| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 16 OCT 2026 – 07 FEB 2027 | 115d |
| Window 2 | 01 SEP 2026 – 04 MAR 2027 | 185d |
As publishedGeneral: Oct 16, 2026-Feb 7, 2027 (statewide + several NWRs). Falconry-only: Sep 1, 2026-Mar 4, 2027 (most units) / Jul 1, 2026-Mar 31, 2027 (Units 25M, 26M, 38M)
Hunted concurrently with Gambel's and scaled quail under the same Commission Order and aggregate bag limit (15/day total of all quail species, max 8 Mearns'). Present in Arizona as a more limited-range population than Gambel's/scaled.
California quail is the narrowest-range huntable quail in Arizona, and AZGFD's own Small Game Forecast is explicit and specific about it: the species was introduced along the Little Colorado River in the 1960s and remains in that general area today in very low numbers. This matches the regulation's own note that California quail have a more limited range in Arizona than Gambel's or scaled quail. Unlike Gambel's or scaled quail, which get a broad habitat-type region, California quail gets a single, narrow, named river corridor, consistent with a small, non-expanding introduced population rather than an established statewide range.
AZGFD publishes a combined Quail Outlook each year covering Gambel's, scaled, California, and Mearns's quail together, built on spring roadside call-counts plus a monsoon-condition read for Mearns's. It typically lands within days of the mid-October season opener (Oct 11 in 2023, Oct 15 in 2024, Oct 17 in 2025). Expected mid-October 2026, alongside the season opener.
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