Just getting into upland hunting

[BoilingGrease]

Hey guys new to the game here, I am up in Northern California and want to learn more. Can anyone recommend books,blogs,websites, and social media? I will be popping on the board to learn as much as possible. Thank you for any help

[NewmanCA]

Hey guys new to the game here, I am up in Northern California and want to learn more. Can anyone recommend books,blogs,websites, and social media? I will be popping on the board to learn as much as possible. Thank you for any help

Hi BG,

Where are you located in Northern CA and what type of upland game are you hunting? Jesse's Hunting Forum has a good forum for Upland. There are several others. There are also a ton of hunting videos on Youtube.

[quail hound]

Hello and welcome to UPH. CA DF&W used to print a guide called "Quail Hunting in California", I think you can still find it (you may have to scoure their site) online in pdf form. It has a ton of good information on quail, their habits, and where and how to hunt them. Upland Jitsu has some good blogs for beginning quail hunters also. Good luck and happy hunting.

[Sporting Days]

Hello and welcome to UPH. CA DF&W used to print a guide called "Quail Hunting in California", I think you can still find it (you may have to scoure their site) online in pdf form. It has a ton of good information on quail, their habits, and where and how to hunt them. Upland Jitsu has some good blogs for beginning quail hunters also. Good luck and happy hunting.

Here is the link to the Guide:

https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.a...D=23230&inline

[BoilingGrease]

Thanks guys! I live in Chico and the scuttlebutt is the quail is good up here but want to learn as much as I can about As many birds as I can pheasant, chukar, and grouse as well.

[calamari]

Thanks guys! I live in Chico and the scuttlebutt is the quail is good up here but want to learn as much as I can about As many birds as I can pheasant, chukar, and grouse as well.

Pheasants are in the tank in Northern Calif. so they'll be double tough. For the unattached hunter it's public areas or pheasant co-ops only so do the research. Grouse are in the Nat'l Forest east of you. Higher the better. Chukars are all near the Nevada border and as tough a hunt as you'll ever find. Low numbers, tough access, lots of pressure. Quail will probably be your best bet to pull the trigger more than twice a season.
Williams has a pheasant co-op that is looking for members that is pretty close for you and doesn't cost a ton. Over the Ord Ferry bridge and you're in their country. Other co-ops like Meridian and Knights Landing don't have as good cover as the Williams group does. I seem to recall that there are actually two co-ops in Williams with one being through a church.

[Sporting Days]

Pheasants are in the tank in Northern Calif. so they'll be double tough. For the unattached hunter it's public areas or pheasant co-ops only so do the research. Williams has a pheasant co-op that is looking for members that is pretty close for you and doesn't cost a ton. Over the Ord Ferry bridge and you're in their country. Other co-ops like Meridian and Knights Landing don't have as good cover as the Williams group does. I seem to recall that there are actually two co-ops in Williams with one being through a church.

I believe the community/co-op pheasant hunting options have mostly dried up with the disappearance of wild pheasants and a drop of interest in pheasant hunting. There are only two left that I know of in Northern California -- Knights Landing Sportsman's Club -- http://www.klscpheasants.com -- and the Willows Pheasant Association (not Williams) -- http://www.willowspheasant.org --, which is run as a fundraiser for Santa Monica Catholic church. There used to be two in Willlows, but now just one and WPA acquired access to the former's property.

If there are any others out there, they are doing their best to keep them a local secret.

[Sporting Days]

Oh...I guess I should include the Stockton Sportsman's Club as another co-op option -- http://www.stocktonsportsmensclub.com -- however, they typically hunt in big, organized drives typical of what you would find in South Datkota, etc., at least in the mornings, which is of less interest for guys just wanting to go out on their own with their dogs and find some birds.

[calamari]

I believe the community/co-op pheasant hunting options have mostly dried up with the disappearance of wild pheasants and a drop of interest in pheasant hunting. There are only two left that I know of in Northern California -- Knights Landing Sportsman's Club -- http://www.klscpheasants.com -- and the Willows Pheasant Association (not Williams) -- http://www.willowspheasant.org --, which is run as a fundraiser for Santa Monica Catholic church. There used to be two in Willlows, but now just one and WPA acquired access to the former's property.

If there are any others out there, they are doing their best to keep them a local secret.

Willows and Williams are like Biggs and East Biggs for me. So confusing but those are the ones I was thinking of. The Willows co-op is struggling I guess but still going. I didn't know Meridian's had gone out of action. They had very poor cover anyway. Quail. That's the Chico ticket.

[Sporting Days]

Willows and Williams are like Biggs and East Biggs for me. So confusing but those are the ones I was thinking of. The Willows co-op is struggling I guess but still going. I didn't know Meridian's had gone out of action. They had very poor cover anyway. Quail. That's the Chico ticket.

I hunt the Willows Co-Op. I'm not sure it's struggling -- in the sense that I see tons of hunters out there hunting when I'm out there. Sometimes hard to find an unhunted field on opening weekend. I know they acquired some hunters when the nearby Richvale Pheasant co-op closed down a few years ago. They have a great ham dinner at the church hall the Saturday of opener.

The Willows old-timers tell amazing stories about the hunting there in the old days. Hollywood celebrities would fly up for the pheasant opener and the town would have local high school kids serve as the guides. No planted birds -- all wild -- and limits were taken in a matter of minutes if you could shoot at all.

It's all planted birds there now and I have never run across a wild bird there to my knowledge. You would run into occasional wild birds -- flushing hens, etc. -- at some of the other co-ops in the past.