|
Arizona Quail Hunting Log January 2007 Hunts: 06 January, 13 January, 20 January, 27 January 06 January 2007 - San Carlos, Arizona
Fred - Scaled Quail Hunting 9am - 30's, 5pm - high 40's. Today we took Fred for his first bird dog quail hunt. Fred is a friend and co-worker who I'm sure got tired of my brother telling he had to come hunting with us for the last 5 years. We started out in a location I've been one other time this year and had some good success. When we got out of the truck it was COLD...really, really cold. We bundled up and headed out. About 100 yards from the truck I saw some birds fly out in various directions. I'm not sure if a dog pointed them or not, but I know I saw 2 dogs, Pistol & Joe (Doug's pup) come running out of the area the birds came from.
Pistol Pointing - Blu Backing We headed out to our left and got into a few singles. There was some dog backing issues which lead to my getting a bit upset (sorry guys) and we had a few birds get bumped, but also got a few points that held...just missed the birds. We circled around a bit and then moved on.
Pistol Pointing - Scaled Quail We walked quite a way before we got into more birds. We had split up with Fred and I going to the left. We were getting close to meeting up again when I couldn't see Pistol. So Fred and I went looking and found her on point. We high-tailed it over to her and I could see the birds running all over the ground. We got in position and I tried to get them to flush and Fred came up with this revolutionary way of getting them to fly...shoot in the middle of the covey and see what happens! Some of the birds flew and I knocked down 2.
Pistol Retrieving Scaled Quail We walked over to see how many birds Fred had shot. One...no wait two...three...four...yea four...wait there's one more, five birds on the ground. I hope I didn't make Fred feel bad, but I expressed concern over his ever doing that again in my presence. By this time Preston and Doug met back up with us and I, thinking we'd shot enough of that covey however large it was decided to walk on. We bumped a few singles on the way back and Doug took a few shots. Preston and Fred worked through a bit and Fred missed a few shots. Then we came to a resting point near the canyon and took a short break.
Canyon View After we were done taking a break we moved on and within about 100 yards of the tree we were resting near Fred yelled out..."Pistols on point". I looked over and sure enough she was. Fred and I moved in and about 20+ birds flew out. I hit one and then we went after singles. I don't quite remember exactly what happened at this point, but we did get into a few singles. At one point Joe bumped what was either 6 of those birds or a new smaller covey.
Blu Pointing - Fred Moving In We hooked up a small draw and at this point I was pretty much out of the action. As we worked up it seemed as though we were into a covey that was pretty spread out. I know that Blu went on Point and I think Fred shot one more bird. Joe and Terra I think both pointed a bird. We split up again and Preston and Doug got into a covey or 2 more. And then we made the long walk back to the truck. Once back I took out my pup (Copper) for a little walk. We went up a hill and with Copper on my right a covey of about 12 Gambles Quail jumped up to my left. I watched where they went and pointed Copper in that direction. He bumped a bird and I let him chase it a few yards before I stopped him. Then I bumped one and he stopped and just watched it fly off. Then he bumped one more and didn't move. Then...finally he went on point. I moved in and flushed the bird and he stood and watched it the entire time. Made me happy.
Zeus Pointing Mearns Quail After lunch we drove a ways to a location I'd never been to hoping to find some Mearns Quail. The grass didn't look that good, but we made a go of it. Right out of the truck we heard a bunch of Turkey's but we never saw them. At one other point my brother and I heard some more, so there was plenty around there. We worked our way up a mountain and my brother and I got separated from Doug (Fred stayed in the truck). We walked for a few hours, got lost, didn't see any birds or anything that even looked like it would hold birds and finally found our way back to the truck. About 40 minutes from the truck we heard some shooting. That shooting was Doug. He found the only good Mearns grass in the area and once he entered it Zeus pointed a 20+ bird covey of Mearns. Then they chased some singles around and moved down the hill a bit. Zeus pointed again (Doug thought maybe more singles as Zeus had already pointed a few) and wammo...another 20+ bird covey busted up. In all Doug ended up with 5 birds. He had a great time and shot a bunch of shells. ∞
13 January 2007 - South of Tucson, Arizona
Terra & Zeus Pointing Doug and I headed out after Mearns Quail today. At our first stop we walked for a while before we got into some birds. Terra and Zeus went on point and we looked all over. They were sure there was something there. Up the canyon a bit more Ice got birdie and rooted out a covey of about 15 birds. I called Doug over and we went looking. Zeus went on Point and Doug made a nice shot.
Terra Pointing - Mearns Single Then Zeus pointed again a bit farter down and nothing flew out. Then I saw Terra on point about 15 yards in front of where Zeus was pointing and she had pinned down the bird. Doug shot this one too with a nice shot. We looked around a bit more then moved on. Watching Ice as we moved down the canyon, remote in hand, I watched as she got birdie again and this time wasn't quite sure where to look. She ran around an area a bit and then hooked off to her left and pounced right on a covey of about 20 birds. I zapped her and she froze while I called Doug over. We moved in and a few more flushed out. Then we went after singles.
Zeus Pointing Mearns Quail Covey As we worked back down a new canyon we found Zeus on point. As we moved in Doug could see the birds on the ground. One took off running, but the rest held tight. I jumped around and got them to flush. It was wild! I'm pretty sure Zeus pointed another single and of course Ice bumped a single. I'll get the updated story on Zeus and maybe a few more pictures from Doug. From here we moved down the canyon some more and the saga of Ice continued with her bumping a double. Fortunately for her and I we didn't encounter any more birds on our way back to the truck. In all there was a lot of fast and fun shooting. I missed a ton. Doug ended up with a few birds.
Pistol & Zeus Pointing
Zeus & Terra Pointing From here we headed out looking for a new area to hunt and got into some really thick country...too thick. We were there though so we headed out. Not far down a canyon Pistol when on point. There was nothing there so we released the dogs and they quickly went on point again. Again nothing was there.
Pistol Pointing Mearns Covey Then once again all 3 dogs were on point. This time as we looked we could see the birds hunkered down and I flushed them out. I think Doug shot one here too. Then we went looking for singles. We found a few and I think Doug got one more. Then we walked...and walked...and walked. And finally ended up back at the truck. This was our day. In-spite of Ice not pointing birds and our second trip only producing one small covey AND me getting skunked for the first time this season I had a really great time.
20 January 2007 - San Carlos, Arizona Went out to the Reservation today with 2 friends and had a great time. With the Snow/Rain it was wet and muddy. We had to change our plans as we headed farther North and the snow got thicker. We turned off to a place I hadn't got hunting for a few years and hoped for the best. As the road continued to get worse we came to a bend in the road that had a slight lift to it and were unable to get up it without sliding into a gully so we tried turning around. In that attempted we got stuck. For whatever reason getting stuck seems so fun. We worked at in for a bit and finally got turned around and were back on the road. We pulled off after a bit and got out to hunt. I was excited to be hunting in the snow again (twice in one season). We hadn't walked far from the truck when Pistol when on point. Jason and I moved in on a cactus where I thought the birds would be and 1 bird jumped out and took off running. In the snow he was easy to see and for whatever reason he didn't fly and Pistol grabbed him. One bird in the bag, no shots fired we moved on. We walked for about 2 more hours and as we were attempting to find our way back to the truck Kyle saw a covey running and then flush off to our far right. We headed in that direction and as we came over a small hill Pistol went on point. We walked around and no birds flushed. Then as we moved to our left some birds flushed out in front of us and we circled a small knoll looking for any others. I came back around to where Pistol and originally pointed and she went on point again, this time about 10 yards up from where she had first gone on point. I moved in to and a few birds flushed up out of the snow...then a few more. I shot 2 of the birds and Pistol brought them both back. Then we headed back to the truck. On the way Jason had one of the singles bust up and he shot it has it saw Kyle and I and started to rise up higher in the air. After a while we finally found the truck...we were a little missed placed with the clouds changing the land marks on us. From there we decided to head down to the lower desert out of the snow...which was starting to melt and make a mess. We drove for about 45 min which helped us to dry off and found a new spot to hunt. We walked for quite a ways and then dropped down into the river bottom and after a short while Kyle (our bird spotter for the day) saw a covey flush up by an old house/corral in the river bottom. We headed in that direction and were able to jump a few birds. One bird Jason flushed he missed and it flew between Kyle and I and it made for a fun shot. Then we worked our way down the river bottom and jumped a few more quail. At one point Jason bumped a bird that flew straight at me and made for one of those shots you practice at the last station of on the skeet range. The practice paid off. From there we headed back to the truck to call it a day. Once we arrived at the truck the horrible happened. I found I had lost my camera. I could remember taking a few pictures in the river bottom so we backtracked and while we proved to be good trackers we were unable to find the camera. Dang. Oh well. It was a fun day hunting. Then we headed back home and stopped off for dinner at the Burger House. We were going to get there earlier then I ever had before so I was pretty sure I'd be able to try their famous Chili Relleno I'd been too late to taste for the last year. To my utter disappointment the owner stopped making them and took them off the menu. Bummer. At least I'll never know what I would probably have been missing.
27 January 2007 - Southern Arizona
Pistol Pointing Mearns Covey I've recognized one thing about me; I love to hunt alone. I don't mean without hunting buddies. I mean with out the rest of the hunters, hikers, bikers, sight seers ect. I like to go where the chance of seeing anyone else is slim to none. And If I do hear or see someone it's from far off. Being out in the wide open country with out another soul is comforting to me. Today I left the house at 6am to head to Mearns Country. I was going to spend the morning hunting North of Sonoita because I was going to meet a friend in Sonoita at noon. My first stop was in a nice "secluded" canyon (I'd already passed 3 deer hunters and didn't know 1 more was glassing me as I descended into the canyon until I saw him later) that didn't look like it got much travel. Pistol and I walked for about 30 min and came to an end to the canyon so we headed up the hill side and down into another canyon that ended up leading right to the mouth of where I had come down the mountain in the beginning. Just then Pistol went on point...not 20 feet from where we had come down just 45 minutes earlier. I walked up and around her as there was a tree in my line of shot and I could see a bunch of birds running around. When they saw me they flushed and I shot one. We went after the singles and unfortunately Pistols "busting streak" began with her busting 3 singles (many more to follow throughout the day...I'll blame the wind.) We moved up the hill and made it back to the truck at 10am. I drove farther down the road and lost most of the Oaks so I took the opportunity to run the pup knowing there would be no birds. We had a good run and I was back to the truck about 45 minutes later and I headed to Sonoita. My friend didn't make it while I waited (he was coming from a field trail and ran late) so I headed to a canyon we had planned on hunting. There were cars parked in nearly every camp site and road that went off the main road and people everywhere so I headed South to get away from people. Or so I thought.
Ice Pointing Mearns Covey On my way to a spot I'd seen the last time I was down that way I passed so many hunters I couldn't believe it. When I got to my spot it looked like I'd finally be alone. I took Ice and Pistol out together. After we had walked for about 25-30 minutes I heard a dogs beeper collar going off. I thought it might be my buddy, but it turned out to be another hunter bringing up my trail. He turned off and I moved on. A bit later I heard voices and though it was the hunter again...turned out to be a couple riding horses. Great place to ride...but again...more people. would I ever be alone...okay...I'll stop. We worked a canyon for about an hour with no sign at all and so we moved on. We drove to another spot and on the way (dang it here I go again) we ran into 2 guys and their dogs in their Polaris Ranger (the second one I saw that day). So we change course and found a new spot to hunt. We jumped out and moved on as daylight was burning. We'd gone about 40 min when I decided it was time to turn around. Then things just started to happen. I'd think...well I'll turn here and wammo...Pistol found and flushed a covey...I had the e-collar on Ice so I quickly changed it over to Pistol. She bumped 3 more birds each time getting a zap and that was the end of that. Not sure what the bug was she got, but I hoped it was gone. So we moved on. A short while later ICE yes ICE went on point...see above. Pistol backed off to the side, but as I went to snap another picture I could hear the birds moving around so I put the camera way and moved in. I got one and then we went after singles. This time I bumped a few, but didn't shoot so as not to unlearn any bad behaviors the dogs might learn. Then Pistol bumped a double and then a single...man that dog was killing me. We looked for more but didn't find any so we moved on. The canyon took a hook away from the truck so I decided to hump over the ridge. After we had topped out and started to descend I saw Pistol go on point. Then Ice who was on the other side of the bush also went on point. I moved around the bush and the birds flushed up between them. I shot one and Pistol grabbed it for me. Once again, I bumped a single and so did Pistol...dang it! Chalk it up to no wind, but man that's frustrating. We didn't spend more time looking as it was getting closer to sunset and I still had to find the truck.
Mearns Quail In all I drove a lot. Tried out some new spots and had a really good time. It was a long day with a lot more driving and people watching then I like, but we got into some birds and there was some good (and bad) dog work. And even though 3 of the 4 covey's we found today were in the last hour of hunting it was all worth it and I had a great time. Only 2 weekends left!
Back to December 2006 or go to February 2007 |
|||||
