SACRAMENTO — Upland bird hunters in the Mojave Desert can head afield for quail and chukar beginning yesterday, Oct. 17, when all quail species and chukar open statewide, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said in an Oct. 12 announcement.
The general season runs through Jan. 31, 2027. The daily limit is 10 quail in any combination of species and six chukar.
Quail hunting zones and season dates vary by county, so hunters should check the current regulations before heading out. Zone boundaries are defined in Title 14, Section 300 of the California Code of Regulations, and hunters are responsible for knowing them. Regulations are available at wildlife.ca.gov/Regulations.
CDFW biologists expect good statewide hunting for both birds in the 2026-27 season. The desert picture is less rosy. Updated population models built on 2025 North American Breeding Bird Survey data show that trends for the four species CDFW tracks (mountain, California and Gambel’s quail, and chukar) declined in the desert. Statewide, mountain quail and chukar numbers fell in 2025, while California and Gambel’s quail ticked up slightly. Chukar and quail trended up on the Modoc Plateau, and mountain and California quail rose on the North Coast.
Chukar are not native to California. They were introduced starting in the 1930s and took hold where the terrain resembled their home ranges in Asia and the Middle East: arid, steep and rocky country running from the Modoc Plateau south into the Mojave Desert and Death Valley.
CDFW is again asking hunters to donate a wing from each bird they take, using collection barrels placed on select public hunting lands with good quail populations. The wings reveal the ratio of young to adult birds, which indicates how well the previous breeding season went and can point to areas and years with better hunting. The data also help CDFW decide where to focus conservation on low-productivity populations.
Desert hunters should note how thin the data are for their birds. Last season, barrels at 13 sites collected only four Gambel’s quail wings and seven chukar wings from 196 hunters, too few to evaluate productivity. Hunters turned in 504 California quail wings and 25 mountain quail wings. This summer, biologists also saw quail hatches both earlier and later than the usual peak window.
Requirements: Hunters need a valid California hunting license and an upland game bird validation. Revenue from the validation funds upland game bird conservation, education, hunting access and outreach. Only non-lead ammunition may be used when hunting quail, chukar or any other game with a firearm in California.
CDFW also offers special quail and chukar hunts and private-land access through its SHARE Program. Season and regulation details are on CDFW’s Upland Game Bird Hunting web page.
Source: CDFW news release dated Oct. 12, 2026