Welcome back. Deer season is in the heat of it, with B, C, and D zones open or opening soon, and the duck opener is now about five weeks out on top of it. The big one this week is in From the Field: Laura Allen of MOA Outfitters wrote in about building a guide service to welcome women into the blind, and it is exactly the kind of submission we love to run. Around it we have a quick refresher on breasting out a duck before opening morning, the value waders to buy now before the shelves empty, a goose hunt from MOA in the Showcase, Hooey in Dog of the Week, and the paperwork you cannot skip. One favor: take this week's poll in the community section, we want to know what makes the ideal duck day. If you are hunting A-zone, today is your last light, so make it count. Everybody else, the season is wide open. Let's get into it.

Today, Sunday September 20: A-zone general closes. This is the last day of the state's longest general season (August 8 to September 20), one buck per tag. Hunt water, feed, and shade at first and last light, and if you fill it, the next section is for you.

B-zone general is running. B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6 are open rifle September 19 to October 25, one buck per tag. B-4 runs its own earlier calendar (August 22 to September 27), so those zones close next Sunday. Confirm your exact subzone lines in the 2026 Big Game Digest before you climb an unfamiliar ridge.

Deer country keeps opening. The C zones came in September 19, and the D zones come online through late September and October, dates varying by subzone. If the foothills or the Sierra are on your calendar, check your subzone opener now, not the night before.

General bear rides with your deer tag. It runs concurrent with your general deer season into late December, or closes early if the statewide take hits 1,700 bears. It is non-lead, no bait, no dogs, with tag validation, premolar submission, and reporting all mandatory. A bear tag in your pocket is a second animal on the same hunt.

Ducks are five weeks out. Do the paperwork now. The Balance of State duck opener lands Saturday, October 24, and runs to January 31, 2027, with a seven-duck daily limit and species sub-limits (including no more than two hen mallards, and caps on pintail, canvasback, redhead, and scaup). The Northeastern Zone opens earlier, October 3. This is the week to pull your California Duck Validation (about $40), your Federal Duck Stamp (sign it across the face in ink or it is not valid), and your free HIP validation, and to confirm the final regs and shoot-time tables at wildlife.ca.gov.

Valley quail opens Saturday, September 26. The all-quail season comes in next Saturday in Zone Q2, which covers most of NorCal. Zones Q1 and Q3 follow on October 17. Check the current Upland Game Bird digest for your zone lines and limits before opening morning.

Non-lead, every hunt, no exceptions. Certified non-lead ammunition is required for all firearm hunting anywhere in California. For ducks that means non-toxic shot (steel and the like), your shotgun plugged to three total shells, and your HIP validation squared away before opener.

Plenty of you have done this a thousand times, so consider this one for the newer hands and a reminder for the rest of us before the water comes on. The fastest way to clean a duck is to breast it out, and it is about a one-minute job once you have the motion down.

You will need: a sharp knife (the replaceable-blade knife from Issue #4 shines here), nitrile gloves, a bucket or contractor bag for feathers and carcasses, and a cooler on ice (Issue #15) to get birds cold fast.

The method:

That is your move for grilled or seared breasts, poppers, jerky, or the freezer. Fast, clean, no plucking.

Doneness and safety note: duck breast is dark meat and eats best hot and fast with a rosy, medium center, the same principle behind the backstrap in Issue #8, not the fully-done rule we use for ground game. If you would rather not gamble, take it to a fully done 165 degrees. Either way, wear nitrile gloves when you clean birds, keep raw meat cold (the cool-fast rule from Issue #7), and pick out every pellet before it hits the pan or someone's tooth finds it.

The single most important waterfowl purchase, and the one that sells out first once the water comes on, is a solid pair of chest waders. Buy them now, not the week before the opener when the shelves are picked over.

Our value pick is the TideWe Neoprene Chest Waders. The 3.5mm neoprene keeps you warm in cold water, the insulated rubber boots (600 gram Thinsulate) handle a frosty valley morning, and the seams are stitched, glued, and taped, the same three-step construction the premium brands use. Field reviewers this fall keep landing on them as the best value in the category. They list around $119 and often street closer to $90 to $110, so check current pricing.

This week's feature comes straight from MOA Outfitters: a pile of speckled bellies and snow geese from a successful goose hunt in the valley, the kind of morning that has the whole list counting down to the opener. It pairs perfectly with Laura's story further down, a firsthand look at what these hunts are all about. Fine shooting, and thanks for sending it in.

The Showcase is exclusive to subscribers, so the folks on this list see it first. Next week it could be yours, with deer photos rolling in from every open zone and the first of the dog work starting up on the water. A B-zone buck, a first deer, a pile of birds, the retriever on a training bumper, a decoy spread at sunrise. 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 earns a permanent spot on our subscribers-only Showcase page.

Meet "Hooey" (Owners: Chad and Allison Porter, Durham)

Hooey is a Durham dog through and through, and his favorite running mate is Bent, our Dog of the Week from Issue #4. The two of them are a team in the blind, happiest retrieving ducks on a cold valley morning. When the season closes, they take it easy, spending their days lounging by the pool and getting out for regular walks with mom and dad, until the next opener.

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 Dogs of the Week page.

"The idea of meeting strangers on the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere at 4:00 am is a lot less intimidating when you know you are meeting up with a group of like minded women."

With the opener a few weeks out, this week's field note comes from a guide building the next generation of duck hunters in our own backyard. Laura Allen of MOA Outfitters runs a Sacramento Valley guide service dedicated to welcoming women into waterfowl, and she wrote in on why she built it, what it takes to step into a male-driven field, and why she believes the sport's future runs on community over competition. It is worth reading to the last line, and if it sounds like your kind of hunt, you can find MOA Outfitters on our Local Boys page.

Submitted by Laura Allen, MOA Outfitters

Read the full story on norcalhunt.com/fieldstories.

Got a hunt that turned into a story? A first bird, a lesson learned the hard way, a reason you got into this in the first place? Hit reply and tell it the way you would at the tailgate, and we will clean it up. The best ones run right here.

This briefing gets sharper when we hear from you. Drop us a quick reply and tell us:

Last week's poll is in, and the winner was straight to a processor. Plenty of you would rather hand the animal off at the door and get back to hunting, and with the water season bearing down, that is a fair trade to make.

This week's poll: what makes a duck day for you, the thing that gets you out of bed earlier than most?

Got a hunting partner 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.

With the opener bearing down, somebody within a short drive of you has waders in your size, a box of non-toxic shot on the shelf, or a processor with room on the schedule for that last buck. We keep a running list of NorCal businesses that treat hunters right, all in one place. Check out our local services page at norcalhunt.com/localboys , and if you run a shop that belongs on it, hit reply and let us know.

Good news close to home. The Lucas Fire on the Lake and Mendocino county line is about 4,100 acres and 84 percent contained as of Friday night, it was ruled a lightning start, and crews are standing down. Most evacuations have lifted, though a couple of zones in Lake County are still under orders, and you should expect more traffic in and around the burn as engines demobilize. Last weekend's red flag warning has come down and conditions have eased. Do not read that as the all-clear. The valley and foothills are cured and bone dry, and the fall pattern that brings north winds and single-digit humidity can return with about a day's notice. Before you load the truck:

Confirm closures for your unit. Burn bans and forest orders change fast and vary by district. Check fire.ca.gov and with your local forest before you go, and route around any lingering Lucas Fire closures if your blacktail plans run that country.

Watch the wind. When the north wind comes up and the humidity crashes, that is the setup that turns one spark into the next headline. Skip the long push into dry timber on those days.

Do not be the ignition you can control. No sparks near dry grass, mind your exhaust and your drag chains, and keep outdoor burning off the table where bans are in place.

Beat the lingering heat. Hunt first and last light, carry more water than you think you need, and get any downed buck cooled 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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