quailreport01.02

Am hoping the ATV warriors will go home, let the dust clear, then Britts and I will try about Wednesday. When I first started my little quail reports website, I learned the hard way to not be specific but to paint with large brushstrokes. Great spots can become mediocre to downright poor in just a few weeks when everybody who owns a shotgun gives your ridge a try.

Report from a friend in Tonto Basin said the same thing. People on top of people. A friend last year ran into a camp of "out-of-staters" with 22 (count 'em!!) hunters. All on ATV's or open-top jeeps riding the roads locked and loaded. Ah, a pet peeve!! -- not the out-of-staters, rather the off-road vehicles, bristling with arms locked and loaded.
That huntin' bud jumped a few young birds opening day that were so small, so dumb, and so young he didn't even take a shot. If they survive, they'll be ready to hunt in about a month.

Good rain in Globe last night! So very unusual for October.
Hoping we're in for some cooler weather. Lot of reports of snakes out!!. Careful out there.
See you in the hills with my Britts. Bob C.

Oct. 13, 2008 Birds so far locally are sparse, scattered, small family groups, hard to find. Have had the Britts out for 3-4 good hikes and have average one small covey about every 1-2 hours. On the covey rise I have taken typically one bird. Gambel's in the bag have been right at 2/3 birds of the year according to secondary covert feathers. Scenting conditions have been very poor. No follow-up singles at all. Yesterday I hiked a two hour triangle area between two metal drinking troughs and a dirt tank with nice water. Jumped not a single bird. It's hard on the Britts when they don't even SMELL one during a hike. My Duff, age almost 12, is really feeling his age. I hunt him now for one good circle, then he's done for the day. And the next day he is really moving slow. Glucosamine/chondritin in his old-age dog food helps I think.

Oct. 15, 2008 Birds scattered, quiet, hunkered down letting us walk right past them in many cases. No calling at all. Not even their little covey clucks. Finding water many times in puddles in rocky drainage bottoms. Another reason the birds can be so scattered.

Example:

Had my Rusty out solo for one hike. We jumped one small group in the bottom of a draw -- very young birds, about 3/4 adult sized.

Then I moved up higher on the mountain slope for the hike back. Had walked about 500 yrds, nothing. Rusty pointed about 15 yrds from me.

I walked around. Nothing. Circled. Nothing. Then a covey of about 12 jumped from one bush!!! Dropped a double. And Rusty retrieved them both.

Happy talk. Lots of hugs. I'm convinced those birds would've let me walk right on past without Rusty letting me know they were there. Rusty is a whole different dog when he hunts solo. Not competing with the other Britts. Slows down. Uses his nose more. Not worried about the other dogs. May start rotating Max and Rusty solo, at least until they begin to tire later in the day. Then they don't have to compete so much. The adrenaline is gone!!
Old man, Duff, (age 12) has the desire, but after one good hike, he is done for the day. What a gem !!

There may be more birds out there. We just aren't jumping them -- yet. With cold weather, they'll covey up and start acting like the birds we are used to in Dec. and Jan.
The habitat looks wonderful. Good grass and ground cover. Dirt tanks have good water. Birds are feeding on seeds, prickly pear fruit, beetles, a few grasshoppers. Birds in the bag are still running about 2/3 birds of the year. But my "sample" has been small !!

Oct. 24, 2008 Three days ago Duff was struck by a snake inside my backyard kennel ! What are the chances? I've hunted quail in Ariz since 1960. In 48 years I never had a bird dog hit with a snake until 2007. And now TWO. And one while he was in his kennel for Pete's sake!! I never did find the dirty bugger snake. And believe me, I looked hard with shovel in hand ready to do battle. His entire head swelled up like a melon, so I had to assume a rattler. We only found one puncture and that gave us pause to wonder.
Today, on Day 3, he is much better. Just don't think he got the full, potent dose of venom that Max received back in 2007. And, the hit was just over his left eye, so by the end of the first day he was drinking water on his own. And by the end of the second day, he was eating on his own just fine. I gave him a steroidal anti-inflamation injection and a bag of saline fluid to prevent dehydration.
I found out after 4 phone calls to vets that canine antivenin is in very short supply. Some offices cannot even obtain any. Have had a few hunters ask me where to take their bird dogs if there is a problem here in central Ariz. The answer that I received this week is "go to an emergency clinic in Mesa." Good luck. Depending upon where you are hunting, that could be 3-4 hours away. Rural Arizona can be a dangerous place.

Have never had any of my dogs do snake avoidance training with a live snake and an e-collar, and I'm relatively certain Max and now Duff will stay clear (and may have developed their own antibodies), but Rusty is another matter!!   In 48 yrs I've never had a dog do the snake avoidance training, but . . . .I will actively look for somebody to snake break that young guy.   In the past, I was a live and let live guy when it came to rattlers. Now, in the field with dogs, or around my house, I may be their #1 enemy. Snakebite is an ugly scene.

Oct. 28, 2008 Jumped two coveys of Gambel's yesterday that were so young and small I just let them fly away!! WAY late for birds this small !! I know now why the birds are so hard to find . . . . mom & pop Gambel's are hunkered down with all the little ones under one bush hiding from hawks, et. al. Don't run around. Don't move and don't flush. So unless the Britts pick up a scent or unless I just happen to run right into them, the family groups are just scattered and hunkered down hiding. Protection and survival mechanism in place. I'm guessing the youngsters I flushed today will not be adult-sized for anothere month or so. What a very unusal year.

Nov. 2, 2008 Finally going to get some colder temps this week. Lows in the 30's   Fall. Better for the Britts. Better for hiking. Better for bird behavior. Haven't had my first quail "camp" yet this season. Time for a campfire.

Nov. 6, 2008 Shared a beautiful day afield with two new friends, John and Ross and my ol' friend, Bob Stevens. Still a good percentage of birds of the year based on secondary covert feathers. By the way, for details on how to identify birds of the year see: "Arizona Game Birds", by Dave Brown, c.1989, pgs, 6 and 163-164. The birds of year were, however, full adult-sized and in great shape to enter the winter months. Diet composed of cholla seeds, weed and grass seeds, and few with green annuals in their crops. Newspapers reported that our October was the hottest on record for the last 35 years, i.e., 21 days out of 31 were over 90F in Phoenix.   Lows in Globe this week expected to be in the mid to low 30's. Now that's more like it.   Ah, good dogs, good friends, and time outdoors in Arizona -- it restores my soul.

                                   Guide Bob Stevens w/ John & Ross                                                       Mateo & his French Britt, Flocko
                            Front row: Max & Corky.     It was a beautiful day!                                      The slender black one from the Far North

Nov. 22, 2008 Rain predicted for Thanksgiving Day ! Bring it on. Bring it on. It's been a dry, warm fall so far. Have had two beautiful days hiking with my son down from Fairbanks. It's really amazing how he can not pick up a 20 ga. for a year, then shoot it so well on day 1. Muscle memory I'm guessing. The scalies we jumped were birds of the year but full grown adult size. Gambel's continue to be about 2/3 or 3/4 birds of the year. Our largest covey rise of Gambel's to date:   two different coveys of about 25 each came up within 50 yards of each other and scattered to the wind in every direction. Not much dog work to follow-up but sure exciting. Birds on the grill last evening. Good stuff.   Hunting the high Sonoran desert with my son. Priceless. !! All-day late dove season has begun. And Mearn's season just around the corner.

Nov. 28, 2008 The Mearn's Opener. Rains just fell statewide and 10-15 degrees cooler. Scenting conditions definitely improved. Carry-over population reported to be good and decent monsoon rains in the SE. Best advice I was ever given re: Mearn's hunting: Go to Hog Canyon. Remember what the habitat and terrain looks like. Now go find a place "like that" off the beaten hunter path. Drive to the end of the dirt road, then hike back into country where the average Joe won't go. Checked some guide websites from down south last week. Mearn's guides are now charging $400 - $600 per day per hunter. Does that strike you wrong? Guides from all over the western hemisphere making a living guiding for Arizona's trophy bird? Aldo Leopold in "A Sand County Almanac", the Father of Wildlife Management, has definite opinions on that one. A good read.
Reminder: The Mearn's daily limit (8) is different than scalies and Gambel's(15). Regs require a head, wing, or foot remain attached for identificatin purposes.
Nov. 26 from AG&F http://www.azgfd.gov/artman/publish/article_1035.shtml
See you in the hills with my Britts! Bob C.

Dec. 1, 2008 Many have asked. . . . how do you identify juvenile birds of the year?
Mearns: "adult carry-over Mearn's have distinct barring on the wing coverts compared to irregular barring in the juvenile birds of the year." David Brown, "Arizona Game Birds", c. 1989, pgs. 116-117.   His study and data from 1965 - 1978 shows Mearn's birds of the year percentage ranges to be from 57 - 88% depending almost completely on June - August precipitation and protection from overgrazing, i.e., the higher the percentage, the better the hatch and survival of young.

Gambel's and Scaled: Brown also tells you how to ID Gambel's and scaled juveniles using the secondary coverts. pgs. 6 and 163-164. A great resource if you haven't checked it out.

Dec. 13, 2008 Big winter low front predicted to bring good precip across the state all this week. My ol' dad always said that for next year to have a good quail hatch, some hunts this year need to be rained out. Bring it on. Bring it on.

Dec. 22, 2008 Rains predicted again all this week. Good news for possible hatches next year!!! Roosevelt at 91% full and rising. Would not be surprised to see 100% by this spring. Had a chance to hunt with friends, Jon and Laura last week. The hikes were long and hard, but found bird coveys and got great Britt dog work. Reports from Mearn's country are mixed. Roy P.,a Tonto Basin friend hunting southeast Ariz., reported one Mearn's canyon (that was his favorite last season because it was "isolated") had four hunters and 14 (fourteen!) bird dogs. How do your spell PRESSURED? The Mearn's coveys were in the 2-4 bird range. Like him, I fear that Mearn's coveys can, and will be, hunted "to extinction" in specific areas with that kind of hunting pressure. He also reported increased checks by AG&F for licenses and bag or possession limits.