  Large-scale, relativistic particle-in-cell simulations with quantum
electrodynamics (QED) models show that high energy (1$<E_\gamma\lesssim$ 75
MeV) QED photon jets with a flux of $10^{12}$ sr$^{-1}$ can be created with
present-day lasers and planar, unstructured targets. This process involves a
self-forming channel in the target in response to a laser pulse focused tightly
($f$ number unity) onto the target surface. We show the self-formation of a
channel to be robust to experimentally motivated variations in preplasma, angle
of incidence, and laser stability, and present in simulations using historical
shot data from the Texas Petawatt. We estimate that a detectable photon flux in
the 10s of MeV range will require about 60 J in a 150 fs pulse.
