Do you like upland game hunting?

Al Hansen

Al Hansen

Well-known member
This is a very common sight these days. Took these pictures yesterday, 7-27-15. In the course of a normal day we will see upwards to a couple hundred Gambel's quail. They love coming by my pigeon loft where the birds will sometimes kick out seeds that fall to the ground.

This pair of quail successfully raised 14 youngsters. It has been a perfect year for hatching quail because we have had a lot of moisture, which is a key ingredient to their success.

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Our neighbors to the west of us showed me a nest site of a pair of quail. It was evident that this pair lost all them just before hatching when the neighbor dogs who aren't kept on leash or in a yard, found them and tried to get to the nest. Well, they weren't able to do that as you can see. Thought you might be interested in what a quail's nest looks like in the desert.
Al

If you look at this pear cactus you can see where the blossoms once were. It is now replaced by fruit. I know quite a few people who still collect them and make pear cactus jelly out of them. Word to the wise would be this. If you want to do this please wear leather gloves when picking the fruit.


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As you can see there just isn't enough cover to do a good job. It makes me think that most likely this was a young pair's first attempt at raising a clutch.


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The only reason I took a picture of this is because I had to extract it from the right heel of my foot. I do not recommend wearing flip flops when walking among pear cactus.


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Another lesson in New Mexico living, thanks Al. I just cringed when I saw that thorn. I have been there and can't recommend wearing crocs around those devils either. I pulled one about that length out of the tire of my Rokon when in west Texas last January. Do you hunt the quail yourself?
 
Funny you should mention pulling a thorn out of your Rokon's tire. Just a month ago, I had a flat tire on my trailer and when it was repaired the guy pulled a Mesquite thorn out of it.

As for the quail, I just photograph them. I think mostly because we feed them is why I don't hunt them.
Al

Pete, I'll bet you are counting the days until you head for Lincoln county.
 
Al - Love seeing the scenary in your posts. I have fond memories of my one trip out your way in 2012 and the kind of "assault on my senses" from the dry air, intense heat, vast openness, lack of greenery, and no "critter" that reminded me of home (even your rabbits look funny, ha)... thanks for sharing!
 
Those western quail are cool little buggers. The cacti are not so cool. My limited experience with them in western SD makes me glad we don't have them here.

Tim
 
that would drive my dogs nuts lol

they wouldn't understand why we were not geared up and ready to go
 
Quail of all kind make me Smile. Plus I rank them the best upland bird to eat the Almighty put on earth. Never had the pleasure to hunt western Quail but hope to do so someday. Thank you for the photo's.

I had the pleasure of staying at a good friends place back in western PA last week. Each morning when the sun rose, a cock Bobwhite would call just outside my open bedroom window. Best alarm clock there is. I find it impossible to hear "BobWhite" and not smile.

Upland bird hunting and pointing dogs are my heritage and roots. I find myself going back to them more and more.

"HUNTING IS NOT FICTION, BUT IT HAPPENS IN THE MIND." -Datus C. Proper
 
Here in CT, we really don't know what upland hunting is anymore. My dad moved here from MS in the 50's and I've heard stories from the late 50's thru the 60's about the "partridge" (grouse) hunting back then. These days many "bird hunters" will shoot the stocked pheasants, and woodcock when they migrate, but will pass on the partridge as there are so few around these days. I haven't been deer hunting much for the last decade and a half, so I'm not out there in the common habitat much, but haven't seen or heard a partridge in probably 20 years. My dad's old coverts of transitional land are now subdivisions of McMansions. The state lands are mostly mature forest, although they are trying to do selective tree cutting to improve the grouse habitat. The Eastern Cottontail has also taken a big hit in the state due to the suburbanization that went on for 20 or so years. Few farms are left. The children of the farmers up to the 70's, cashed out the parent's land for housing development. We are now a state of dropping population, people fleeing the high taxes and lack of employment opportunity. (For example, I have to mail out a check tomorrow for property tax of $370 on my 10 year old car with 160k miles on it).

So, sorry to hijack the thread to my plight, but yeah, I like upland game hunting.

Jim
 
Thanks, Kyle. I enjoyed the way you wrote about the "assault" on your senses. Same thing goes for us when we hit the areas much like yours in the summer time when the humidity is always at +75%.

Every time Bev and I see a desert jackrabbit they always look so funny because of the very long legs and tall ears. All the better to try and stay one step ahead of the coyote.
Al
 
The quail are just that, Tim. This year is going to be a special year for the hunters since they had such a great year with hatching them. Cacti are beautiful but to be reckoned with especially if trying to get through the area in the pre-dawn when hunting.
Al
 
I remember when Chili would fall asleep on the patio with maybe two coveys walking around in front of her. I'm sure she had one eye open but that was about it.
Al
 
What you wrote about the Bobwhite is so true. Well done! I guess the reason I don't hunt Gambel's quail is that we feed them all the time and love having them around the house. They are interesting little guys.
Al

Seems to me that only God could create something this beautiful!

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I understand about what you are going through, Jim. That is why I left an area with very high personal property taxes and headed southwest. I have always preferred to live in rural settings with not many humanoids around. I am thrilled that we ended up in this desolate part of NM. Saying that it is amazing the subtle beauties you spot in an area so dry that many animals have never had a drink of water but only get it through what they eat. Who would ever think that after a rare rain that wild flower seeds that have lain dormant in one spot for years would still sprout and lay down a carpet of stunning beauty? I guess that is why they call it living for the moment! You did not hijack this thread at all, Jim. Glad you wrote it.
Al
 
Jim, my dad grew up in Wallingford, CT, hunting pheasants and partridge and fishing for trout on a farm owned by his uncle. We'd go visit in the late 70's, after the farm had been broken up--a chunk was donated for construction of a Catholic church, another chunk became a subdivision, some of the road frontage became typical New England sprawl.

It always made Dad happy to see family down there, but we quit going out to walk the places that were reasonably wild in the late 50's because seeing how they'd changed made him so sad. We did still fish the Farm River, which I'm told is still a nice little wild trout stream, at least in places.

I've now had many of the places I hunted and fished in southern Maine in the 80's make the same transformation, and am hoping that change doesn't make it up here. In southern Maine, quite a lot of good habitat has been protected, especially in the salt marshes and some really neat coastal sand plains, and those are the spots I still hunt when we do fall and winter holiday's at Mom's.

Here's two cheers for state wildlife lands, the federal refuge system, the Nature Conservancy, and some great local land trusts who have kept those spots as I remember them. I'm trying to do my part to have the same kinds of protection happen around my part of Central Maine.
 
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