Hunting-dog owners in Southern California

Southern California has its own active gun dog world, from Imperial Valley trials to Santa Ysabel hunt tests. Richard Gebhart trains in Rio Vista, far to the north, and takes dogs from all over California, so this page is plain about the miles and about how to make them work.

The honest distances

Los Angeles is about 6.8 hours (367 miles) from Rio Vista. From the Antelope Valley, Lancaster is about 6.6 hours and Palmdale about 6.8 hours. Ventura is about 7.1 hours and Santa Barbara about 7.2 hours.

Orange County and the Inland Empire are farther: Irvine is about 7.7 hours, Riverside about 8.0 hours and Temecula about 8.5 hours. San Diego County is about 9.1 hours for San Diego, about 8.8 hours for Escondido, and El Centro is about 10.9 hours (580 miles). Every one of these is an overnight trip, not a day trip, and figures are OpenStreetMap routing with no traffic.

Why owners still make the trip

Richard says he is training dogs from as far as San Diego right now. Owners across the state send gun dogs a long way for training. A Utah trainer's California page says dogs have come to it from San Diego, Southern California, the Central Valley and Northern California (Utah Bird Dog Training, read October 27, 2026). Distance is normal in this work.

With Richard, the practical questions are drop-off and pick-up, and the answer is a call: ask him about drop-off and pick-up from your part of Southern California before you set dates. Ask Richard about a handler lesson at pick-up so you leave knowing how to run the dog. See board-and-train.

Hunting ground in the south

Imperial Wildlife Area, Wister Unit, is about 7,900 acres five miles northwest of Niland, needs a Type A pass, and has pheasant closed until further notice (CDFW). The Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge sits 227 feet below sea level and holds over 100,000 birds; its page does not state acreage or a hunting program (USFWS). CDFW also posts a 2026 Imperial Valley Dove Hunt Fields map.

CDFW lists a Southern California waterfowl zone with ducks October 24 to January 31 for 2026-27 and scaup from November 7; confirm your county on the zone map, linked from our 2026-27 seasons page.

Clubs in Southern California

The California 2026 trial and hunt test calendar (read October 27, 2026) lists the Southern California Retriever Club, California South Coast Retriever Club, Salton Sea Retriever Club and San Diego Retriever Field Trial Club with trials near Niland in Imperial County. Mesa Grande Retriever Club of Southern California holds hunt tests at Raney Ranch in Santa Ysabel, and Inland Valley Retriever Club at Prado in Chino Hills.

Pointing-breed clubs, including the Vizsla Club of Southern California and the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Southern California, list events at Camp H in California City, and spaniel clubs run events in Hesperia and Porterville. Dates change each year, so use the California hunt test calendar page and AKC Event Search.