junior hunts in January and a Santa Margarita new-hunter clinic in February bar dogs.
How to Apply
Apply in the Drawings section of CDFW's online license system, at a license agent, or at (800) 565-1458. You can apply alone; a party applies with the first applicant's party ID. Each application costs $2.98, nonrefundable, and winners are drawn at random and notified by mail. Everyone needs a hunting license, anyone not on a junior license needs the upland game bird validation, and a junior goes afield with a non-shooting adult 18 or older.
Why It Matters
Wild pheasants "have largely disappeared from the California landscape," in CDFW's words. These hunts don't change that; they give juniors, new hunters, veterans, and any licensed hunter a fair chance at a rooster, and a dog with a good nose makes sure the birds that fall get found. If yours is steady and you'd spend a November morning helping a junior, call the contact listed for each hunt on CDFW's planted pheasant page.
Apply by Sunday, Oct. 25, for November, or by Nov. 15 for December through February. More in our pheasant guide and Bird Dogs in California.
Matt Gehrmann grew up hunting the Central Valley for pheasant, quail, and dove, and is based in the Bay Area. Read more → · Subscribe to the weekly digest →