| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 26 SEP 2026 – 31 JAN 2027 | 128d |
| Window 2 | 17 OCT 2026 – 31 JAN 2027 | 107d |
| Window 3 | 15 AUG – 04 SEP 2026 | 21d |
| Window 4 | 15 AUG 2026 – 28 FEB 2027 | 198d |
As publishedZone Q2: Sep 26, 2026-Jan 31, 2027; Zones Q1 & Q3: Oct 17, 2026-Jan 31, 2027; Archery Aug 15-Sep 4, 2026; Falconry Aug 15, 2026-Feb 28, 2027
CDFW does not publish a species-specific season for Gambel's (desert) quail -- it is included in the same combined 'All Quail' zone seasons and 10/day aggregate bag as California quail and mountain quail.
Unlike California quail, Gambel's (desert) quail's real California range is a narrow desert slice of the southeastern corner of the state. CDFW does not publish a Gambel's-specific season (it shares the same statewide 'All Quail' zone windows as California and mountain quail), but the species itself is confined to Colorado and Mojave Desert habitat and does not occur across most of Zone Q3's actual land area. CDFW's own CWHR life-history account (Beedy 2008) gives an exact range description sourced to Grinnell and Miller's classic statewide avifauna survey.
Provisional: CDFW's own 2026-27 quail and chukar hunting outlook hasn't published yet. CDFW's own upland game bird biologist, quoted in Quail Forever's 2026 forecast, says Gambel's quail are "trending upward from a low point in 2021-2022." That is a multi-year recovery, not a call that 2026 will beat 2025, and no Gambel's-specific survey figure is out yet. The forecast expects an average year statewide. Two dry winters cut forb production and chick survival in some areas, and the Mojave and Colorado deserts of southeastern California, where Gambel's are most common, are the part of the state that has generally stayed in drought. Expect a population still climbing out of a low in what looks like an average year.
A slow recovery from the 2021-22 low, per CDFW's own biologist, held back this year by dry conditions in the southeastern deserts.
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