Quail Hunt fun day!

[S&W ucla]

Twas a beautiful day in ucla! (upper corner lower alabam) Dogs, friends, BBQ, birds came together. We got 20/25, not bad for us, lol. Fannie, Kat, and Josey did a fine job pointing and retrieving. Brisket was great as usual, birds flew well, and fun ensued. CZ 28 gauge is sweet to shoot and tote. Quail dinner soon

Below- birds and CZ, Kat brings one home, Fannie and Josey on point.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Ohio used to have wild Quail, now all we can hunt/find are pen raised!

Your dogs are absolutely beautiful! They bring tears to my eyes with remembering how hunting use to be!

(Circa 1986) One of my neighbors at our farm, use to raise and release Quail. One year, at a cold late Spring bonfire, it was 2 days after his release, the chicks came to warm themselves by the fire. WE WERE SURROUNDED BY QUAIL! It was like wall-to-wall carpet. I called him to tell him where his baby quail had gone. I ask how many he released? A few shy of 1500! Between the hawks and coyotes, they were all gone before hunting season.

Ivan

 

[Wyo]

I love quail hunting over good dogs. We don't have quail in Wyoming so I have to travel to find them. The trip makes the hunt extra special.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Oh, "Bob's"..........

I always think Valley but you guys in the deep south have the low flying kamakazie birds !!

Yes a little 28 Guage is a plus on those shot out of a cannon little targets.

Nice group picture, buy the way. They will make a lot of pepole very happy when they hit the table.

Enjoythose wounderful dogs, while you can. I miss having a bird dog but
those days are over for me but there are the memories.
Thanks for the post.

 

[lihpster]

Just watching a good dog on the hunt brings joy to my heart.

 

[SS336]

I'm sooooo jealous I can't stand myself. What a wonderful day.

 

[Heinz]

Nice dogs. I have not been able to work my Weimaraner much since we move to South Carolina. I need to find game farm I guess.
Thanks for the great photos.

 

[llowry61]

We used to have quail in Ohio. When I was a kid, it was not unusual for us to jump several coveys while pheasant hunting. We would hunt railroad tracks one person up on the top edge and one down along the fields while our beagles worked the brush between us. When we hit a nice brushy fence row along a cornfield, we would hunt it then cross over the field and hunt the fence row or woods back to the track. About a mile or so down the tracks we would cross over the tracks and head back up the other side. I miss those days. It was a different world back then.

You have beautiful dog's a sweet gun and a nice bag of quail.

 

[Rudi]

Not much better eating than Quail! Nice lot of birds there. Had some on the roof and in the back yard a while back. They make the funniest sounds. Wish my cat could have caught one. Confiscate and cook.

 

[H Richard]

We haven't had a natural hunting population of quail here in IL for 30 years. Have to go to a quail farm and pay to release birds to hunt. I haven't been for many years now.

 

[Chukar60]

That is the problem with Bob's. Planted birds never last too long. At the ranch we tried to re-introduce them. 3 years in a row of 2000 day old chicks raised for 6 weeks and then released. None took. We never saw on hatch from them either.
My last quail hunt was the end of a strange season. We had tons of quail early and then as the season wore on they simply disappeared. Valley quail are very cyclical and succumb to disease easily.
The last day for me was this past Saturday. We shot 5 between the two of us. The dogs had a decent day with some good points and some retrieves so they were happy.
When I cleaned the birds I noticed there was no fat on them. Usually i find the birds with plenty of fat on them this time of the year. Winter has not been harsh here either.
Hoping for a real good hatch this year.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

OP, when you stated the birds flew well that made me think, pen raised??

 

[jdlii]

My guess, based on the statement that the hunters killed 20 out of 25 birds, is that they were hunting a plantation and shooting pen raised birds. Still fun and good shooting!!

 

[S&W ucla]

Yes, we buy birds to hunt, shoot, and eat. You can do A LOT of hunting for wild birds, but if you want to do any shooting, it's the best choice. Birds are set out in the morning, eat lunch, then hunt the afternoon.

I'm blessed that there are 2-3 coveys of wild quail on the place. I see them mainly in the late summer or fall when I start working on food plots. They like to get on the edge of the mowed or disced fields. Anywhere from 10-20 birds each. You could hunt all day and never find them. We have bi-color and other plantings to encourage the wild coveys, but I can't see putting any more pressure on them than what nature brings.

 

[Badger Matt]

Nice dogs. I have not been able to work my Weimaraner much since we move to South Carolina. I need to find game farm I guess.
Thanks for the great photos.

Heinz - Shoot me a PM if you'd like to join me sometime. I work my Setter pup at a place in GA, just over an hour from me here in Simpsonville. Nice folks and reasonable prices.

 

[billwill]

That's a good days work. After a quail supper, bet a good glass of sipping bourbon would top off the day. Enjoy.

 

[S&W ucla]

Matt, Archie's a beautiful pup!

billwill, that is known to happen. Purely for medicinal purposes, helps with aching feet and sanitizes briar scratches

We are plotting for another hunt next week, weather looks perfect.

 

[ancient-one]

I really miss my quail hunting days, but at least I have the memories.