5 replies to this topic

[Frank]

Well, me and our gang of hoodlums finally made it out today. And as been the general consensus from most folks I read about & talked with, including today is, that it is definitely a down year. Amount of rain always effects quail #'s, high or low, & they are definitely low this year, at least where we hunt.

Bottom line is, we slayed only 6 birds, with my oldest slaying 4 of them. Now the ironic part is, I actually jumped one covey of perhaps 40-50 birds, up close and personal & busting up close. Obviously hadn't been shot at this year. The only problem with this was, I was carrying my 22-250 & is a poor choice of weapon for quail, but most excellent for coyote.

Ya see, after I dropped off the boys, I slipped away a couple miles down the road and made 2 solo stands for coyotes. I always have liked hunting game that comes to me vs me chasing them all over hexxs half acre. (have I got Bob's / Bisley's attention yet?) LOL

Anyway, the covey busted only about 100 yards from my truck. BUT hey, WHY dirty up a sweet, purdy O/U when we don't need to, right? And besides, I still had one more coyote stand to make.

And speaking of stands, I did call in a coyote on the first stand, but left him for seed on purpose. He was sky-lining himself approx 300 yds (+/-) on top of a very steep ridge & thus I would not take a shot. Bullet going over the top (I know hard to believe I'd miss), & mtn too steep for this old goat to go up after him. That dog was not budging any closer or below the ridge line, even after I threw every sound I had at him

So after I left that 1st stand, sulking all the way, is when I came upon the one nice covey of the day. No takers on the 2nd and last stand of this morning. Oh, I have called in coyotes 3 out of the 4 stands I've made in this area this year. Not too bad! 2 died btw!

Anyway, not sure if the boys will be chomping at the bit to go after quail any time soon like they usually are. However, me & my 250 (or AR) will be (ready). LOL

Sorry for no pics, but my friend takes forever to print them, and he's the only one that took pics today

[Air Rifle Hunter]

Nice write up Frank and it sounds like you had a nice time out there... even though you didn't "slay" anything that particular day. It's too bad the skylined coyote wouldn't come in to play. Maybe next time.

I'd agree with you and the others that the quail numbers are down, though they are out there as you did see when you jump that covey. I see and hear them when I'm out, but I've seen far less than I did in April through July of this year. I was encountering large quail coveys constantly during April, May, June and July but haven't flushed to many coveys since the season started. Maybe they are just hiding better... .

[Bisley]

That's too bad Frank. Especially on the skyliner . I don't know, but it sure sounds like y'all need to ind some new spots to chase quail. We jumped our coveys in two days without even trying while chasing ducks. The only ones the kids would let me shot at were at zero dark thirty. They didn't want me to scare off the "big birds" for "some little quail" . Almost disowned them right there on the spot. Even the neighbor/friend up there said they are filled with quail. He should know, not only does he work for DFG, he hunts them too. The foothills are the places to be. That area is usually my #2 go-to spot, and it is holding plenty of birds for sure. I can not comment positively on my #1 spot since we only hit it on opener. But I can say that we saw the usual amount of birds for 4:00pm on opener when we showed up. Hopefully I will hit it again on Christmas and the day after to find out or sure. One thing I can say for sure is that the areas we hunt are all pretty much self contained, meaning that even if it never rained all year there are always at least more than two of the following where we hunt: creeks, rivers, streams, guzzlers, springs. neither of my two favorite places rely mostly on rain or water, in fact, they could get by even if it didn't rain all year long there. There must be something said for great spots. Hmmm, can't imagine why some people get so upset when asked where they hunt .

Anyway, better luck next time. Maybe after Christmas here I can see how the other spot is and you can take then out there and let them chase birds?
Oh, and by the way, yes I usually prefer to be the chaser and not the bait . But I also always remember my grampa telling me to chase deer, birds, and all other fast animals while you can, there will be plenty of time for the sitting and hunting (like dove) or sitting and calling (like coyotes) later in life when you can't walk so well. Guess that's why I try to get as much in as I can right now.

[sxshooter]

Them kids don't wanna shoot nothin but the "big birds" cause they ain't et one yet. There's a reason they call 'em water FOWL. .

[Frank]

Too funny, and so true, Bob... on all of it.

I was actually thinking of going up the valley next time, or at least somewhere different. In wet years, our regular spot can be beyond awesome, however is not the case this year. Not even close. 2 hard core, hard hunting, quail hunting friends of mine (that I mentioned before) only got 8 birds this last Saturday, in the same area we hunted. That is a wipe out for them. They said they may give the area a break for the rest of the season and hunt elsewhere also. We'll see!

May be January now before I get out again with the holidays and honey do's and all. I'm having a heck of a time just trying to get to the range to sight in my new jam-o-matic. I was going to go today, but high winds were predicted so I didn't go, & of course ended up being a nice day instead. Rain and various appointments also keep interfering. Ugh!

Anyway, is great reading about others success at least!

[Bisley]

Them kids don't wanna shoot nothin but the "big birds" cause they ain't et one yet. There's a reason they call 'em water FOWL. .

I think their dad is going to cheat and smoke them, and the pheasant also.


The public range Frank? I wish you luck. I just can't bring myself to go still.

I actually feel guilty seeing birds while others are getting blanked. One thing I have noticed this year is that they seem to be in different places. By that I mean that they might be in the same valley, but near different hills or different areas of the valley. I sure as heck did learn one thing though, when in an area that holds both waterfowl and upland birds, have two vests handy!!! I looked like an ADD kid on crack trying to swap out steel shells or lead when we jumped the first covey headed home late that night. I haven't moved these hands that quick in years swapping out shells . Lesson learned.

By the way, I am still curious to hear how you take to your new plastic gun