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Arizona Quail Hunting Log - January 2009 Hunts: 2 January, 10 January, 16 January, 17 January, 24 January, 31 January 2 January 2009 - Arizona Mearns Quail Hunt
Mearns Covey Break Always in the pursuit of the next great place, Doug and I headed for the hills this morning to find some new great Mearns hunting locations. As we drove into the determined area we found the grass in sub-prime condition due to cattle grazing...and we ran into quite a few cows throughout the day. At our first stop we walked for a while hoping to get into some birds and finally as Doug and his dogs topped over a small hill on a hillside our first covey flushed wild and Doug got a double. I came over the ridge just as he and the dogs went on the search and just in time to take a shot of my own on a late breaking female. Unfortunately I was unable to recover her (if I actually hit her) and Doug was only able to find one of his birds. And so on we marched. It wasn't much longer Zeus nailed a small covey of 3 in a was and I ended up with one male that was attempting to wiz by me. I'd missed a few side to side shots last week so I followed him and after my 3rd shot finally made contact. As we worked our way back around to the truck Zeus and Terra went on point in the most unlikely of spots and up flushed a large covey that went from the bottom of the was straight up a cliff and onto the top of the hill. I was on the other side of the was and caught all the action. We scrambled up to the top of the hill and flushed up 4 or 5 birds...all of which survived to see another day. I missed 4...sad...sad...sad. But it made for some exciting shooting.
Ice Pointing Running Mearns Covey Our second stop landed us at the end of a LONG road that didn't look to promising and had the makings of some really hard hiking. We weren't 50 yards from the truck when what sounded like a covey of Gambles flew up out of the bottom of the was and straight up the seemingly 70 degree mountain side. The trees were to thick to get a good look but they sounded like Gambles. Ice and I headed up the mountain and by the time we made it to the top there wasn't anything to find. We circled around and as we were making our way down the mountain to head back to the truck I spotted Ice one hill over on point. We hustled over just in time to see the birds running up and over the hillside. We finally got them to flush and we got 2 birds.
Zeus Retrieving Mearns Quail Zeus picked up both birds and climbed up the steep hill to make the retrieve. Birds had flown in all directions and we were able to pick up a few singles a long the way.
Another Mearns Covey on The Hillside Coming up out of a draw I again spotted Ice pointing just about at the top of another steep hill. Doug and his dogs made it up there and flushed up the covey which broke in 3 different waves.
Ice On The Retrieve I was able to get a sweeping shot to my left and I turned just in time to see Doug falling down the hill. Well...not all the way...just a small fall, but funny none the less. Ice picked up my bird and made the steep decent to make the retrieve.
Zeus Pointing Singles The 3 waves of flushes sent birds in all directions and up the hill a bit Zeus nailed a nice cluster in the bottom of the draw. They flew all over and I was able to get in some good shots.
Ice On The Retrieve Ice went in again and found the bird in some really thick sticker bushes (of which there were plenty on this trip as is evidenced by the many, many tiny lacerations on our arms). She went in anyway and came out with my bird.
Zeus Looking For Singles As we topped out over a hill on our way down looking for more singles Zeus went on a nice classic point. While it didn't produce any birds this time, it sure did look cool to me.
Whoops...Don't Tell My Wife I've not had good luck with cameras. As anyone who has read most of my posts would know...I've lost 2 so far and ruined another one. At our third and final stop we managed to get into a nice covey not 50 yards from the truck. Zeus pointed a covey that was down in a was from a hill about 20 yards off. They flushed and as they did I dropped the camera and started shooting. I got one bird that Zeus found for me on top of the hill. We moved a few more singles but most of them just disappeared. As we moved up the hill we headed for a large rock out cropping. As we neared it Doug saw a few birds flush up and we think Pistol must have got in too close.
Ice Retrieves Male Mearns We worked around the hills some more and Doug called out that Zeus was on point again. I wasn't able to make it for the point and flush, but we were quickly into some singles. The first went up and Doug nailed in good. Then as we moved farther up the hill Ice and Terra pointed 4 birds under a tree that held nicely. We moved in from opposite sides of the tree and both ended up with some birds.
Water Break It was a hot day (mid 60's...nice to loafers, but hot to hunters) and it was nice to have plenty of water on this stop. The dogs took a moment to cool off before we went in and found our final covey for the day.
Dogs On Point Pistol found this covey after some hard work. She first pointed about 2-3 minutes before we actually found the covey. She'd point, then track, point then track and finally we found her pointing the birds. They were moving fast on the ground and we moved in and flushed them up. We had some good shooting and I was able to get a double on this one. It was a nice sized covey and we headed around looking for singles. Once the action had died down we were beat and hi-tailed it back to the truck.
Nice End To A Nice Day At each spot we stopped at we hadn't expected to find many birds, and yet at each location we were pleasantly surprised with the number of birds we were able to get into. In all we found 10 coveys and ended up with 14 birds. The dogs did a great job and we had some good fun in some not so typical Mearns Country. 10 January 2009 - Hunting Mearns Quail In Arizona
Zeus & Terra Pointing Today we took some friends out hunting Mearns Quail. Tim and Alex had been with us once before, but this was the first time out for Josh. We started the morning out going into some deep country looking for new spots to hunt. We arrived at our first spot just after 8:30am and after getting everyone loaded up with water and etc. we headed out. Not too far from the truck we saw a bunch of sign and at one point Zeus went on point, but the birds had moved on and we were unable to locate them.
Amigos From Down South Hiding Out As we were coming up a draw we found the above neat little hide out with 3 amigos hanging out and avoiding I don't know who...we were out in the middle of the middle of nowhere. Good luck boys.
Find The Buck & The Doe At this point we moved on and with the exception of one covey found by RT...which busted before anyone was close enough for a shot...we hadn't seen any bird action. This day was more the day of deer then of quail. We must have seen 12 or so all over the place. The above buck was hanging out with one young and one older doe. Good luck boy!
RT Pointing Mearns Quail Covey Our next stop was a little closer to some places we had been to before and we had high hopes of getting the visitors into a lot of birds. We hadn't gone far from the truck when Doug and his dogs jumped one bird...one...and only one. Bummer. We moved on a bit more and found RT on point. We all walked in and nothing.
Shooting At First Mearns Covey We released the dogs and RT moved up a bit more and went on point again. Same thing...no birds. So we released him one more time and this time he pointed the covey. Everyone walked in (4 guns total...my brother was on camera and I was on video) and up went the covey. 8 shots or so later...nothing! Good try, now let's go find some singles. Only...we didn't...at first.
Terra Pointing Mearns Quail Single Then as we worked along the opposite side of the hill we found Terra on point. She looked pretty serious so we called in the troops and sure enough there was bird hiding out in the thick grass. After a few shots...nothing. Lucky birds today!
Mearns Quail Hunting Video
Water Hole Moving on we walked on to a nice water hole and let the dogs take a break. It's the small pleasures like these that make hunting so enjoyable. You get out into the "wild" and find neat places you would never image with the amount of time spent living the city life. Thank heaven for the hunting season.
Ice Pointing Moving Covey As we continued down the ever narrowing canyon we hadn't gone far when Ice went on point on the hillside. The boys moved in but the birds had moved on already. We worked out way down the canyon and about 100 yards down Ice went on point again. This time I saw something interesting. Ice started to bust in to the bush where the birds were a fraction of a second before I saw 4 birds fly out. She was so fast I couldn't believe it. I like to think I have a quick reaction, but that dog moved like I've never seen.
First Bird of The Day We headed up the hill after the birds and were fortunate enough to bump up four of them. Fortunately for the birds, we only got one! Josh made a straightaway shot at a fleeing female and Ice went in for the retrieve. This was one of many first for Josh. First hunt, first, Cues deer, first Mearns quail, and many more I can't remember.
Where's the Birds? We were hot and tired so we started heading back to the truck and found Ice and RT point...each other. I think one dog stopped and the other backed and they were both positive the other must be locked up on birds. Too bad they weren't. We were all desperate for birds and while this point helped us get up the hill...it didn't get us back to the truck. We needed a real covey for that and there wasn't one!
Zeus On a Nice Covey After loading up we headed to a new location that we had been to once already this year with high hopes of getting the boys into some birds. Not far down the draw Zeus found some birds and up they went. Doug nailed one and although I was no where near the point or the covey I was lucky enough to have a bird attempt to escape my way and I was lucky enough to get a good shot off.
Zeus Pointing Mearns Covey - Terra & Ice Backing Walking a ways down the canyon we found Zeus on point. You can just make him out in the top left of the picture above. Ice and Terra came in for a back and we moved in for a shot.
First Mearns For Alex The covey got off easy with only Alex putting one down. This was his first Mearns Quail and it was a nice mature male. Trophy bird to many. This young guy had a chance to hunt a bird many people will never even know about in their lifetime. Great times.
Pistol Pointing Mearns Single - Ice Backing We went on the search for singles and found Pistol pointing one. With 5 guns raised we moved in...this bird didn't have a chance...or did it. Doug, Alex, Josh...everyone missed...
Pistol Retrieving Male Mearns Quail I leaned in and took a risky shot and the consensus was the bird got away. I was certain I shot it, but until we saw Pistol coming up the hill with the bird in her mouth there wasn't many believers.
Pistol Pointing Mearns Covey We moved on down the draw heading back to the truck and fond Pistol on point in the flat country at the bottom. She was holding tight and so we moved in. Some birds flushed up and lots of shots were fired but no birds met there demise this time.
The Boys In the end it was a nice day with a few good opportunities to take birds. The boys were great sports and the bird count was 6 total between the 5 guns and 1 camera. A great time to be out in some of the most beautiful country on Earth. Can't wait for next weekend when we take a 2 day trip to Mearns Country. 16 January 2009 - Arizona Mearns & Gambles Quail Hunting
Pistol With a Male Mearns Quail Today was the first of a two day quail hunting trip with Tim & Josh. We joined up with my brother and some friends Friday night and hunted together a little on Saturday. For Tim, Josh and I our first day was a blast. We started the day off going into some new country I had never hunted. Our original goal was to go after Gambles, but to our great surprise and delight we not only got into some Gambles Quail, but we were also able to get into some nice Mearns Quail coveys. At our first stop we hadn't walked far from the truck when Pistol went on point. We moved in and nothing. About another 20 yards up and she went on point again at the top of a small wash that opened up into the bigger was we were walking down. I didn't think there was going to be anything there since Gambles usually don't hold that well, when all the sudden I heard the faint sound of Mearns Quail on the move. No sooner had I told Tim & Josh to listen than the bird flew up all around. I got a male and Tim shot a female. Because it was a nicer sized covey we moved up the hill where most of the birds had flown in search of singles.
Pistol Pointing Single Mearns Quail We wanted to get Josh a bird out of the covey so as we topped the hill we let him get out front. One bird flushed wild right as we came up the hill. We moved on about 10 yards and Pistol went on point. Moving in the single flushed up and got a way. We moved on and found 3 more singles all of which lived to see another day. There was one male that I jumped twice and not wanting to take more birds than needful from this covey I let him fly. Had he bumped up a third time however, he wouldn't have been so lucky.
Pistol Retrieving Mearns Quail We found ourselves half way up a pretty large hill so we decided to top out over the top and try our luck out in on the other side. As we got the top Pistol went on point a few times where there were a lot of markings but we were never able to locate a covey. Then as we came down a bit further we jumped a covey of Gambles Quail. How exciting! I shot one and so did Josh. We then went after singles and jumped a few more but only came out with one more bird.
First Gambles Quail
First Stop Success We walked around a bit more with no luck finding more birds. It was really hot so we headed back to the truck to find some rest and a new place to hunt.
First Mearns Quail As we drove further up the road we hadn't gone far when we saw a Gambles Quail run across the road in front of us. We parked the truck and cut Ice loose and headed in hoping to find a covey. We flushed up the single we saw and that was it. Since we were out of the truck we walked down into the draw and hadn't gone far when I flushed up a covey of Mearns Quail at the bottom. I had no shot so I didn't get any, but we saw where some singles went and took off after then. Josh was able to flush up one male and get his first male Mearns Quail. We flushed up a few more but none of our shots connected. From there it was a short walk that seemed a lot farther due to the extreme heat, but we finally made it back to the truck and headed for some country with more shade.
Pistol With a Male Mearns Quail Next we headed up the country in search of some new places to hunt and an area that hopefully would provide more shade. As we rested in some shade to let the midday heat pass on we were startled by a flushing Mearns quail from the cliff up above us. There was no grass only rock. Who knows if that bird had been handing out there for a while listening to us talk or if it had just arrived. All we knew is that it was time to get bird hunting. We hadn't walked long up the first draw when Tim and Josh walked upon a nice sized covey. I heard shooting but saw no birds. I brought the dogs around and helped Tim find his bird. It was a young male. Go Tim! We looked around for singles but were unable to locate any.
Ice Pointing a Mearns Covey Continuing on we moved in on a nice point by Ice. There was a small covey that we were able to get into and get one more male out of.
Pistol Pointing Mearns Covey - Ice Backing If you look real close you can see Pistol on point in the middle-left of the picture. After the last covey we walked for a while before seeing any more birds, but then all the sudden there was Pistol on point. Tim and Josh walked in and nothing happened. Then as we put our guard down up came the birds.
Ice Retrieving Male Mearns Quail We were fortunate enough to take 2 males out of this covey. Ice scooped one up and brought it back. That dog sure does love to retrieve.
Pistol With The Catch of The Day In the end our little walk produced a few good points and a few nice retrieves and 4 nice male Mearns Quail. Pistol took a moment to pose for a nice picture in an old water trough with the catch of the afternoon.
3 Male Gambles Quail - 6 Male Mearns & 2 Female Mearns Quail In the end we found a few great new places to hunt in the future and we were able to get Josh and Tim into some more birds then we did on the last hunt we took them on. It was an excited day even though the heat tried to take away our energy and enthusiasm. Whenever a dog would go on point and birds would flush up it kept us going to the next spot. 17 January 2009 - Arizona Mearns Quail Hunting
Pistol Pointing a Single & Ice Backing We met up with our friends that night and had a great time around the fire. Those of us who brought the right gear were warm...for the rest of us the 25 degree temps made for a cold night. Our buddies had not had much luck the day before so we took them to an old spot that had been a great producer even up to last year. This year however, the story had changed. The grass was almost non-existent and the cow paddy's were a clear indication as to why. We quickly jumped out of that canyon and on the way back to the truck found a nicely grassed area on the other side of the fence. As we moved down this canyon there was sign-a-plenty and we soon had dogs pointing.
Ice Retrieving Mearns Quail Our first real point only produced one male that we shot and after some searching Ice retrieved for us. The fact that there was only one bird boggled the mind. The ground around where he flew up was torn up like crazy and we circled around and around and found nothing else. So we headed back to the truck to meet up with our friends.
Ice Pointing Mearns Quail Back at the trucks we decided to head to another area that had produced birds. Once we go there we split up into two groups with one going up the draw and the other going down. We hadn't gone far when I found Ice on point. I snapped a quick picture then circled up around behind her hoping to flush the birds into a shootable position for my friends. Unfortunately, the birds flew right back into the thick trees behind me and we got nothing!
Pistol Pointing Mearns Covey We moved on up the draw a ways and I came down a hill to find Ice on point. I moved in but there was nothing. After releasing the dogs I spoke with Tim for a moment and Pistol went on point. Thinking it was just the same sent Ice had been pointing earlier I snapped a shot and released her...right into a covey. Up, up and away they went! Our search for singles produced a few tired dogs and tired men and nothing more.
The Boys - The Dogs - The Mearns Quail Back at the truck we rested as our friends made their way back up the draw. Once there we leaned they had seen some great action and had bagged 5 birds. They were excited and we were glad they were able to finally get into some better bird numbers than they had previously. After a short break they decided to head home since they had a 6 hour drive ahead of them. The three of us decided to have one more go at it before we called it quits.
Ice Pointing Huge Mearns Covey We found a new draw to work up and headed out. We had been walking for awhile when we found Ice pointing right at the base of the wash and the hill. Moving in we were surprised by a huge covey that came up in waves along the hillside. They had torn that area up and they made for some great fun as they flushed all around us.
Pistol Retrieving Mearns Quail We knocked one male down and Pistol came in and found it for us. Then we were after singles. They were all over the hillside and we bumped up quite a few before we ran out of luck and moved on.
Pistol Pointing Old Covey Sent We walked on for quite a ways with nothing to show for it. On our way down a new draw we were nearing it's opening when we found Pistol on point. She looked serious and I was certain we would find birds there, but upon our getting in there...we found nothing. I released her and Ice came in and slammed on point. We looked again...again, nothing. So we turned the dogs loose hoping they would track the birds down. I watched as Ice worked her way slowly up the hillside to our left, back and forth, back and forth. I decided to follow her up and to my great surprise found Pistol on point when I got up there. I walked in and again...nothing. As I turned around I found Ice standing on point a few feet away. I walked in and up came the birds. I was so caught off guard that I fell to one knee as I spun to shoot one of the fleeing birds. Missed. Then missed again. I went after one that I saw go down, but he must have made it away in the time it took me to get there.
Hunting Party We met back up at the truck and took a picture in what I consider some of the most beautiful country on earth. 24 January 2009 - Back Country Mearns Quail Hunt
Zeus & Joe Pointing Mearns Covey We headed down South looking for Mearns an Gambles Quail with one of Doug's friends that had never been hunting. Our first stop landed us right near the boarder and we headed out into some beautiful country. The morning started out nice...for about 10 minutes...then it warmed up quick. On our walk back to the truck Doug's dogs pointed a covey of Mearns Quail near some of the only oaks in the area. The birds took up and flew a short distance away and we moved in to see if we could pick up some singles.
Pistol Pointing Mearns Single I took the top of the hill since I was already there and Doug worked his way up the draw. I had seen most of the birds land near the bottom of the draw on the hill side so when I saw Pistol on point I snapped a quick shot and assuming there would be nothing there I took a few steps and had a single flush out in front of me. I snapped one more quick shot, only this time with my gun and dropped the bird. We ended up bumping a few more singles and Doug got one, but like the rest of the singles...we were never able to find it.
Female Mearns Quail Working our way back to the truck we found a lot of sign and a lot of it seemed pretty fresh but we never found any more birds. So in our first walk of the day we had one covey and one bird. If you can name the location of the country in the picture I'll take it down.
T Pointing Mearns Single At our second stop we hadn't walked far when Doug's dogs went on point. We moved in but nothing came out. Looking up a head Pistol was also on point and one male flew out from in front of her. As we moved up about 20 feet we found T on point...his first real Mearns Quail Point! Walking in a female Mearns flew out and both Doug and I swung for the shot and quickly lifted our guns as the bird flew towards Doug's friend and around the tree behind him.
Zeus Pointing Mearns Covey As we moved on there was a whole lot of nothing for awhile then I got split up from the other guys by a canyon and shortly there after the action began...in their canyon. Doug and the dogs got into 2 coveys on the way back to the truck and each time I heard the shooting my bag somehow felt a little bit heavier.
Ice Pointing After Bumping A Covey After getting back to the truck we decided to head on to some new country we had never hunted before. We drove around until we found a way down into some great Mearns Country. This short walk would be one to remember! We hadn't gone far when Ice bumped a covey of birds. After some angry thoughts we moved on chasing after singles.
Pistol Retrieving Male Mearns Quail The covey must have had 12-15 birds in it so there were plenty of singles to go after even thought we didn't see where all of them had headed off to. We had a few jump up which made for some fun shooting.
Ice Pointing Mearns Single Ice ended up pointing a single and for the moment anyway she redeemed herself from the miss-hap of before.
Zeus Pointing Mearns Quail Shortly after hitting the last few singles I found Zeus on point up above me on the bank. A smaller covey of 5 or so birds flew out and I got one of those. We moved on down the draw and Zeus found another covey making it 3 total for this draw.
Zeus and The Gang Pointing We hopped over the mountain hoping to find some water near the windmill pictured above but the tank was bone dry and looked like it had been for years. We rested in some shad for a few moments and then headed up the canyon back towards the truck.
Pointing Mearns Quail We hadn't gone far when we found the dogs on point again. This was turning out to be a nice little afternoon walk.
Ice & Joe With Female Mearns
Pistol Bringing Back A Female Mearns Quail The coveys we were finding were about 10-12 birds with the exception of the first covey that Zeus found so we were fortunate enough that if we didn't get a bird in the covey bust we had enough birds to be able to work a few singles before moving on.
Zeus Pointing Mearns Covey Working up the draw Doug found Zeus pointing another nice sized covey along the side of the hill in the shade of a tree. These warm days we find most of the coveys in the shade.
Joe Pointing Mearns Covey As the birds move up or down a draw they tend to leave a lot of sent behind. After the last covey Zeus went on point again only this time there were no birds. We new they had to be close though because he was pretty serious. Moving up a about 20 yards or so I saw Ice on point then looking up a bit I saw Joe on point and we knew she must be on birds. We moved in and sure enough there was a nice sized covey eating among the manzanita bushes.
Pistol Retrieving Mearns Quail We pulled one bird out then went to help Doug find his bird which proved to be too difficult for the dogs on this hot day. There were plenty of singles though and we worked around trying to find them. Near the end of our search Joe went on point and as Doug moved in a bird flushed up right at his feet. Gotta love those ones.
Joe With The Birds Of The Day The last covey took us almost back to the truck. Getting back we recounted our tell of the two canyons to Glenn who had decided to sit this one out at the truck missing the most action of the day. In all that last walk we were able to get into 7 coveys. For those of you who only counted six from reading above, I graciously left one of the other coveys Ice busted out of the story. Needless to say...we didn't get any shots on that one. We were pleased to have found a new spot and after loading up decided it might be a good idea to find a shorter way out. Fortunately for us the drive took us into some amazing bird country that we would come back to the next week. Unfortunately the drive took us to dead end after dead end and we ended up having to go back the way we came adding an additional hour and thirty minutes to our drive. The 6 (7 if you count Ice's blunders) coveys made the drive bearable and I for one was happy to have spent another day hunting Mearns Quail. 31 January 2009 - Final Mearns Quail Hunt Of The Season
Shorthairs Pointing Mearns Quail Today we headed out for what was going to be the best Mearns hunt in our super secret hunting spot that we found on the 24th. As we arrived in the area things were looking good...that is until we dropped down into the canyon we had planned on hunting. That's when we bumped into the first of many hunters who also thought this was their secret spot. The first guy we ran into was very nice to talk with. After indicating that he had found 14 coveys in this canyon...we moved on up the road and found a place to hunt. We had walked a ways before Doug and his dogs came over a ridge and finally found the first covey. There were 2 birds in this covey and Doug was able to take one. This would be it for birds for us in this draw so we headed back to the truck and lit off to a new spot.
Shorthairs Pointing Mearns Quail Covey As we dropped into the next canyon we ran into yet another hunter already working the draw. Looked good...we'll go back someday. So we jumped over one draw and started our way up. It wasn't that long of a canyon so we were fortunate when Doug's dogs found a covey at the bottom...we were on the top...and fortunately the birds came flying up towards us. I could almost see the birds eyes looking into mine as I followed him with my gun and dropped him. My friend missed his shot and Doug somehow hit one of the birds on it's way up the hill.
Pistol Retrieving Male Mearns Quail Pistol found my bird after a brief search and then it was off to looking for more birds. At this time we didn't know Doug had hit one so we were looking for singles.
Doug and the Dogs Finding Mearns Quail Right up top the dogs went on point and as Doug walked in he found the bird. It didn't fly and he soon realized it was wounded and so he had the dogs scoop it up and now we were off looking for singles. We had a few flush up, but were unable to get any more out of that covey. Which I failed to mention was fairly nice sized.
Zeus Pointing Mearns We drove on and stopped in a draw between the two we had hit before and it started off looking really good. We saw plenty of sign and then found there was also plenty of people sign too. We probably were following behind the group of trucks we saw as we were headed this way from the last canyon as was evidence by the many false points, plenty of fresh sign and no birds. We did flush one small covey, lost one dog and swet our butts off on this mid day walk. We headed back to the truck...found the dog and drove on to our final canyon.
Rest of The Day Hunt Video On our final stop we headed up one canyon with the intentions of coming down another hoping to find a bunch of birds. As we got away from the truck we ran into a covey right away that flushed up a hill. We didn't get into any singles as we were looking for a downed bird so we moved on. As we got a ways off we found the dogs going crazy in the bird scent on the ground. Finally a dog went on point and up came a bird...then another and another and another. Moving on we separated and I missed the covey flush, but heard the shooting. We got there in time to have Ice retrieve a downed bird. We flushed up a few other singles and moved on. Then we humped over a hill to come back down the next draw. We found a covey almost right off and not trusting my bird dogs I released them and the bumped the covey about 20 yards off from where they were on point. Working down the draw we had the wind at our backs which made for some tough finding, but we still managed to get into two more coveys on our way down. See the video for the details. ∞ Back to December 2008 or go to February 2009 |
