Sunday, August 16, 2026
Welcome back. The season is in full swing now. A-zone rifle is into its second week, and a few more doors opened yesterday on August 15: B-zone and C-zone archery, plus archery bear. Last week you told us in the poll that steaks and roasts are where most of your deer ends up, so this week we do right by the roast, the low-and-slow way that turns even a tough cut into the best pot roast of the winter. We put a rock-solid, one-hand shooting rest in your hands, meet a camp dog who never got the hunting memo, and share a story about a first buck, two old brothers, and one last morning at deer camp. Let's get into it.
The Board: Crucial Dates and Deadlines
A-zone general is in week two. The A-zone general (rifle) season runs August 8 to September 20, one buck per tag, one of the longest general seasons in the state. Deer are settling into a late-summer pattern: first and last light around water, feed, and shade. Confirm your exact subzone lines and either-sex rules in the 2026 Big Game Digest before you climb a new ridge.
August 15: B-zone archery is open. Most of the B zones (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6) run archery August 15 to September 6. B-zone tags are valid in any B zone during either season, so confirm your exact subzone dates before you commit.
Today, August 16: B-4 archery closes. The early bird of the B zones, open since July 25, shuts tonight. If you are carrying a B tag and want a bow hunt this weekend, this is your last day in B-4.
August 15: C-zone archery (Hunt A-1) opened too. Archery in the northeastern C zones (Modoc, Lassen, Siskiyou, Shasta) runs only on a drawn Hunt A-1 tag, and standard archery-only tags are not valid there. All four subzones opened August 15 and run into late August or early September, and the general C-zone rifle season then opens September 19. Closing dates vary by subzone, so confirm your exact dates and boundaries in the 2026 Big Game Digest.
August 15: archery bear opened too. Archery bear runs August 15 to September 6 across the entire bear hunt area. General bear is already in for A-zone (it opened with the August 8 deer opener) and runs through December 27, or closes early if the statewide harvest hits 1,700 bears. It is non-lead, no bait, no dogs, and tag validation, premolar submission, and reporting are all mandatory. Glass the same first and last light you are already hunting for deer and you may fill two tags on one trip.
Two weeks out, September 1: dove opener. The first split runs September 1 to 15. The daily limit is 15 mourning and white-winged doves combined (no more than 10 white-winged), with the possession limit triple that. No limit on Eurasian collared-doves. Do the boring paperwork now: you need your HIP validation (free) and your Upland Game Bird Validation on your license before opening morning. HIP is the most-missed step on opener day. Get it in August, not in the dark at 5 a.m. on September 1.
Non-lead, every hunt, no exceptions. Certified non-lead ammunition is required for all hunting with a firearm anywhere in California, doves included. The useful loads thin out on the shelf as every opener lands, so buy your rifle boxes and your dove shells now, while you can still pick what you want.
From Field to Table: The Low-and-Slow Braise (Turn a Tough Roast Tender)
You told us last week that steaks and roasts are where most of your deer ends up. Here is the catch nobody warns you about: not every roast wants to be cooked the same way. The tender cuts (backstrap, tenderloin, top round) reward fast, hot, and pink, the way we cooked that backstrap back in Issue #8. The workhorse cuts you separated out last week (bottom round, rump, shank, shoulder, and neck) are full of connective tissue that stays like a rubber band if you cook it fast and turns to silk if you cook it low and slow. This is the other half of the animal, and it is the best cold-weather eating you own.
You will need:
2 to 3 lbs venison roast from a tough cut (bottom round, rump, shoulder, or a couple of shanks), silver skin trimmed
Salt, coarse black pepper, and a little oil for searing
1 onion, 2 carrots, a rib or two of celery, a few garlic cloves
2 to 3 cups liquid: beef or game stock, plus a splash of red wine if you have it
A couple of bay leaves and a sprig of thyme or rosemary
Optional: a spoonful of tomato paste for body
The method:
Dry and season. Pat the roast bone-dry and salt it well all over. Dry meat browns. Wet meat just steams.
Sear hard. Get a Dutch oven or heavy pot hot with a little oil and brown the roast on every side. That deep crust is where most of the flavor comes from, so do not rush it.
Build the base. Pull the meat out, drop the heat, and soften the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in the drippings. Stir in the tomato paste if you are using it and let it darken a minute, then deglaze with the wine or a splash of stock, scraping the browned bits off the bottom.
Braise low and slow. Return the roast, add stock until it comes about two-thirds of the way up the meat (not fully covered), tuck in the herbs and bay, and bring it to a bare simmer. Lid on, then hold it low: stovetop on low, a 300 degree oven, or a slow cooker on low. Give it time, usually 3 to 4 hours, until a fork twists in the meat with no resistance.
Do not chase pink here. This is the one venison cut where pink is not the goal. A braise is finished when the connective tissue has broken down and the meat pulls apart, well past medium. Cooked past done, on purpose, is the whole point.
Rest, then pull or slice. Skim the fat, reduce the liquid into a gravy if you want one, and serve it over mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or polenta.
Doneness and safety note: braising carries the meat well past the 160 degree mark, so safety takes care of itself here. The finish line is texture, not temperature: fork-tender, falling apart, silky. This is the counterpart to the fast, hot, pink sear you save for the tender cuts (Issue #8), and it is exactly where the shank and bottom round from last week's breakdown (Issue #10) were always headed. Leftovers cool and freeze beautifully, so a big roast today is two dinners in December.
Gear Check: A Steady Rest for the Shot That Counts
Primos Trigger Stick Gen 3 Tripod
When the moment finally comes, a clean shot often comes down to one thing: how steady you are. Offhand shots in close country get rushed, and a rushed shot is how a good hunt turns into a long day of tracking. A solid rest takes the wobble out and lets you put the bullet exactly where it belongs, the first time.
The Trigger Stick is the value benchmark here. Squeeze the trigger grip and the tripod raises or drops to your height with one hand, so you can go from glassing to a locked-in rest without fumbling or standing up. It works sitting, kneeling, or standing, the V-yoke pops off so you can mount a spotting scope or binoculars on the same legs, and it pans smoothly to track a moving buck. For the close, brushy A-zone and B-zone country where shots come fast and offhand, it turns a shaky standing shot into a supported one.
This is a piece of gear the NorCalHunt team swears by. If you have the space to pack it, you will not regret it when it comes down to the moment it is time to pull the trigger.
The Showcase
This week's Showcase is a look behind the curtain from our own crew. It is a duck patch in Glenn County, mowed down low with one thing left standing: a few green patches of duckweed. That is not neglect, that is the plan. Everything else got knocked down so the birds have a clean table and the duckweed can do its work, because that green stuff is exactly the kind of food ducks pile in on once the water goes back over it. Right now it is just a quiet patch of green in the August heat. Come flood-up, it is a spot with a job to do. This is what prep season looks like, months before the first bird ever drops into the decoys.
The Showcase runs on you, and it is exclusive to subscribers, so the people on this list are the only ones who see it. Grip-and-grins, a limit strap in the fog, the dog mid-retrieve, a kid's first bird, a velvet giant on your summer cameras, or a scouting shot like this one. If it is part of your season, we want it. Every pick earns a permanent spot on our subscribers-only Showcase page at norcalhunt.com/showcase.
To get in: hit reply with your photo or clip and a sentence about it, and tell us how you want to be credited (we run first name, last initial, and town). The best one each week runs up top, and at the end of every month subscribers vote for a Showcase winner. Send us one to keep it rolling.
Dog of the Week
Meet "Tucker" Owner: Mike W., Durham
Tucker is a five-year-old red border collie, and no, he was not bred to hunt. He is proof that your best hunting companion does not have to come from a line of bird dogs. He spends most of his days being a loyal partner and chasing light reflections around the house. Not every good dog earns a spot in the blind, and Tucker is a reminder that the one riding shotgun to camp counts just as much.
Want your dog featured? Hit reply, send us a clean photo of your hunting partner, and give us a quick 2 to 3 sentence blurb on what they hunt and where they earn their kibble. Pointers, flushers, retrievers, and the occasional very good mutt all qualify.
Missed a week? Catch up on every dog we have featured on our past Dogs of the Week page at norcalhunt.com/dogoftheweek.
From the Field: A Buck, Two Brothers, and One Last Hunt
"Some hunts grow more valuable with age."
It was late deer season in the G1 zone, the kind of Northern California morning that bites at dawn and warms enough by afternoon to make you shed a jacket. A young hunter was up in the hills with two men who had spent more years in deer country than he had been alive: his grandpa, Pops, and his great-uncle Floyd. Two old brothers who knew the country, knew deer, and knew how to help a kid get his first buck without ever taking the hunt away from him. There was a .30-30, a big forked horn, a first shot that went low, and three quiet words as Pops handed over his .270: take your time.
Back at camp, bacon was frying. What none of them knew that morning was that it was the last time those two brothers would ever hunt together. Years later, it is not the antlers that stay with the man who tells it. It is Floyd's pickup, Pops' .270, and two old men passing along what they knew to the next generation.
Contributor: Alex A., Chico
Read the full story on norcalhunt.com/fieldstories.
Got a hunt that turned into a story? A first buck, a close call, a last morning with people you have since lost? Hit reply and tell us. The best ones run right here.
Community: Help Us Build the Pack
This briefing gets sharper when we hear from you. Drop us a quick reply and tell us:
What zones do you hunt most?
What are you chasing this fall: blacktail, bear, doves, ducks, pigs?
How can we make the weekly briefing better?
Last week's poll is in. We asked where the meat goes when you break down a deer, and steaks and roasts took the top spot, with straight-to-grind coming in second. So most of you are filling the freezer with cuts you can cook whole, which is exactly why today's Field to Table is about doing right by a roast. And for the grind crowd in second place, hang tight: burgers, chili, and sausage will get their own week soon.
This week's poll ties right to today's field story. Nearly everyone who hunts was handed the tradition by someone. Who taught you?
Who introduced you to hunting?
Got a hunting partner who lives in the foothills, the rice, or along the riverbanks? Forward this briefing and point them to norcalhunt.com. Word of mouth from real hunters is how we grow.
Local Services: Find It Close to Home
Need non-lead before the opener, a last-minute part, or a shop that treats hunters right? We keep a running list of NorCal businesses that take care of hunters, all in one place. Check out our local services page on norcalhunt.com/services, and if you run a business that belongs on it, hit reply and let us know.
Shop Spotlight: Durham Guns and Ammo, Durham. A small-town shop for guns, ammo, and optics, and a good spot to stock up on non-lead dove loads before the September 1 opener.
Conditions: Heat and Fire, Read This Before You Head Out
Still hot, dry, and primed to burn. California sat at Preparedness Level 5, the highest there is, into mid-August, with a heat wave and critically dry fuels. No major fire in our deer country right now, but the real risk is a thunderstorm dropping fresh lightning on cured grass. Before you load the truck:
Confirm restrictions for your unit. Closures and burn bans change fast and vary by district. Check fire.ca.gov and with your local forest.
Do not be the ignition. No sparks near dry grass, and mind your exhaust and drag chains.
Beat the heat. Hunt first and last light, carry more water than you think you need, and get any midday deer cooled and quartered fast before the meat sours.
Stay safe out there, get your gear cleaned, and we'll see you in the field.
The NorCal Hunt Team
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