From a Dove Field Back to Quail: Peter Burnham on The Upland Social
California Quail - photo by Peter Burnham
Peter sat down with host Ryan Lynton on The Upland Social for episode 70, "California Upland with Pete Burnham." By Ryan's count he's the show's first Californian guest, and if you've wondered who's behind the bylines here, it's a good place to find out. It went up September 23, runs an hour and 18 minutes, and is a video episode on Spotify.
The come-back story is the meat of it. Peter grew up on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, crossing into California for dove openers with his uncles, then spent a couple of decades away from birds. During the pandemic he got back outside fly fishing the bay, a dove opener with his brother turned into a few quail hunts with Matt, and, in his words, "five million plans" hatched from there. Three stretches are worth your time:
Alan. How a San Francisco city hunter ended up with an English cocker from a field-trial line, started him on planted chukar at a preserve, and now walks him at heel between spots on long quail days so he still has something left for the cover that matters.
The case for California. Peter's argument that access is this state's advantage, built around his regular ground, Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument: "If I go midweek, almost guaranteed, I don't see another hunter."
Where a new hunter should start. His first answer isn't us. It's CDFW, whose species webinars he credits with breaking down how to hunt each bird; the department's advanced hunting clinics are where to look.
There's also a band-tailed pigeon hunt with one of those uncles in the Feather River Canyon, which Peter still calls "literally the prettiest area I've ever been to."
The cocker is Alan, and what Peter carries for him is a good place to start if you run a flushing dog in this state. If the public-land part of the conversation has you opening maps, start with our e-scouting shortlist method.
Give it a listen. If it leaves you with a question for Peter, about Alan, about the cocker as a California bird dog, or about where to start on public land, reply to any Sunday digest (subscribe here if you don't get it yet).
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 →