ShopPosts Tagged ‘quail’
We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
Monday, November 14th, 2011
Rooster Road Trip 2011 has moved on to Nebraska, but we’re sad to see Kansas go. Eight quail and a couple roosters found their way into our game bags, and what “The Golden Hour” didn’t produce in birds, it more than made up for in scenery:
PF's Andrew Vavra and his Lab, Beau, share a moment at the end of a hard day of hunting walk-in lands in Kansas. Photo by Anthony Hauck / Pheasants Forever
Follow Pheasants Forever’s Rooster Road Trip 2011 at www.RoosterRoadTrip.org, on Facebook ,YouTube, and Twitter (#rrt11).
Anthony’s Antics Afield is written by Anthony Hauck, Pheasants Forever’s Online Editor. Email Anthony at AHauck@pheasantsforever.org and follow him on Twitter @AnthonyHauck.
A Series of Lovely Paintings
Thursday, July 14th, 2011
“I felt strange and somewhat rude as I walked in behind the point and honor – I was a man walking into what was so much like a famous painting that I almost had to laugh. But, if you’re lucky, that’s what a lot of quail hunting is – a series of lovely paintings that we walk into and out of all day long.”
Gene Hill, from My Respects to Mr. Bob
A classic Lynn Bogue Hunt print.
I believe that is my all-time favorite literary quote about quail hunting. I lifted it from Hill’s contribution to “The Bobwhite Quail Book” by Lamar Underwood. The edition I own was published in 1981 by the Amwell Press to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Grand National Quail Hunt in Enid, Oklahoma. It’s a mint, limited-edition, slipcased copy that I found while perusing a thrift store. I paid a dollar for it. Sometimes even I get lucky.
This particular copy is number 61 of 500 and signed by Underwood, who was the longtime editor of Sports Afield and a die-hard bird hunter. And “The Bobwhite Quail Book”, first published in 1980, is one of the best collections of quail hunting sporting literature ever put together. I think it’s still in print today, but early editions are fairly rare.
And it’s also something of an artifact in that it represents something that is – for the most part – long gone, at least outside the rather cloistered world of bird hunters. I’m not even sure you could publish a new book like this today. In today’s slick, frenetic, lifestyle-branded world, words - thoughtful words - about hunting sometimes seem a little archaic, a little too 20th-Century parochial. Of course, those very qualities are what draw many of us to quail hunting and dogs in the first place. It doesn’t always have to be “extreme,” right?
So those of us enchanted with such things must seek our literary solace in musty old pages and in what stories we can find among our online kindred. I sometimes find it difficult to convey to even my deer hunting-but-non-bird-hunting friends what it is I find so appealing, so haunting about hunting quail behind dogs.
So I must rely on quotes like Hill’s to paint the picture when my stammering words seem so inadequate, because it so perfectly encapsulates what it is we seek in this obsession with gundogs: those moments of utter perfection and ethereal beauty that flash-burn themselves into our consciousness and leave softly ghosting images that stay with us long after the moment – and the dogs themselves – are gone.
Do you have a favorite quail-hunting quote?
Chad Love writes for Quail Forever (Pheasants Forever’s quail conservation division) from Woodward, Oklahoma. He is a lifelong quail hunter and “bird dog guy” who also writes for Field & Stream, including the magazine’s “Man’s Best Friend” gundog blog.
A Little Quail-Themed Flair for Your Ride
Friday, July 8th, 2011
bird-hunting vanity for a good cause...
One of America’s favorite pastimes, it seems, is festooning our vehicles with what Office Spacecreator Mike Judge called “pieces of flair.” Big stickers, little stickers, funny stickers, serious stickers, tacky stickers; no matter your personality or worldview, there’s a decal, sticker or personalized tag with which to proclaim to the world what you’re all about.
Personally, I’m not too big on pieces of vehicle flair (other than group affiliations like Quail Forever) and the ones I do have are generally low-key and understated, but I have to admit I really want this. It’s a special license plate issued by the state of Oklahoma to help fund wildlife programs. The state of Georgia has a similar plate program.
Besides being a darned handsome license plate, the $38 dollar initial cost and $36.50 annual renewal fee goes straight into the state’s wildlife conservation work. You can even customize (within the five-character limit) what you want it to say. It’s the best of both worlds: you get one of those IM2COOL-esque vanity plates, but with a guilt-free social consciousness.
Sounds like a win-win to me. Only problem is, I’m having trouble trying to decide what I want to say in five characters. QUAIL? MRBOB? POINT? WHOA?
Any suggestions?
Chad Love writes for Quail Forever (Pheasants Forever’s quail conservation division) from Woodward, Oklahoma. He is a lifelong quail hunter and “bird dog guy” who also writes for Field & Stream, including the magazine’s “Man’s Best Friend” gundog blog.
Quail Hunting Regs of Yesteryear: The Past Can Keep Them
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011
This quail hunting centric vintage Outdoor Life cover contained new game laws.
There’s nothing like stumbling across an old magazine to timewarp you back into the mists of the distant past. Such was the case recently when I was given a copy of the October 1935 edition of Outdoor Life. What’s neat about this particular issue, besides that wonderful cover art, is the fact that it features a compilation of all the states’ game laws.
So being curious, I looked at what the quail hunting regs for my home state of Oklahoma looked like in 1935. It was an eye-opener. Here are the season dates and regulations for Oklahoma’s 1935 quail season, verbatim…
Quail….Nov. 20 to Jan. 1. Note: Quail may not be hunted except on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week during open season and on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, or, if these holidays fall on Sundays, on the preceding Saturdays.
Bag and possession limits: 10 a day, 50 a season.
I would have needed a cheat-sheet to keep those days straight, and believe it or not, the laws concerning what days of the week on which you could hunt quail persisted well into the 1980s or even the early 90s. I can’t recall exactly when Oklahoma decided to take the great leap forward to something resembling a normal quail season. Maybe an old-time Okie bird hunter could chime in and refresh this youngster’s memory.
But it got me to wondering if any other states ever had equally convoluted and confusing quail seasons?
Chad Love writes for Quail Forever (Pheasants Forever’s quail conservation division) from Woodward, Oklahoma. He is a lifelong quail hunter and “bird dog guy” who also writes for Field & Stream, including the magazine’s “Man’s Best Friend” gundog blog.
Making Quail Hunting Kid-Friendly: How Do You Do It?
Friday, June 10th, 2011
How Do You Transfer This To The Quail Fields?
Last week, my family and I went on vacation to the seashore, and I splurged on a half-day chartered fishing trip for my son and me. Now if there’s one thing I love almost as much as bird hunting, it is fishing, and I wanted to introduce my son to a new type of fishing beyond the bobbers-and-perch fishing he currently knows and loves. In short, I wanted to expand his horizons (and hopefully catch myself a big redfish at the same time).
But the trouble with introducing a youngster to fishing – or any activity – while easy to identify, is sometimes hard to control: boredom. Kids just want to catch fish. They need action. “Just enjoying the experience” is not in a kid’s vocabulary. Luckily, we caught fish that day, my son had a blast and is, I think, hooked for life.
“Great,” you say. “But what does that have to do with quail hunting?” Quite a lot, as it turns out. I desperately want to pass along some kind of upland bird hunting tradition to both my sons, but I’m not sure how to go about it. Let’s face it, being a quail hunter right now is something of an act of optimistic faith in the face of sometimes-grim reality. In short, we’re all working harder and walking longer for fewer birds. That’s not an ideal situation in which to thrust a 10 or 11-year-old boy (or girl).
Last season, I walked many miles for very few birds, and I’m pretty sure that’s going to be the case this fall as well. Which is fine, of course. Body counts are not why I hunt. Like you, the totality of the experience is what I crave. But at the same time, I’m not naïve enough to think a young child is going to be able to appreciate that, especially after having walked a few miles with not much tangible to show for it. And walking a few miles with having not much tangible to show for it is, for many of us, the new norm of modern quail hunting.
So what do you do? Do you start them out young anyway and hope for the best? Hope that after a few years they develop an appreciation for everything about the sport that doesn’t involve action? Do you wait a few more years for the maturity to develop? Or do you start them out young on something like preserve hunts to really stoke their interest early?
I need advice, because it’s a conundrum I’ll be facing in the next year or so as I prepare to do battle with the endless distractions and diversions that are constantly peddled to our children under the guise of entertainment. It’s a battle I, and we, can’t afford to lose.
Chad Love writes for Quail Forever from Woodward, Oklahoma. He is a lifelong quail hunter and “bird dog guy” who also writes for Field & Stream, including the magazine’s “Man’s Best Friend“ gundog blog.
Day 6 – End of the Road
Saturday, November 13th, 2010
Andrew Vavra, his Lab, Beau, and nothing but blue skies and grass on the Kansas pheasant hunting opener.
While the Rooster Road Trip had fun mingling with fellow pheasant hunters at the Longspur Pheasants Forever chapter banquet last night, we wanted nothing to do with them today. Nothing personal, just trying to avoid the crowds and find a few nice, quiet places on this Kansas pheasant and quail hunting opener.
And crowds there were around the Norton Wildlife Area just west of town – more in a few square miles than we’d seen all week in four previous states. To escape, we pulled out the Kansas Hunting Atlas and zeroed in a cluster of yellow Walk in hunting areas to the north and west. Our primary goal was to escape the hoopla, with the secondary goal of flushing a covey or two of bobwhite quail. I really like how, unlike other states, Kansas lists an index of what species you’re most likely to find on specific pieces of property. Quail were a possibility where we were going.
The first area looked okay, but we weren’t competing for spots and decided to be a little picky. Turned out to be a good call, because the second walk in area we came to had it all – quality cover, a bordering harvested corn field and a few brushy draws that could hold bobs. The dogs were hot right off the bat, and a rooster flushed wild. As we came over the hill on the backside of the piece, about 10 pheasants were out feeding in the field and busted us. One ringneck stayed tight in the grass, and Bob St.Pierre put the Rooster Road Trip on the board in Kansas. Bob also has the distinction of being the only one in our three man crew to bag a rooster in every state. Roosters in 5 states in 6 days? That’s select, if not exclusive, company.
Minutes later, we worked a draw on the edge of the tract. “Is that a quail?” Bob said as a loner buzzed through the brush and landed 15 yards in front of me. Before I could rush up to re-flush it, the covey busted on Bob’s side. Two dozen quail scattered every which way. These were the first quail Andrew had seen in the wild, and he was amazed. A few shots rang out, and I mixed the Rooster Road Trip’s bag for the first time.
As we drove around our next spot, we could hardly believe how hundreds of hunters were pounding an area just 15 miles away, and here sat multiple areas of prime hunting ground with no hunters. The landowner (remember, Walk in hunting areas in Kansas are privately owned, as landowners receive payment to open the land to hunting) had seen us at the banquet and stopped to say hi. As nice a guy as you’ll meet, he said he was happy to open the property for the public to enjoy. There were plenty of pheasants out there, he said, and come back in the spring for turkeys.
A week on the road, hunting and driving hard, has us feeling good about a successful public land tour, but looking forward to returning to our families. There is no place like home. Except maybe Kansas on the pheasant opener.
Where’s this Quail Hunting Area?
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Name this quail habitat. It looks like something from pre-settlement times, it is so wild.
I hunted this area three years ago. It was unlike any place I’ve ever seen. I did not expect to find such a huge, wild, beautiful, wildlife-dense area with so few people in this very populous state.
The area is private land used for cattle grazing, although from the photo you can see it is grazed very little. There were lots of bobwhite quail and the hunting was great, including a few good snipe shoots. We also saw Osceola turkeys, a shell from an endangered gopher tortoise (they weigh 29 pounds and live 100 years), wood storks and much more.
Of course, on the hunt I was the guest of a very active Quail Forever chapter. The volunteers are working hard on public land to make a home for quail and public hunting. I’ll never forget the camp out they had one night with some 30 people, complete with music, dancing, camp fires, tents, Irish story telling, a hog hunt and local food favorites.
Thank goodness there are people to watch over our dwindling and ever valuable quail and pheasant habitats, both private and public. If you’d like to join this valiant effort, key up www.QuailForever.org or www.PheasantsFoerver.org and join us, please.
The Nation’s CRP Leader for Pheasants and for Quail
Friday, June 25th, 2010
- Quail Forever and quail hunters help Pheasants Forever add a national voice to CRP.
Five years ago when Pheasants Forever launched Quail Forever, we envisioned meetings like the ones held earlier this month in Washington, D.C. where our organization proved itself as THE nation’s – not just the pheasant range’s – CRP leader. While our members outside quail country may never see a quail in their lifetime, they should care about the power our Quail Forever contingent brings to the CRP battle. In 2010, Pheasants Forever is truly a national organization with a respected voice on conservation policy from coast-to-coast. This means a lot to the elected officials and policy makers we are working with on a daily basis to create habitat for pheasants and for quail.
Recapping Quail Forever’s Visit to D.C.
Since the Bobwhite Buffers practice of CRP (CP-33) was established in 2004, it’s proven to be the nation’s most successful tool in creating critical habitat for bobwhite quail. However, these agricultural field buffers are only part of the landscape solution to rebuilding quail populations. This point was drilled home with the nation’s foremost quail experts in Washington, D.C.
I was proud to host Dr. Bill Palmer, Tall Timbers Research Station’s gamebird program director and Reggie Thackston, Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ bobwhite quail initiative coordinator, as they presented their quail habitat findings to Congressional staff and Administration officials last June 14-15.
Along with Kim Price, publisher of Covey Rise and member of Pheasants Forever’s national board, and Jen Mock Schaeffer, the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ Farm Bill coordinator, we outlined the need for additional actions to build upon language in the last Farm Bill encouraging thinning and burning of CRP tree plantings. Rebuilding the pine-savanna ecosystem is critical to quail recovery. Initial thinning coupled with burning on a two-year cycle is absolutely critical to supporting viable quail populations and numerous other species of wildlife. Proper CRP management is one tool we have immediately available as we search for new incentives and technical assistance to make these practices commonplace across the southern U.S. quail range.
All Hail the Quail & My favorite moments on the quail trail
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
James Dietsch, Oklahoma #89 Chapter, with a nice bobwhite. Dietsch and I had the hunt of a lifetime on a private ranch where conservation and cattle coexist thanks to an enlightened landowner. (photo by Mark Herwig)
As editor of Quail Forever Journal, I’ve studied conservation of the bird’s habitat and hunted them from Washington State to North Carolina, from Nebraska to Texas and many points in between.
Of the quail conservation and hunting enthusiasts I’ve met, many of them have one thing in common: they cherish these little, threatened birds.
The bobwhite, especially, is under the gun. It was recently voted the top most endangered (formerly) common bird in America. Because it is so threatened – its population has dropped by as much as 80 percent the last 30 years – it is so cherished. Those who steward quail know from all too many examples how quickly then can vanish from the landscape once their habitat goes south.
But, quail worship arises for other reasons, to which I can attest. If you’ve ever held a quail, especially one of those western varieties with the top plumes, you know how beautiful they are with their iridescent plumage, clownish faces and plucky personae.
Another reason for quail worship, as if you needed more, is that I believe they are THE best upland bird I’ve ever eaten. Now, pheasants, grouse, Huns and chukar are all very good eating, but the quail tops them all as table fare in my humble opinion.
From a political side of things, quail conservation and Quail Forever has also made Pheasants Forever a stronger, national organization. That means more votes, more acres, and more birds – no matter which one you prefer to chase!
So, find a place in your heart to help the poor quail. Join us (www.QuailForever.org) if you’re the joining kind. If not, do something else to help these diminutive game birds. You’ll feel better about yourself if you do.
Here’s a few of my favorite quail moments:
*Watching a bobwhite fly directly at me at eye level in a northern Missouri forest.
*Coming upon a flock of over 1,000 scaled quail in Texas as they flew away.
*Crawling through a thick, 20-foot high blackberry bramble in eastern Oregon hunting California quail.
*Traversing a southwest Florida swamp in pursuit of bobs. The area was so flat, vast and filled with wildlife it must have looked like it did 500 years ago!
*Boating up the big, gorgeous, wild Snake River in Oregon in pursuit of California’s.
*Seeing my first armadillo and roadrunner while hunting bobs in Oklahoma.
*Hunting with Fred Gutherie and Dale Rollins, two southwest quail experts. It was really a teaching expedition for me, with a shotgun as a prop.
*The look on my wife Terri’s face every time I come home with a mess of quail for the roaster. She’s loves them as much as I do!
Memorable Hunts in 10 States
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
The steep, rocky island on Utah's Great Salt Lake is visible over the control panel of our airplane before landing for our hunt.
In 12 years as editor of Pheasants Forever Journal and Quail Forever Journal (five years), I have had the privilege of hunting with our chapters in 30 different states. These are some of the most memorable hunts I’ve shared with our readers:
- Flying a single-engine airplane onto an island on Utah’s Great Salt Lake to hunt wild chukar. The lake is home to eared grebes, of which over a million nest there. They feast on huge blooms of brine shrimp that turn the water pink over large areas.
- Hunting bobwhite quail in southwest Florida using a huge, 10-foot high buggy complete with kennels for dogs, camping gear, water and food. Built a fire to cook dinner among a huge area of native prairie and pines.
- Antelope hunting in east central Wyoming. We walked over one hill and beheld such a large herd of antelope that we dubbed it the ‘American Serengeti.’
- Wild turkey hunt in far southeast Iowa on land recently purchased by Pheasants Forever. My first-ever gobbler weighed a whopping 26 pounds.
- Pheasant hunting near Winner, South Dakota. I remember one flock that flew in at dusk from a cornfield into a prairie/marsh to roost. It was some 20 yards deep in the sky and a quarter mile long.
- Pheasant hunting along the Missouri River in North Dakota. The wild, unpopulated river bluffs, drainages and huge prairies filled with game reminded me of Lewis and Clark’s descriptions from 1804-06.
- California quail hunting along the Snake River in Oregon. Boating the river and climbing its steep valley lush with vegetation and rocky outcrops was exhilarating.
- Pheasant and duck hunting along the Platte River in northeastern Colorado. A Wetland Reserve Program project offered abundant numbers of roosters and green heads (from an island pit blind). I’ll never forget the salty dog that shared my blind and fed me thick, black coffee to keep me awake after a six-hour drive on three hours sleep.
- Scaled quail hunting near Midland, Texas. One flock of birds numbered 1,000. We walked between the cactus and mesquite tickets while the dogs pointed flock after flock.
- Pheasant and quail hunting in central Ohio. Afterwards, sitting down at a big table in a farmhouse for a home made meal the farmer and his wife served us. You’ll never meet nicer, happier people than I do traveling this country’s back roads. Doing conservation and hunting make you a happy person!
What’s your most memorable hunt?
PF Bloggers
PF Press Releases- QF Press Releases
