Quail hunting in Florida is probably the toughest kind of upland hunting I have experienced. I have been on hunts out west where I hurt at the end of the day. Where I turn around and am worn out but can't see the truck and I know it is "down there somewhere". We get back to the camp and I am asleep before the lights get turned out. But usually on those days we have seen birds, gotten birds, and at the least had good dog work on birds. I know there are still quail in Florida. I hear them and see them in the spring when we turkey hunt. Though I haven't yet quail hunted my turkey woods, I know there are still quail around. B and Drake are no slouches when it comes to finding birds in general but quail in Florida has been tough for us and tough for them. A covey a day is outstanding and we are thrilled if we get that.
Our main quail property that we hunt is heavily managed long leaf pine grasslands and it is primarily managed for quail. Or it had been until Hurricane Michael put his stamp on the landscape. When the biologist, who is also a bird hunter, has a hard time finding birds you know that it's not because we suck as bird finders. Or at least that is what we tell ourselves. When Michael went through, he made quail hunting even more difficult because it turned the open grassy long leaf pine forest into a hugemongous pile of pick up sticks.
About the only places within the management areas that weren't trashed were the fields that are planted for wildlife. So that made it even more difficult for us because it concentrated all the deer hunters on the edges of those fields, gave the quail lots of places to hide in the pick up sticks and made it way more difficult for my old dog to make his way through the woods when we did get into an area that he was excited about. B, being young, has no problem leaping broken trees in single bounds. Then add in a wet winter and we had our work cut out for us.
But since FL is warm quite often, even in the winter, a wet winter ensured the dogs wouldn't get over heated.
There was a lot of taking our guns for a walk and occasionally treating our guns to a bird.
But no matter how often we walked in the woods, the dogs were always rarin' to go.
B, often before we even hit the dirt road.
We did get rewarded though for our hard work in the pickup stick woods. Drake found one last woodcock this year.
And B had an outstanding find on quail.
We do get to see some interesting critters while we are out there. You do have to be careful where you walk sometimes because the gopher tortoise holes can be quite large. Our version of badger holes.
And I got to see my first hognose snake "die". We even flipped him over a couple of times to watch him die all over again. That is a fun snake.
There are a few places in the state that are quail quota properties and I have put us in the hat every year to hopefully get drawn. This year we did get drawn on one of the premier properties. Sadly, we both got drawn for the same quota period. So we drew two permits, but they were for the same days. Ah well, at least we had 50% of the permits for those two days. It was a fun two days. Two HOT days in early February but very fun. I also have to say that those two days were the best days of bobwhite quail hunting I have ever had. We found multiple coveys in a day. We had multiple re-flushes. And the dogs got to get their noses full of quail feathers. A great reward for putting up with the heat and dangers of quail hunting on hot days in Florida.
You do have to get up and out early here in Florida
Even when you are up and out early, you gotta take time to cool off and often
But sights like this make it all worth it
The girl does know how to hunt with style
And Drake was a stellar singles finder and flusher. Sometimes being old, slow and steady has its benefits.
Did I mention that it was hot in FL? Even early in the morning we needed to stop and cool the dogs down.
But the snakes sure didn't seem to mind the heat. The dogs are snake broke, get the vaccines and still there is always the chance of running over one. I didn't have to worry about it with Drake too much because he was slow enough that he would likely smell them before he stepped on them. And that is exactly what happened with this beauty. Drake would not go near that bush and I couldn't figure out why until I got closer. Then I realized that YUP his snake breaking worked.
In the end, despite the heat and dangerous creatures in the woods, we had very successful days hunting our quota hunt. Drake eased into retirement with one heckuva bang on Florida bobwhites.
What a way to have started his retirement.
And B, being B, was ready for more.
Despite the challenges, I always look forward to next season.....
Dani
Our main quail property that we hunt is heavily managed long leaf pine grasslands and it is primarily managed for quail. Or it had been until Hurricane Michael put his stamp on the landscape. When the biologist, who is also a bird hunter, has a hard time finding birds you know that it's not because we suck as bird finders. Or at least that is what we tell ourselves. When Michael went through, he made quail hunting even more difficult because it turned the open grassy long leaf pine forest into a hugemongous pile of pick up sticks.
About the only places within the management areas that weren't trashed were the fields that are planted for wildlife. So that made it even more difficult for us because it concentrated all the deer hunters on the edges of those fields, gave the quail lots of places to hide in the pick up sticks and made it way more difficult for my old dog to make his way through the woods when we did get into an area that he was excited about. B, being young, has no problem leaping broken trees in single bounds. Then add in a wet winter and we had our work cut out for us.
But since FL is warm quite often, even in the winter, a wet winter ensured the dogs wouldn't get over heated.
There was a lot of taking our guns for a walk and occasionally treating our guns to a bird.
But no matter how often we walked in the woods, the dogs were always rarin' to go.
B, often before we even hit the dirt road.
We did get rewarded though for our hard work in the pickup stick woods. Drake found one last woodcock this year.
And B had an outstanding find on quail.
We do get to see some interesting critters while we are out there. You do have to be careful where you walk sometimes because the gopher tortoise holes can be quite large. Our version of badger holes.
And I got to see my first hognose snake "die". We even flipped him over a couple of times to watch him die all over again. That is a fun snake.
There are a few places in the state that are quail quota properties and I have put us in the hat every year to hopefully get drawn. This year we did get drawn on one of the premier properties. Sadly, we both got drawn for the same quota period. So we drew two permits, but they were for the same days. Ah well, at least we had 50% of the permits for those two days. It was a fun two days. Two HOT days in early February but very fun. I also have to say that those two days were the best days of bobwhite quail hunting I have ever had. We found multiple coveys in a day. We had multiple re-flushes. And the dogs got to get their noses full of quail feathers. A great reward for putting up with the heat and dangers of quail hunting on hot days in Florida.
You do have to get up and out early here in Florida
Even when you are up and out early, you gotta take time to cool off and often
But sights like this make it all worth it
The girl does know how to hunt with style
And Drake was a stellar singles finder and flusher. Sometimes being old, slow and steady has its benefits.
Did I mention that it was hot in FL? Even early in the morning we needed to stop and cool the dogs down.
But the snakes sure didn't seem to mind the heat. The dogs are snake broke, get the vaccines and still there is always the chance of running over one. I didn't have to worry about it with Drake too much because he was slow enough that he would likely smell them before he stepped on them. And that is exactly what happened with this beauty. Drake would not go near that bush and I couldn't figure out why until I got closer. Then I realized that YUP his snake breaking worked.
In the end, despite the heat and dangerous creatures in the woods, we had very successful days hunting our quota hunt. Drake eased into retirement with one heckuva bang on Florida bobwhites.
What a way to have started his retirement.
And B, being B, was ready for more.
Despite the challenges, I always look forward to next season.....
Dani
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