Mearn's/Gambel's, Last Weekend                           Rusty                                     Rouille de Deux Canyon
                       2005 - 2006

Feb. 22, 2005  Jan. & Feb. Rains  Good rains statewide in January and February.  I have two excellent links on the homepage to check out rainfall totals by month in your favorite Arizona locations.

March 18, 2005  Rosey UP and Rising  The desert is still lush and green and not localized. Ah yes.  Lonely male Gambel's are sounding off.  More precip predicted state-wide for this weekend and next week.  Roosevelt Lake is at 88% full -- up from 17% last summer.  San Carlos Lake is at 48% -- up from 2% last summer.

April 12, 2005  God's Swollen Fecund Earth  The Rust Covered One from Two Canyons (Rouille' de Deux Canyon) is now 12 weeks.  What a beauty!
Sire is a tri-color from Montana (Jique de Hunrunr) and Dam is Tess (Paola des Orfevre) owned by Pat & Jayne Lauman.
Tess was formerly owned by my dad, Olan G. Corley, and Pat is one of Dad's former students and an ol' high school hunting bud.
Now you can see why I really treasure this little guy.  One of life's many circles.
Rusty now has sit, stay, and come down pat.  Every grasshopper, butterfly, bird wing, and cactus is a new world.  With all the excitement that can bring.
Male mating calls continue in full voice.  Took a scouting trip to Dutch Woman Butte, north of A+ Rd.  It's historic.  It seems that every plant is in full bloom and every dirt tank has filled and spilled.  The hills are green with splashes of yellow, white, orange, purple, red.  Great ground cover. God's fecund earth is swollen and vibrating. What a time to be alive!

April 18, 2005  Roadrunners.  Nasty Bird Predators  Doing some brush work in Florence area this weekend.  Found two different quail nests, several roadrunners, and a rattler.  One nest had 15 eggs and one had 11.   The way I understand it: the female lays one egg per day until the nest is full, then after she sits the nest, gestation is 21 days.  Soon.  In the "did you know" category:  Did you know roadrunners are one of our quail's toughest predators?  They raid nests and have been know to kill all the newly hatched nestlings, even if they don't eat them.  Nasty. They are Federally protected (much the same as birds of prey I'm thinking).
My first French Britt, Ben, will have his right eye removed today.  Detached retina then a glaucoma condition.  Others with one-eyed bird dogs have said they do ok.  More on that later.

June 6, 2005  Nesting Cycle Is Off  Interestingly, I'm not seeing many clutches of youngsters around the neighborhood or on my hikes.  Have see a few juveniles (about half grown).  But also still seeing pairs with no hatchlings.  (Still on nests, or ???)  Also, morning and evenings still hearing the mating caw calls of the males.  It's almost as though the seasonal mating cycle is "off" somehow.  Last Saturday we had a decent rain storm, but the annuals have completely dried up.  Fire danger is rated as extreme in our Sonoran and low deserts. Be careful this year with your dogs and foxtails.  Those grass seeds can actually make their way into and under a dog's skin and necessitate removal by a vet.  Nasty little beggars.

July 15, 2005  Monsoons Are Late   Seeing very young birds now. In the juvenile 4" range. (A few even smaller!) That means Gambel's hens had very late (comparatively speaking) clutches. My guess from June 6 was that the pairs were still laying eggs and that the nesting cycle had a very different timing. . Looks like that was true. No monsoons yet.  Some of our fires in central Ariz the last few weeks have burned some prime time desert habitat. It'll come back in grasses and annuals, but the saguaros, palo verde, iron wood, mature mesquite. . . well, they won't be back in our lifetimes. The Mearn's and scalie hatch is depending upon the summer monsoon season. Check the precip sites on my homepage for monthly totals.
Re: chick survival rate:  We need the monsoons, but ground escape cover looks good. Predators will take their toll, but that is the nature of wild animals.  If we knew just how many quail are taken by birds of prey (hawks, owls, roadrunners), it would probably shock us. If we notice an extremely low survival rate however, it will most likely be environmental, i.e., too hot, too dry, no cover, no bugs for protein.
Young Mr. Rusty (Rouille' de Deux Canyon) will be 9 months in Oct.  Oh yeah!  Just right for starting a new season.

August 2, 2005  Some Very Late Youngsters  Yesterday again saw a hen with chicks that were tiny.  Really unusual for Aug.  At this juncture, we are seeing birds of varying ages.  Expecting to see some very immature birds in October.  As in, throw up the 20 ga., and say, "Naw.  Too small. I'll just let them fly and come back another day."
Monsoons hitting the state regularly now.  Scattered and spotty.  Saturday we received 0.5" at my house and just a mile south got over a full inch.  Representative of the entire state I'm thinking. Tucson area has been really getting the rain.  Not sure about SE corner and Mearn's country. Check the rain websites.  My friend and San Carlos Apache Guide, Bob Stevens, is already booking bear, whitetail, and quail hunts. I'm encouraging him to raise his rates.  Sorry about that. But compared to the flood of folks who are guiding "down south" for Mearn's and scalies, it's long overdue.
P.S. If you hunt the res, be aware of the blaze orange requirement added last year after a couple of elk hunting accidents. It's the safe thing to do anyway, regardless of the regulation.

August 3, 2005  Ben: My First Fr. Britt.  Now My ONE-EYED Ben  My Ben is now recovering from the removal of his right eye.  A combination of detached retina and glaucoma. His personality has change some.  More tentative.  More reserved.  But the ol' hunting desire and sense of smell and drive to "please" is still there.  I look forward to many more years with him.  He will be 9 this February.
And, speaking of Ariz big game. . . I drew no deer or elk tags.  Zero, zippo, nada, nothing.  So much for having 6 elk bonus pts eh?
Wish all you folks from Michigan, California,  and New York would quit applying for my elk tag.  HA !!   Ah, yes.  I am again a coyote stalker and follower of good Britts over hills after the illusive desert quail.  Life is good.

August 16, 2005  Breakin' In Rusty to Sound of Guns  Really good monsoon storms in our area the last 3-4 days.  The dirt tanks should be spilling over. Have noticed the prickly pear fruit in several different areas: full, swollen, ripe, reddish to purple.  Won't be long until we see Gambel's with purple faces.  They love the stuff.   My young French Britt pup, Rusty, is now 7 months.  When we go exercising now, he runs "with the big dogs."  Introduced him last week to his first sound of gunfire.  .22 pistol shot muffled into the ground behind me while he is out hunting and playing.  As expected, he looked up with a questioning look, heard my reassurance, and kept right on doing his thing. By the end of this week I'll be shooting .22 over his head and by the end of the month, he'll hear the 20 gauge.  First muffled, then shot into the air in the opposite direction, then eventually over his head.  Slowly. The sound of a gun going off will be associated with good things.

August 28, 2005 Blaze Orange Requirement for Res?  I checked the San Carlos Res website today to be certain about the 40% blaze orange requirement for hunters. The website states that the blaze orange requirement (Revised as of Mar., 2005) is for RIFLE hunters only during ANY hunt. No mention at all about an orange requirement for shotgun hunters. However, the printed version of the regs that I picked up at the local Express Stop shows safety clothing mandatory for all hunters.  I understand there were two fatalities involving hunting accidents last year.
Caution: The Arizona state bird season begins Friday, Oct. 7.  Both the San Carlos website and the printed regs show birds season on the reservation start Saturday, Oct. 8.  The website shows 2004, but the printed version has 2005.
San Carlos Recreation & Wildlife Website

September 10, 2005  Bird Hunter Code of Ethics I re-read Ben O. Williams', "Bird Dog, The Instinctive Training Method" this week.  Always a good reminder with young Rusty now about 7 months old.  So many of the methods my ol' dad used (and therefore, I use) mirror Ben's suggestions. Guess when somebody writes something that you very much agree with, you enjoy the verification.  His description of a hunter code of ethics is particularly good to review prior to a new season.  If you get a chance. . . . it begins in Chpt. 4 and covers three categories: people, dogs, and quarry.
On a more somber note, the price of gas in Globe just hit $3.10 today. Haven't we been warned that it was a finite resource with American demand bordering gluttony?  I hope you have scouted some places close to home. If not you may have to get a second mortgage on the house just to hike a few hills chasing birds. You know that house you bought thinking you would commute for 1 1/2 hours one-way to work just like they do in S. California. . . . ?  The point of diminishing returns is at hand.
On a brighter note, we've had three good rains in Sept.  Chick survival should be good.  See you in the hills with my Britts.

Sept. 23, 2005 A Good Bird Crop Would Keep Hunters Scattered  Time to break out the Dutch ovens!  Are your dogs in shape?  Are YOU in shape?  Even if you are and even if they are, it'll take a week or two to get your feet and their pads in shape.  If you have not been hiking regularly in our high Sonoran desert, your feet have to get used to it.  (Arizona quail hunting is NOT for the jokers who envision riding around in the back of a pick-up and shooting their dinner under a bush!)  Oct. is typically still pretty hot, so pack water for you and the Britts. Give them a rest periodically in the shade. Remember to pick up the empty hulls even if you don't reload.  It's two weeks away!  I'm sure hoping the bird crop is good enough to keep hunters scattered throughout the southwest.  Nothing concentrates hunters more than a poor crop and just a few areas that hold birds.  Back in 1978 - 80 birds were everywhere and you rarely saw another hunter -- of course, our resident population also was a fraction of what it is today and non-resident winter hunters were few.

Rouille' de Deux Canyon (The Rust Covered One of Two Canyons), my 8 month old Frenchy, is nursing an injury to his back right leg.  Bummer.  Vet put him on anti-inflammatories for 10 days.  Put back his training schedule a bit.  It may take a little longer for the "light to come on."  But when it does, it's a joy to behold.  Rusty is from a different gene pool (his sire) than my other Britts, so if he works out as well as I'm expecting, I'll be looking to have him sire a litter for a new pup when he's about 4 yrs. old.  Link on the homepage to his UKC/FBGDA pedigree.  So, all you Fr. Britt lovers with females keep me in mind, eh?
The pedigree for Maxwell Chasseur de Gila (my 2 1/2 yr old) is also linked there FYI.  Maxwell, the Hunter of Gila County. He's already sired a litter and they are real beauties!  You have to see Max and see him hunt to appreciate that Frenchy.

I continue to receive notes and inquiries from hunters reading my novice little website. Always amazes me really how many people actually find my musings (Online journal I guess. Or is that called a "blog" now?) interesting. Actually have some biologists checking the reports periodically to see how things are going.  Thanks for your neat comments.  Have met some outstanding outdoor people -- electronically and personally.

Oct. 6, 2005   A Time For Every Season  They say anticipation is a huge part of the enjoyment.  The Corley Quail Hunting Camp is just about packed.  Dutch ovens are oiled, seasoned and ready.  The BassPro fish fryer is loaded. Let's see, hiking checklist: leatherman, comb, hydropack, whistle, Lohman's quail call, water, homemade leather hull carrier for empties, the warm season vest with 30 (count 'em) 20 ga size 7's loaded for 1,200 fps,  water, 2-4 mile communications radios, e-collar and dummy collars, blaze orange vest for Duff (that black son of a gun is impossible to see on point in brush), water, the O/U Beretta has been cleaned and lubed a half dozen times, 2 pairs of boots, water, Britts feeding and water dishes.  Did I mention water?
Camping with the "Yuma Firefighter Brigade."  My moniker for a bunch of retired pyromaniacs.  ;-)  Hah!  Bunch of great guys really, and a truck load of French Britts.

First weekend.  Opening day 2005.  Gonna be way too hot. Every yahoo who owns a shotgun will be in the hills. Hunt a couple of hours early.  Maybe another hike about 4:00.   The rest of the time sit under a shade and tell bird stories.   The Britts won't be able to smell much.  Good time to take my youngster, Rusty, for some solo training hikes.  I would put money, marbles, or chalk down on Rusty pointing and retrieving like the vet's by late Nov.-December.  Once he is on wild birds, the learning curve will be steep.
Ah, one of life's many circles.  There is a time for every season.

Oct. 13, 2005  Teaching the next generation of hunters.  Was an interesting first few days of the season.  Saw plenty of birds.  Some very young.  As expected, hot.  Britts were wiped out.  At least two coveys too young to actually hunt ( ~ 1/2 sized.)  Reports from various parts of the state might just keep bird hunters scattered this year, and that's a very good thing. Most interesting during this opener was seeing three young guys about 10 - 12 yrs old just learning how.  I very much admire their older fathers or mentors who are taking the time and effort to introduce them to hunting. Reminds me so much of the photo on my homepage of my son and his cousins at about age 12 doing the same thing. Circa: 1982.   How else will they learn to appreciate "being there" if we don't teach them?

Oct. 14, 2005  Freeze 'em.  Took young Mr. Rusty out this morn for a solo training hike. Starting to use his nose now. Couple of retrieves and found one that I had not marked down well at all.  He's getting it.  Slowly. Each trip he learns.
Best covey this morning flushed wide to the top of a ridge.  I let loose with three blasts on the hawk cry mouth call. Don't think a single one ran on over the ridge. Scrambled for cover if you know what I mean. Then as I took Rusty in to find singles, a big hawk flew in and HOVERED motionless about 25-30 yards above us where the birds set down.  What a sight!  Two predators.  The hawk and I. Both looking for breakfast.

Oct. 19, 2005  Red Letter Day for Rusty & Scalies  Finally flushed a covey with young Rusty looking on.  One male flushed wide to the right and the other Britts were intent on the covey.  Rusty saw it fall and retrieved it to hand.  Oh yeah!  Sat right down and did some happy talk for a few minutes. His first "solo" retrieve with no help from the big boys.  He's a tough little guy now about 9 months old.  Even with cacti stuck in him, he just keeps right on truckin'.  Max came in solid on a high nose scalie covey point.  They went in every direction and I knocked down a double.  The Britts retrieved both from opposite directions.  Gave big hugs on that one for sure. Quite a mixed bag today.  Little puddles of water in quite a few draws from yesterday's rain shower. The desert really smelled wonderful.

Nov. 2, 2005 Small, quiet family covey groups. The light bulb for young Mr. Rusty comes on a little brighter each time we go out.  Today's training session was a beaut!  His nose is beginning to amaze me.  He picked up a scent into the wind, moved into the scent cone,  pointed, and then on the flush MARKED the direction of the bird, found it in tough brush, and retrieved.  Oh baby!  May be time to again take him out with just one of the veteran Britts.
Still hot for November.  Finding small family covey groups.  We need a frost to have the birds start moving into larger coveys and to start using the ridge tops more.  Many, many of my coveys now would be completely "missed" if the Britts don't scent them or if I don't just walk right up on them.  Quiet.  Can't get them to cluck or call when they are coveyed up. I guess the good news is that the road hunters and the guys who sit on the ATV's for 8 hours aren't going to find them.  Hah!

Nov. 10, 2005 Higher vs. Lower Elevations  Phx had a high yesterday 18 degrees hotter than the "normal."  Still not fall yet really.  Most of the Gambel's coveys at higher elevations (4,100 ft. +) I'm finding are about 12-15 birds sitting tight feeding all in one bush or prickly pear patch. When I bump a scalie covey, they are usually bigger.  Am also finding larger coveys of Gambel's at lower elevations. Getting quite a few points every trip, but not nearly as many as when the weather gets colder and after the first frost. Shot one Gambel's today from a small covey group that was tiny.  Had to be hatched in late Aug. or even Sept.
Continue to get reports of good bird numbers for the central, west central, and north-western portions of the state. Mearn's season starting Nov. 18 and predictions are variable.  SE corner didn't apparently get the precipitation that NW corner received.

Rusty is now almost 10 months old.  Last trip he made a solo point on a small Gambel's covey and the older Britts honored him and backed.  Wow. He didn't make the retrieve because Max beat him to it, but later in the day he retrieved 3 in competition with the veterans.  His genes are kicking in, and he may exceed all my expectations for this first season.

Nov. 11, 2005  "Limit the Damage" with O/U  Shot the Corley Heritage gun this trip just for a change -- my dearly departed Dad's Rem. LT 20 ga. 1100 semi-auto. Shot it really well.  Couple of doubles.  And at least on one covey rise, dropped a bird on the third shot -- not used to that with my favorite O/U. But I always return to the light weight, balance, and sleekness of my 20 ga. Beretta O/U.  It's just beautiful to carry in the field all day, and maybe the two-shot maximum will be my attempt at conservation, i.e., limit the damage.  Several of my acquaintances have now gone to 28 gauges, shooting 3/4 oz. 7 1/2's or 8's.  I'm still shooting 7's in my 20 ga. for these early season wild son of a guns, but will start using 7 1/2's soon when the weather cools and the birds start holding better for the Britts.

Dec. 1, 2005 No rain for 6-7 weeks!  Ugh! Getting down into the upper 20's now at night.  Finally.  It's fall.  Hunted north of town yesterday and jumped a covey of about 35.  Young Mr. Rusty had a beautiful point. Patience.  Patience.  He's only 10 months old. We might start seeing bigger coveys now that it's colder. On a cautionary note: We have not had any precipitation now for 6-7 weeks.  NOT GOOD.  The winter strom tracks and the jetstream are flowing north of us.  Now through March is critical for next year's Gambel's hatch.  Where's that mild to moderate El Nino ?  Actually still finding birds with tender green stuff in their crops. Must be getting it in shaded portions of washes.  Doesn't dry out so quickly in the shade. Hope your season is going well.  See you in the hills with my Britts.

Dec. 14, 2005  A few sprinkles yesterday. A very few.  Guessing less than 0.10 in.  BUT, enough to leave some puddles in rock depressions in wash bottoms and wet ground in the drainages. The desert smelled wonderful hiking today. Nothing like the high Sonoran desert after a little precip.  My boots were even a bit wet after the first 2 hour swing. First covey was about 35-40 birds. The colder weather is finally causing the smaller coveys to group up. You can definitely start hunting now too early in the day.  The birds just aren't off the roost and feeding until later in the morning, ~9:00 or 10:00.  Colder nights do that.  Then they will feed up onto slopes with morning sun.  Creatures of comfort.

Young Mr. Rusty's nose continues to amaze me.  Planning to sire a litter with him in January. Several points today.  And he's finding the dead birds really, really well.  But, like my Ben was when he was young, Rusty's a "reluctant" retriever. He'd just as soon let the older dogs retrieve -- even if he finds it first.  (By the way, Ben has become an excellent retriever with maturity.)  I'll get Rusty out of the reluctant stage with some solo training hikes -- and maturity always helps I've found.  Have to keep reminding myself that his is only 11 months old. Retrieving the frozen quail in the back yard in the off season will help him understand that I want him to bring it on back to me. And then add a little "competition" in the back yard with one of the older dogs. Oh yeah. They say dog training is just being smart enough to let him know what you want him to do.            Pray for rain.  See you in the hills with my Britts.

Dec. 22, 2005 Light bulb coming on and burning bright!  Update on Young Mr. Rusty, Rouille de Deux Canyon, 11 months.
Red letter day for him on the res yesterday. Hunted him with Max, my young-gun, in the morning, Duff at mid-day, and again with Max in the late pm. Beginning to hunt more independently.  Several good retrieves.  Finally figuring out that was what I wanted him to do.
And a first:  Max on point, Rusty backed.  Then he beat Max to the retrieve.  Ah yes. :-)
Then the real topper: Max quartering to the left, Rusty on solo point to the right.  Tracked the bird and retrieved to hand.
LOTS of happy talk on that one!   Just sat in the shade and let it sink in. Printed onto the long-term memory bank.

Am thrilled with his progress so far.  Many thanks to Pat & Jayne Lauman (Sedona & Montana)  for raising and socializing a beautiful litter. Jimmy Ridge, in Tonto Basin, is considering him as a sire with his Libby sometime in Jan. He already has a list started of those who want pups.  The gene pool Jimmy started with his Abby has been spectacular.
Duff and Ben (Abby's sons) will be 9 in Feb.  So I'll not be looking for a new pup to start for another couple of years.  All you folks with good hunting female French Britts keep me in mind, eh?
2006 Gambel's crop in jeopardy??  On Jan. 1 it will be about 12 weeks since we've had any real moisture.  Our winter rains to this date have been zip, nada, zero.  Here's hoping Jan.-Mar. we get some storms and some quail camps rained out!

Jan. 18, 2006  No rains or winter storms for three months. Ugh!  The last three months "should" be our typical rainy winter season.  Nothing.  The Northwestern U.S. is in a flood stage.  The Rockies have some good snow pack.  The jet stream has been pushed north of us every time a storm lines up. North central and northwestern Ariz has had the edges of a couple of storms blow through.  Scattered snow and rain, but nothing really significant. The words severe and extreme are now being used in connection with "drought." Bottom line: it's going to be really tough on all Arizona wildlife.  They all depend on winter moisture for the spring green-up.  Stay tuned.

Jan. 27, 2006 Drought conditions, bird crops, and jet stream
What a winter! Absolutely no rains. The jetstream is missing us.  Well, Jan. 25 we got 0.02" in Globe. That's 2 hundreths!!!  The birds are really hurting.  Took some young birds this week that had skinny, scrawny breasts. They flew fast, but were in bad shape.  The older, mature birds looked much better.  Birds are eating mushy meat of prickly pear and hedgehog cacti trying to get the moisture.  And many had little catclaw leaves in the crops.  They are looking for green stuff, but it's just not out there.
If we get Feb/March rain, will it be too late for the birds to recover and make a hatch?? Not sure.  This could be a first. Or if hens don't hatch now, will they try to nest if we get good summer monsoons?  Again, not sure.  We are in uncharted territory here. Will be interesting to see what the biologists say.  And will be interesting to see what the birds actually do.  All I know is that these little Gambel's are desert survivors.  They'll do whatever it takes to hang on. Might be time for all of us desert rats to plan a trip or two to Idaho, Kansas, Texas, or Montana next year. . . .

Feb. 6, 2006  Last weekend hurrah!  Camped with some real outdoor bio types near the New Mexico/Arizona border near 5,000 ft. elevation.  Was interesting country with a mixed bag of Gambel's and Mearn's.  No scalies.  USFS land had good ground cover and the adjacent State Trust Land had cattle and absolutely no grass.  An complete travesty when it comes to stewardship of the land.  Any guesses where we found the birds?  Tough hunt because we were chasing the "survivors."  Actually got some good dog work in spite of difficult scenting conditions.  Young pup Rusty had a great "first year."  Can't wait to fine tune him some next year.
Speaking of next year.  Still no precipitation.  Setting a record for dryness during winter months.  Not good at all for prospects of young birds for 06 - 07.  See you in the hills with my Britts.         Max, Rusty, Ben, Duff - Corley Kennel 2006                     With Jackson and Gila County Mearn's                                           Corley Boy Hunt