Hunting California Quail Without a Dog: First Light to the Cooler
No dog yet? The first morning on California quail on foot: listening for coveys, walking them up, working singles, and finding the bird you hit.
Reading Alan: What a Flushing Dog's Posture, Tail Set, and Cadence Tell You About a Covey
Your gundog is telling you where the birds are. Here's how to read posture, tail set, head carriage, and cadence — three seasons with an English cocker on California cover.
Planning a First Trip to San Diego County Quail Country: The Closure Map Comes First
San Diego County holds California quail on hundreds of thousands of acres of public land, and stacks four layers of closures and restrictions on top of it. A planning guide that starts with the legal map, not the birds.
California Chukar Hunting: Planning a First Season on Alectoris chukar
The pillar planning guide to California chukar — the Eastern Sierra, the Modoc Plateau, and the Mojave ranges; water as the limiting resource, escape cover, the narrow elevation band that holds birds in October, and the boots and lungs the east side asks for. Refreshed each year.
From a Dove Field Back to Quail: Peter Burnham on The Upland Social
Peter sat down with Ryan Lynton on The Upland Social: coming back to bird hunting after two decades away, hunting behind a cocker spaniel, and how much public land California has.
Hunting the Overlap: Sooty Grouse, Band-Tails, and Quail in the High Sierra in September
Three days hunting sooty grouse near Hope Valley, two empty ones, and a band tailed pigeon Peter shot on the last afternoon.
California Public Land Designations: Where Upland Hunting Is Legal, Restricted, or Closed
The map app shows you green. Green is not a designation. What BLM, national forest, national monument, state wildlife area, refuge, and state park each actually mean for a shotgun — and the two-minute check that settles it before you drive.
The Hill You Don't Climb: Off-Road Driving Skills for California Hunting Access
Two one-day classes at Hollister Hills changed how we get to birds — and, more often, how we decide not to. Trail spotting, hill aborts, left-foot braking, and treating the rig like it has to bring you home.
Reading Recent Burns for Birds: The New Fire Layer on California's Upland Map
We added California's recent wildfire perimeters to our upland species map, colored by burn age — because the one-to-three-year window after a fire is some of the best quail country in the state. Here's why burns matter, and how to read the new layer.
The Four Weeks That Decide October: Quail Prep While Dove Is Still Open
The dove split closes on the 15th and quail is a month out. That gap is the most useful four weeks on the California upland calendar and the easiest to waste. What we are actually doing with ours.
What Changes in a Sacramento Valley Dove Field After Opening Weekend
The field you scouted in August is not the field that exists on Sept. 8. Four things move in the first week of the season — pressure, water, cut dates, and the birds themselves — and the hunters still shooting on the 14th are the ones who tracked them.
Dove Tacos: A 30-Minute Recipe for Opener Night
The recipe I cook on opener night: seared mourning dove medallions, charred tortillas, cabbage, lime, and a salsa you can make on a tailgate. Thirty minutes, one pan, honest quantities — eight to twelve doves feeds two hunters four tacos apiece.
Last-Minute Opener Checklist
Nine days to the California dove opener. The checklist we run before every September 1 — paperwork, shells, pattern, field and backup, water and ice, the dog's heat plan, and the ten-minute regs check that saves the morning.
Where to Camp Opener Weekend: Sac Valley CDFW Areas
Most Sacramento Valley CDFW wildlife areas are day-use ground — so where does an opener-weekend hunter actually sleep? The logistics pattern: the day-use default, the shooting-time math from a campsite 30 minutes out, gates and check-ins, ice resupply, and the river, forest, and commercial options nearby.
Opener Morning Loadout: Vest, Shells, Water, Dog
What actually goes in the truck and the vest for September 1: a case of nonlead, the water math for a 95-degree morning, shade and a seat, hearing protection, ice for the birds, the person who knows where you are — and a pre-dawn checklist you can forward to the friend who always forgets HIP.
California Dove Regulations 2026-27: HIP, Limits, Lead-Free Zones
The 2026-27 California dove regulations are final: September 1 opener, 15-bird aggregate limit, HIP validation, nonlead statewide. The pre-opener check to run against the CDFW booklet before you load the truck.