As publishedOctober 17, 2026 - February 7, 2027 (general); Youth season Sept 26 - Oct 4, 2026
Limit singly (not aggregated with other quail).Youth-only season Sept 26 - Oct 4, 2026 (bag 10/30). Season start pushed back one week vs. prior cycle due to anticipated drier summer conditions. Source: CR 26-13.
NDOW confirms no standalone population survey or forecast exists for California quail specifically -- its upland game bird monitoring concentrates on chukar/partridge (camera-based) and sage-grouse (lek + telemetry). A historical combined “Regional Upland Game Hunting Forecast” (referenced only in 2006 press coverage) may once have covered quail narratively, but its current status is unconfirmed. Two independent search passes (the Tier A pass, plus a fresh targeted search this pass) found no NDOW-published quail-specific index of any kind -- a lower-confidence closure, not an explicit NDOW confirmed-absence statement.