Upland Game Bird Hunting

Regulations

Nonlead Regulations

• Effective July 1, 2019, nonlead ammunition is required when taking any wildlife with a firearm anywhere in California. See more on nonlead ammunition.

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Pheasant

Season / Area	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
General / Statewide	Nov 14 - Dec 27	2 males per day for first two days of the season; 3 males per day after the first two days of the season.	Triple the daily bag
Archery Only	Oct 10 - Nov 1 Dec 28 - Jan 24	2 pheasants per day for first two days of the season; 3 pheasants per day after the first two days of the season. The daily archery bag may contain not more than 1 female pheasant.	Triple the daily bag
Falconry	Aug 15 - Feb 28	2 pheasants per day for first two days of the season; 3 pheasants per day after the first two days of the season. The daily falconry bag may contain birds of either sex. Hawking hours are Sunrise to Sunset.	Triple the daily bag.

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Quail

Season / Area (Zone Map (PDF))	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
Zone Q1 (Mountain Quail Only)	Sep 12 - Oct 16	10	Triple the daily bag
Zone Q1 (All Quail)	Oct 17 - Jan 31
Zone Q2 (All Quail)	Sep 26 - Jan 31
Zone Q3 (All Quail)	Oct 17 - Jan 31
Early Season for Hunters with Junior Hunting Licenses in Mojave National Preserve	October 3 - 4
Archery Only	Aug 15 - Sep 4
Falconry	Aug 15 - Feb 28

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Chukar

Season / Area	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
General / Statewide	Oct 17 - Jan 31	6	Triple the daily bag
Archery Only	Aug 15 - Sep 4
Falconry	Aug 15 - Feb 28

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Greater Sage-grouse

Season / Area	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
General, Archery / North Mono Zone only (hunting by permit only)	Closed	0 permits adopted for all four hunt zones. Sage-grouse hunting for general, archery, and falconry seasons is by permit only. See instructions
Falconry	Closed

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Sooty (Blue) / Ruffed Grouse

Season / Area (Zone Map (PDF))	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
General	Sep 12 - Oct 12	2; All of one species or mixed	Triple the daily bag
Archery Only	Aug 15 - Sep 4
Falconry	Aug 15 - Feb 28

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - White-tailed Ptarmigan

Season / Area	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
General & Archery / Statewide	Sep 12 - 20	2 per day	2 per season
Falconry / Statewide	Aug 15 - Feb 28

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Wild Turkey

Season / Area		Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
Fall		Nov 14 - Dec 13	1 either sex	2 per season
Spring	General	Mar 27 - May 2, 2021	1 bearded	3 per season, combined
	Archery Only	May 3 - May 16, 2021
	Additional Junior	Mar 20 - 21, 2021 & May 3 - 16, 2021

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Dove

Species	Season / Area	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
Mourning Dove and White-winged Dove	Statewide	Sep 1 - 15 & Nov 14 - Dec 28	15, up to 10 of which may be white-winged doves	Triple the daily bag
Spotted Dove, and Ringed Turtle Dove			No limit
Eurasian Collared-dove		All Year	No limit

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Band-tailed Pigeon

Season / Area (Zone Map (PDF))	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
North	Sep 19 - 27	2per day	Triple the daily bag
South	Dec 19 - 27

2020 - 2021 Seasons and Limits - Snipe

Season / Area	Season Dates	Daily Bag Limit	Possession Limit
General / Statewide	Oct 17 - Jan 31	8	Triple the daily bag

Requirements for Hunting Upland Game Birds

• Hunting License
• Upland Game Bird Validation, unless hunting under the authority of a Junior Hunting License
• Harvest Information Program (HIP) Validation, if hunting for ducks, dove, gallinules, geese, band-tailed pigeon, black brant, coots, or snipe (no cost) - more information about HIP

Purchasing Licenses or Validations

• Hunting License Fees
• Purchase a Hunting License or Validation
• Collectible Duck and Upland Game Bird Stamps
• FAQs

Special Hunt Information

• Special and Apprentice Hunts Application
• Upland Wild Bird Hunts
• SHARE Program
• Private Land Management Program

Maps

• Quail Zone Map (PDF)
• Sooty (Blue) / Ruffed Grouse Zone Map (PDF)
• Band-tailed Pigeon Zone Map (PDF)
• American Crow Zone Map (PDF)
• 2020 Imperial Valley Dove Hunt Fields (PDF)

Publications

• Dove Identification (PDF)
• Guide to Hunting Quail in California (PDF)
• Guide to Hunting Wild Turkey in California (PDF)
• California Hunting Digest

Game Take Hunter Survey Reports

Reports will be added to this page as they become available.

1940s	1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	2010s
1948 (PDF) 1949 (PDF)	1950 (PDF) 1951 (PDF) 1952 (PDF) 1953 (PDF) 1954 (PDF) 1955 (PDF) 1956 (PDF) 1957 (PDF) 1958 (PDF) 1959 (PDF)	1960 (PDF) 1961 (PDF) 1962 (PDF) 1963 (PDF) 1964 (PDF) 1965 (PDF) 1966 (PDF) 1967 (PDF) 1968 (PDF) 1969 (PDF)	1970 (PDF) 1971 (PDF) 1972 (PDF) 1973 (PDF) 1974 (PDF) 1975 (PDF) 1976 (PDF) 1977 (PDF) 1978 (PDF) 1979 (PDF)	1980 (PDF) 1981 (PDF) 1982 (PDF) 1983 (PDF) 1984 (PDF) 1985 (PDF) 1986 (PDF) 1987 (PDF) 1988 (PDF) 1989 (PDF)	1990 (PDF) 1991 (PDF) 1992 (PDF) 1993 (PDF) 1994 (PDF) 1995 (PDF) 1996 (PDF) 1997 (PDF) 1998 (PDF) 1999 (PDF)	2000 (PDF) 2001 (PDF) 2002 (PDF) 2003 (PDF) 2004 (PDF) 2005 (PDF) 2006 (PDF) 2007 (PDF) 2008 (PDF) *	2010 (PDF) **   **   **   2014 (PDF) **   2016 (PDF) **   2018 (PDF)

*The 2009 hunter survey was not performed due to state budget constraints.

**The 2011-2013 hunter surveys were not performed while CDFW developed methods for estimating harvest through the new Automated License Data System (ALDS). Beginning in 2015, the Upland Program chose to conduct the survey biennially.

For questions or further information please contact Katherine.Miller@wildlife.ca.gov.