This is one of those hinge weekends where the calendar does a lot of work at once. Dove is in full swing through the 15th, today is the last light of B-zone archery and archery bear, the A-zone rifle clock is ticking down to the 20th, and the rest of the B zones flip to general in less than two weeks. So this issue is built around the season in front of you: a step-by-step field dressing walkthrough for everyone with a tag to fill, the ear protection you should be wearing on doves and at the sight-in bench, and a first-buck story worth settling in for. We also tagged along on our own opening morning, and we brought the birds home to prove it. Dog of the Week is open this issue, so consider this your nudge to get your hunting partner the shout out he or she deserves. Let's get into it.

Today, September 6: bow season's last light. Archery for B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6 closes today, and statewide archery bear closes today too (August 15 to September 6). If you still have a bow tag in your pocket, this is the evening to fill it. After tonight those zones go quiet until the general opener.

Two weeks out, September 19: B-zone general opens. B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6 open rifle season September 19 and run to October 25, one buck per tag. B-4 runs on its own earlier calendar and is already in its general season, and A-zone tags stay valid during any B-zone hunt, so plan your next two weekends accordingly.

A-zone general closes September 20. You have two weekends left on 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 confirm your exact subzone lines and legal-buck rules in the 2026 Big Game Digest before you climb an unfamiliar ridge.

Dove is on through September 15. The first split runs to the 15th, then reopens November 14 to December 28. Daily limit is 15 mourning and white-winged combined (no more than 10 white-winged), possession triple that, and no limit on Eurasian collared-doves. Shoot time is one half hour before sunrise to sunset. If you have not been out yet, you still have a week and a half of the early split.

General bear rides with your deer tag. A-zone general bear has been open since the deer opener and runs to December 27, 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.

Non-lead, every hunt, no exceptions. Certified non-lead ammunition is required for all firearm hunting anywhere in California, deer and doves alike. And a dove housekeeping reminder while the migratory rules are fresh: plug your shotgun to three shells, get written landowner permission before you hunt private ground, and stay 150 yards off any occupied dwelling.

This week we are trading the recipe for a field skill, because a lot of you have a deer tag burning a hole in your pocket right now. Back in Issue #12 we ran the gutless method, which is the move when a buck falls a long way from the truck and you are packing him out in pieces. This is the other one: the classic, open-the-cavity field dress you use when you can get the whole animal back to the truck or the cabin. Done right it takes about ten minutes and every organ comes out clean, and the most common rookie mistake is calling it finished before it actually is.

You will need: a sharp knife (the replaceable-blade knife from Issue #4 shines here, no field sharpening), a pair of nitrile gloves, and your game bags (Issue #3) to keep meat off the ground. A short length of paracord to tie back a leg or the bung helps. A small saw is optional, and only for splitting the pelvis if you want to.

The method:

Doneness and safety note: this is field care, not the stove, but the rule that runs this whole newsletter still holds: get it cold and clean. Wear the gloves, and keep the blade off the paunch and bladder so you do not taint the meat. If you do nick one, rinse the area and trim back what it touched. In this early-September heat the spoilage clock starts the second he is down, so cool fast (the rule from Issue #7), then break him down at the table (Issue #10) and match each cut to its plan: tender cuts hot and pink (Issue #8), workhorse cuts low and slow (Issue #11). And if he falls where no truck can reach, that is the day for the gutless method (Issue #12) instead.

Dove season puts a lot of shells through a lot of shotguns, and plenty of you are also at the bench dialing a rifle before the B-zone opener. Every report takes a small, permanent bite out of your hearing. Electronic ear pro fixes the old tradeoff: it clamps down on the muzzle blast while amplifying everything quieter, so you protect your ears and still hear the dog, your buddy, and the birds working in.

Walker's Restrictor Bluetooth Earbuds are our value benchmark. They carry a 24 dB noise reduction rating and use split-second sound-activated compression to kill the shot while passing through wingbeats and normal talk. The earbud shape is the win for hunters: nothing fights your rifle cheek weld the way muffs do, and they tuck under a hat and disappear. Rechargeable, about 14 hours a charge, with Bluetooth and four sound modes through the Walker's Link app. They list near $250 but street closer to $130 to $180, so check current pricing. We ran these on the dove opener ourselves: used and approved by the NorCalHunt team.

Floor option: Walker's Razor Slim electronic muffs run $45 to $60 and protect just as well at the bench, only bulkier in the field. Step up: ISOtunes earbuds or custom-molded digital plugs for two to three times the money. Whatever you pick, wear it on the opener and at the range, and keep a set in the bag with your dove vest (Issue #13).

Check out our running list of gear recommendations at norcalhunt.com/gearecs

This week we are pulling back the curtain on our own opening morning. The NorCalHunt crew got out for the September 1 dove opener and put in the work, and here is the honest report: we did not limit out, but we brought home a solid strap of birds. That is most opening days, and it beats the couch every time.

The Showcase is exclusive to subscribers, so the folks on this list see it first. Next week we want it to be yours: a limit strap in the dove field, a first buck, the dog mid-retrieve, a velvet giant off your summer cameras, whatever your season handed you. 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 and a permanent spot on our subscribers-only Showcase page at norcalhunt.com/showcase.

This week, the spotlight is yours.

We are handing Dog of the Week back to you for one issue: get your hunting partner the shout out he or she has earned. Everybody on this list has a dog worth bragging on, the pointer that finally held steady, the retriever that will not quit the cold water, the mutt that outworks them all. We want to meet yours.

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. Tell us how you want to be credited, and we run first name, last initial, and town. Pointers, flushers, retrievers, and the occasional very good mutt all qualify. Send one in and yours runs right here next week. Want to see who has made the cut so far? Catch up on every dog we have featured on our past Dogs of the Week page at norcalhunt.com/dogoftheweek.

"Most people will never forget their first hunt, but I reckon I have a better story than most."

It was deer season in the mountains, and a first-timer had drawn into a hunt with the old men: his grandfather, his great uncle, and an old friend of his father's, all of them with more seasons behind them than the boy had years. Days of nothing but sign. Then, from the truck, one word from his grandfather: "Deer." What followed was everything a first hunt is: a scramble out the door without his jacket, one round fumbled into the rifle, a shot that took a foreleg instead of the heart, and a second shot from his grandfather's borrowed rifle that somehow, against every odd, put the buck down.

Then came the field dressing, watched a hundred times and never once done alone, and two old men who answered "not yet" every time the boy asked if he was finished, right up until they did not. What he left inside that deer, and how the two brothers reacted once they got back to the cabin, is the part we would not dream of spoiling.

Submitted by Devon A. of Chico

Read the full story on norcalhunt.com/fieldstories.

Got a hunt that turned into a story? A first bird, a lucky shot, a lesson you learned the hard way with an audience? Hit reply and tell us. 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 it was not close. We asked how you cook your doves, and bacon-wrapped poppers ran the table: 100 percent of the vote, a clean sweep, not a single holdout. That is about as united as this crowd gets, and it tells us the popper recipe from Issue #13 hit the mark. If you fry your birds or drop them in a pot, you are officially the silent minority, so speak up next time.

This week's poll ties to the calendar. With bow season closing today and the rifle openers stacking up, what does the rest of your September look like?

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.

First bucks are hitting the ground, which means somebody within a short drive of you has non-lead on the shelf, a bag of ice, or a processor with room on the schedule. We keep a running list of NorCal businesses that treat hunters right, all in one place. Check out our local services page on norcalhunt.com/services, and if you run a shop that belongs on it, hit reply and let us know.

Good news close to home: the two NorCal fires we have been tracking are winding down. The MP18 Fire near Hoopa sits around 7,600 acres and better than 90 percent contained with all evacuations lifted, and the Bug Fire on the Lassen and Sierra line has dropped off the active list. Our deer country is about as quiet as it gets in early September. Do not read that as an all-clear, though: the season's biggest fires are down the coast in the Los Padres (the Plaskett and Timber fires, together past 50,000 acres), pulling crews and aircraft that would otherwise be near us, and 2026 is running well above average nationally. A careless new start will not draw the fast response it would have in June, and CAL FIRE still calls for warm inland temperatures and the odd thunderstorm, so dry lightning on cured grass is the real risk. 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 before you go.

Watch the sky. If you hear thunder or see build-ups, rethink a long push into dry timber.

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 doves on ice and any downed deer 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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