Off hunting Mearns quail

[Foxnut]

Craig, thanks for the report and pics. You are making all of us stuck in the cold, snowy Midwest jealous!!! It is tough hunting out West. When I was in the Army we hunted all over Fort Bliss and Part of White Sands Missle Range. Tough but fun. I was also 30 years younger too!! Enjoy!

[JasonPeck]

Reminds me of the dry country in my beloved badlands of Alberta.

Dry_Island_Buffalo_PP.jpg (35.63 KiB) Viewed 3711 times

[Mills]

Mearns quail is on my list of things to hunt someday. Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later.

[Sporrns]

Craig,
Those feathers will provide some good memories. You are living the dream!
John

Loggy & Craig- In my 'pre-Fox" days (think smallbore Parkers and Browning Supers) I used to hunt a wood duck stronghold deep in the flooded timber just north and across the Potomac River from Dulles International Airport (think about it!!) Any time I killed a drake woodie I would carefully cape (skin) the neck and chest area especially under the wings, saving the whole skin for a great guy I worked with who distained hunting but loved dry fly fishing using only the flies he tied himself. Apparently there is a selection of feathers between the base of the neck and the under wing area of a drake wood duck cape that provides the precise feather coloration and array crucial to the exact duplication of an iconic fishing fly (I'm old now and can't remember the name of it!) for trout and salmon. Every couple of weeks I would present him with one and he would practically genuflect in front of me. His classic quote was, "I hate to see you kill them, but I try to see their beauty reborn in the beautiful fish I always catch with them! Kevin

[Jeff S]

Craig,
Those feathers will provide some good memories. You are living the dream!
John

Loggy & Craig- In my 'pre-Fox" days (think smallbore Parkers and Browning Supers) I used to hunt a wood duck stronghold deep in the flooded timber just north and across the Potomac River from Dulles International Airport (think about it!!) Any time I killed a drake woodie I would carefully cape (skin) the neck and chest area especially under the wings, saving the whole skin for a great guy I worked with who distained hunting but loved dry fly fishing using only the flies he tied himself. Apparently there is a selection of feathers between the base of the neck and the under wing area of a drake wood duck cape that provides the precise feather coloration and array crucial to the exact duplication of an iconic fishing fly (I'm old now and can't remember the name of it!) for trout and salmon. Every couple of weeks I would present him with one and he would practically genuflect in front of me. His classic quote was, "I hate to see you kill them, but I try to see their beauty reborn in the beautiful fish I always catch with them! Kevin

Kevin, trout fishermen that tie their own flies love wood duck feathers. They''re very expensive at the store.

[vaturkey]

My buddy who has been out in Arizona for 10 days finally after beating both him and the dogs against the rocks got into them yesterday. 3 Covies of birds moved and some came home for the table. He said he felt like the dogs and he deserved a bit of luck with the amount of effort he put in. Weather for the last 48 hours out there has been rather amazing. A bit of rain and cooler temps and the dogs can suddenly find those litter buggers.

[vaturkey]

My buddy returned yesterday after chasing Mearn's and other quail for 13 days. Killed a total of 2 birds and said he should have killed a bunch more. He said both his setters just flat out broke down and those dogs are young (1 year and 4 years old). He had them booted (lewis boots), but said between the cactus and heat and terrain those setters had more then they could handle over 13 days. That said, he said it was an amazing trip and he had a blast. Said when he is retired he's going back and this time get a guide for a day or two.

[Stan Hillis]

If you don't live there and have experience, I think hiring a good guide is the way to go.

SRH