2024-2025 Arizona Quail Reports
Desert Quail: Dates: Oct. 18 - Feb. 9 Pending AGF Commission Approval
Mearns': Dates: Dec. 6 - Feb. 9 Pending AGF Commission Approval
Mearns': Dates: Dec. 6 - Feb. 9 Pending AGF Commission Approval
Quote from Gene Hill:
"Soak it up, go into it softly and thoughtfully, with love and understanding, for another year must pass before you can come this way again.
For neither you nor next November will ever be the same. "
"Soak it up, go into it softly and thoughtfully, with love and understanding, for another year must pass before you can come this way again.
For neither you nor next November will ever be the same. "
2023-2024 Season: In her second season Sadie has become something special. Ol' Man Gunner, with all his ailments, is slower, doesn't range as far, but is steady and a great dead bird finder. After chasing wild Ariz birds now for 64 years behind 12 different dogs, it is so good for the soul to be in those hills.
I carried the 5 lb, 12 oz Rizzini Iside Prestige SxS 20 ga. all season using IC/IC and 1 oz 7's @ 1,174 fps. I also often effectively carried some of my ol' standard 7/8 oz 7's., especially late season in good scenting conditions. Time to catch a bass. . . . . but can't wait 'til next year. :-)
We are entering the spring with dirt tanks holding at least "some" water. We should hear mating caw calls as the temps rise the next few weeks.
I carried the 5 lb, 12 oz Rizzini Iside Prestige SxS 20 ga. all season using IC/IC and 1 oz 7's @ 1,174 fps. I also often effectively carried some of my ol' standard 7/8 oz 7's., especially late season in good scenting conditions. Time to catch a bass. . . . . but can't wait 'til next year. :-)
We are entering the spring with dirt tanks holding at least "some" water. We should hear mating caw calls as the temps rise the next few weeks.
Spring, 2024
Current 2023 - 2024 rain gauge:
Oct. 0.0" Nov. 1.10" Dec. 2.70" Jan. 2.70" Feb. 4.10" Mar. 3.15" Apr 0.90" May 0.0" June 0.0" July 0.0 " Aug. 0.0" Sept. 0.0"
Oct. 0.0" Nov. 1.10" Dec. 2.70" Jan. 2.70" Feb. 4.10" Mar. 3.15" Apr 0.90" May 0.0" June 0.0" July 0.0 " Aug. 0.0" Sept. 0.0"
Mar 3, 2024 Last spring my tomato sets froze around Easter. It's been a climate shifting trend now for a decade or more. Our springs continue colder, longer. Our fall months are warmer, longer. Last season it was too hot to hunt the Britts very much all the way through mid-November.
Our earlier hunts were usually finished by 10:00 am. Our Feb rains have given us a good start entering the breeding season. Hope is in the air.
Mar. 9, 2024 Lower elevations now reporting snake encounters. As they emerge, rattlers are hungry, aggressive, often have cloudy eyes prior to shedding, and overall can have a nasty disposition. Careful out there.
Our earlier hunts were usually finished by 10:00 am. Our Feb rains have given us a good start entering the breeding season. Hope is in the air.
Mar. 9, 2024 Lower elevations now reporting snake encounters. As they emerge, rattlers are hungry, aggressive, often have cloudy eyes prior to shedding, and overall can have a nasty disposition. Careful out there.
From Gene Hill: "A Hunter's Fireside Book"
"Someday we'll find the perfect gun and perfect dog and live happily ever after. Meanwhile the harsh dark hours of the night are softened and made light by the well-remembered memories of pups and quail . . . that arrived in time to save a day we almost considered lost."
Sweet dreams are made of this.
"Someday we'll find the perfect gun and perfect dog and live happily ever after. Meanwhile the harsh dark hours of the night are softened and made light by the well-remembered memories of pups and quail . . . that arrived in time to save a day we almost considered lost."
Sweet dreams are made of this.
April, 2024
April 1 We had 0.6" on the first day of April. Tonto Creek running flood stage. Another snow packed in our Pinal Mts. Froze only 3 days ago. Roosevelt now at 93% and rising.
Apr. 11 Birds paired and nesting. Desert hackberry, mesquite, catclaw fully budded but yet to leaf out. Roosevelt now at 95%. La Nina predicted to kick in soon which tends to leave us with a drier, warmer winter. Nobody ever certain how that will affect monsoons. Guessing first hatchlings by mid-May.
Apr. 11 Birds paired and nesting. Desert hackberry, mesquite, catclaw fully budded but yet to leaf out. Roosevelt now at 95%. La Nina predicted to kick in soon which tends to leave us with a drier, warmer winter. Nobody ever certain how that will affect monsoons. Guessing first hatchlings by mid-May.
Apr. 17 Dirt tanks still holding water from the Feb/Mar rains. The High Sonoran is drying quickly. Most annuals have completed the flowering cycle and have seeded out. Birds displaying nesting behaviors with few caw calls. Nights still chilly but afternoons warming. A few days in Phoenix predicted to hit 90F this week. Exercise the Britts. Catch a bass. Get in those walks. Lift a few weights. Nurse those tomato settings. Fire up the weed eater, prune the tree suckers. And dream of fall and the next high desert quail camp !!
Time to get the Britts their rattlesnake vaccine. Most dangerous time for them is now until late Oct.
Time to get the Britts their rattlesnake vaccine. Most dangerous time for them is now until late Oct.
Apr. 17, 2024 I've had two requests to post more regularly. So. . . Rashawn and Charles (above) , I've never shared a short Personal History:
An Arizona Quail Journey
I'm not a native. In 1957 at age 10 my family lived in Beaver County Panhandle (Dustbowl) Oklahoma. Dad hunted bobwhites and pheasants with two good English setters. We moved in '57 to Snowflake, Arizona. At age 12 in 1959 I began hunting Gambel's quail. Everyone carried Remington 12 ga 870's. Dad gave his setters away to friends before he left Okla. Two reasons: (1) Ariz didn't have quail, i.e. bobwhites and (2) you can't hunt bird dogs in Arizona because everything pokes, stings, sticks, cuts, bites, i.e., cacti, catclaw, shin dagger, and rattlesnakes. Looking back, Dad might've been one of the first bird hunters in Ariz to use setters for desert quail. Ah, what might've been.
We moved to Tuba City, Ariz on the border of the Navajo and Hopi reservations during my Junior High years (1960-1963) and hunted Gambel's in the Verde Valley and the NW corner in Mojave County. The 60's, late 70's, 80's were golden years for Ariz bird numbers. Just start hiking and carry plenty of shells. I still stay in contact with hunters who live in the Verde Valley. And it is common to hike all day and feel lucky to see a bird. Of all the areas in Arizona ripe for trying a quail transplant experiment to attempt re-population of Gambel's quail, the Verde Valley would seem prime.
I learned to enjoy the outdoors from my Dad. Deer hunting, fishing, bird hunting, camping, hiking, gardening. We did what he called "throw down camping." Haul gear in the back of an old pickup truck, then "throw it down" on the ground to make camp. Propane Coleman stove, bags on the ground (and sometime on the snow), coffee over the campfire, Mom's venison chili in a 3 lb. coffee can. Great memories. And, to this day, I relish getting back into the real world. Away from the flickering screen, the household chores, the obligations and responsibilities of mortgages, bill, and chores. Most of a man's troubles come from not being able to "sit, alone, quietly under a tree and like the company that he keeps."
An Arizona Quail Journey
I'm not a native. In 1957 at age 10 my family lived in Beaver County Panhandle (Dustbowl) Oklahoma. Dad hunted bobwhites and pheasants with two good English setters. We moved in '57 to Snowflake, Arizona. At age 12 in 1959 I began hunting Gambel's quail. Everyone carried Remington 12 ga 870's. Dad gave his setters away to friends before he left Okla. Two reasons: (1) Ariz didn't have quail, i.e. bobwhites and (2) you can't hunt bird dogs in Arizona because everything pokes, stings, sticks, cuts, bites, i.e., cacti, catclaw, shin dagger, and rattlesnakes. Looking back, Dad might've been one of the first bird hunters in Ariz to use setters for desert quail. Ah, what might've been.
We moved to Tuba City, Ariz on the border of the Navajo and Hopi reservations during my Junior High years (1960-1963) and hunted Gambel's in the Verde Valley and the NW corner in Mojave County. The 60's, late 70's, 80's were golden years for Ariz bird numbers. Just start hiking and carry plenty of shells. I still stay in contact with hunters who live in the Verde Valley. And it is common to hike all day and feel lucky to see a bird. Of all the areas in Arizona ripe for trying a quail transplant experiment to attempt re-population of Gambel's quail, the Verde Valley would seem prime.
I learned to enjoy the outdoors from my Dad. Deer hunting, fishing, bird hunting, camping, hiking, gardening. We did what he called "throw down camping." Haul gear in the back of an old pickup truck, then "throw it down" on the ground to make camp. Propane Coleman stove, bags on the ground (and sometime on the snow), coffee over the campfire, Mom's venison chili in a 3 lb. coffee can. Great memories. And, to this day, I relish getting back into the real world. Away from the flickering screen, the household chores, the obligations and responsibilities of mortgages, bill, and chores. Most of a man's troubles come from not being able to "sit, alone, quietly under a tree and like the company that he keeps."
During my high school and college years I attended Aqua Fria H.S. in west Maricopa County and played third base 4 years at Grand Canyon University (1964-1970). We hunted birds then south, west and northwest of Phoenix. I taught H.S. chemistry and biology for 25 years including Round Valley H.S. in the White Mts near the NM border and finished my career as a building principal in central Arizona. During those years I hunted Gambel's and scalies all over central, eastern, southern, southeastern Ariz and into New Mexico. I have seen and experienced so many areas of Arizona simply because I was searching for the next spring, the next pocket, the next honey hole, the next camp.
At heart, I'm a desert bird guy. I kept hearing about these gawdy cousins "down south" and in 2000 I was introduced to Mearns' by Dave Lukens, a retired fighter pilot out of Luke AF Base, Litchfield Park. I love the habitat and to this day I'm grateful to Dave for his generous spirit and mentorship. Hard to even believe those oak covered grassy ridges were even in Arizona. Still, to me Mearns' quail are a novelty . A completely unique species in a very limited geographical region. Most years I hunt for Mearns' rarely and some seasons not at all. The added hunter pressure from both residents and non-residents is part of that decision. It ruins the whole experience for me to have to compete for a spot to hike, so I don't. I just move on.
Population of Arizona in 1960 = 1.3 million Current population of Arizona = 7.49 million
Much of upland hunting to me is a solo experience. Just me and the bird dogs. Walking slowly, quietly, enjoying the dogs and the day, shooting just enough. Notable exceptions are family, old friends, and mentoring a new, young hunter as my Dad did for me. I really enjoy that.
My first bird dog was a big GSP in 1974. Following him, I had 3 Amer Britts and 8 Fr. Britts. One can learn a great deal about a hunter by observing his relationship with his dog. In "A Hunter's Road," by Jim Fergus, he talks about a "spiritual alliance between man and dog that to him is fundamental to an appreciation and enjoyment of the sport. It's almost a primordial state that we achieve hunting together day after day." And as my Dad often said, "A pup keeps you young."
I have been blessed. 1959 - 2024. 65 years of hiking these beautiful hills. It brings a lump to my throat. Forgive the nostalgia, the musings of an ol' codger quail hunter with more years behind him than in front of him. I continue to plan for the next season, but I write it in pencil. :-)
See you in the hills with my Britts. Bob C., 2024
At heart, I'm a desert bird guy. I kept hearing about these gawdy cousins "down south" and in 2000 I was introduced to Mearns' by Dave Lukens, a retired fighter pilot out of Luke AF Base, Litchfield Park. I love the habitat and to this day I'm grateful to Dave for his generous spirit and mentorship. Hard to even believe those oak covered grassy ridges were even in Arizona. Still, to me Mearns' quail are a novelty . A completely unique species in a very limited geographical region. Most years I hunt for Mearns' rarely and some seasons not at all. The added hunter pressure from both residents and non-residents is part of that decision. It ruins the whole experience for me to have to compete for a spot to hike, so I don't. I just move on.
Population of Arizona in 1960 = 1.3 million Current population of Arizona = 7.49 million
Much of upland hunting to me is a solo experience. Just me and the bird dogs. Walking slowly, quietly, enjoying the dogs and the day, shooting just enough. Notable exceptions are family, old friends, and mentoring a new, young hunter as my Dad did for me. I really enjoy that.
My first bird dog was a big GSP in 1974. Following him, I had 3 Amer Britts and 8 Fr. Britts. One can learn a great deal about a hunter by observing his relationship with his dog. In "A Hunter's Road," by Jim Fergus, he talks about a "spiritual alliance between man and dog that to him is fundamental to an appreciation and enjoyment of the sport. It's almost a primordial state that we achieve hunting together day after day." And as my Dad often said, "A pup keeps you young."
I have been blessed. 1959 - 2024. 65 years of hiking these beautiful hills. It brings a lump to my throat. Forgive the nostalgia, the musings of an ol' codger quail hunter with more years behind him than in front of him. I continue to plan for the next season, but I write it in pencil. :-)
See you in the hills with my Britts. Bob C., 2024
Apr. 20 Took my Britts to the vet for their annual snake vaccination. He reported two recent snake bite episodes. One fatal. Dog struck near the face and died on the way to the clinic. Careful out there.
Reminder: Rainlog.org https://rainlog.org/map
Can search for any Arizona location and specify date range. Rain Maps>Select Date Range>Get Report> Zoom in on map for specific locations
Can search for any Arizona location and specify date range. Rain Maps>Select Date Range>Get Report> Zoom in on map for specific locations
Ariz Quail Hunting Camp, Bob Corley, [email protected] Use by permission only.