Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Hunting Mearns quail in S. Az. it can't get any better than this

I just got back from another day hunting Mearns quail. It couldn't have been any better than today. Don and I went south of Patagonia into one of his favorite canyons. This is my first year of this style of hunting and Don has been great in sharing.

My two GWPs are now accomplished pointers/retrievers and they even honor other dog's points. It was wonderful to watch them evolve in the last month.

As we sat for a brief rest for the dogs, my 79 year old friend of many years told me that bird hunters around the country would have given anything to have been with us on this special hunt. I truly feel fortunate to have Don as my mearns hunting mentor. Don has hunting mearns since the 60s and is very knowlegable. FYI when the Game and Fish decided to reduce the bag limit a number of years ago, Don addressed them. G and F wanted the bag limit reduced from 15 to 5! Don argued for a larger reduced bag limit when the population was low. Don's exact wording at the end of his presentation was "whatever happened to compromise?". The reduced bag limit was then set at eight birds.

We hunted in short sleeved shirts as the temps were in the 60s. We saw no less than 19 coveys! We each got our limit of 8 birds. We saw no one in our 10 mile walk. We limited out and still had a 4 mile hike to the truck. We watched with pure enjoyment as the dogs just kept on pointing birds.

A bird hunter couldn't ask for a better time. Good companionship, challenging shooting, fine bird dogs and perfect weather. Just had to share.

Hre is a link produced by Az's game and fish on Mearns hunting:
http://www.azgfd.gov/video/Quail.shtml

I have hunted mearns, lion,javelina and coues, around Madero Canyon. Would like to retire to Patagonia, splendid country.
A good workout,those mearns.

We went through Patagonia. A nice sleepy town. Don commented that he was going to move there but ended up in Oracle. He said he even bought some land in Patagonia and it was VERY difficult to find any for sale. That was years ago. I noticed a for sale sign on a building right on the main street. It was a business type building for sale for $235,000!!!!

I agree with you on the workout. I thought I was through with the gruelling hikes when I stopped walking for coues and began glassing. You don't notice it too much while hunting mearns but it sure becomes a grind walking back to the truck AFTER a limit.

My dogs are low profile today. A bit footsore and tired. My wife loves it after I take them out. They are our pets and are in our house most of the time. For at least two days they are lay around lumps instead of spirited bird dogs. Quite honestly I like getting a couple of days of as well.

Nice story of a good day afield.

Thank you for the story! Some day I hope to hunt your area and Mearns for the first time. I hunt Gambles near Kingman, but never Mearns. Quail hunting is a Classic enterprise, IMO.

l2S

AzShooter,
Sounds like a great day afield behind your dogs. The male mearns sure are beautiful. I hope to make it down to Patagonia a couple of times before the season closes. Have you hunted down near Lochiel?
Thanks for the video link. I hunted a day last Christmas with Mark, the hunter wearing the tie in the video.

Doug~RR

Thanks for the complements on the story guys. There is so much more to a hunt like this that you cannot put to words. One funny thing was the hollow sticky grass that was on some slopes. The GWPs and their fuzzy faces get covered. They looked like a porcupine got them. At one point after around 4 hrs of hunting with a few rests, we stopped again. I told my one dog to lie down. She didn't lie down she just dropped! Don says "wow you sure have her trained". It looked like a bang flop. Geez it was funny. Yes lots of cool stuff happened that will be with me for a long time.

Redrabbit,

Several weeks ago we went to the south and a bit east of Parker Canyon Lake and hunted a canyon that has produced in the past. It was a vacuum, absolutely nothing. It was pretty close to the valley of Lochiel.

I can't wait to get out again. We would go Monday but it is supposed to rain, so it will be Tuesday. I intend to go twice a week for the rest of the season.

Those velcro tubes are nasty. Rica has had them get over her brow, rubs her face against the ground to get them off, and has sealed her eye closed like tape. Makes one want to coat the hair in oil before hunting, or shaving the face.

After the rain, you should do well with the improved scenting conditions.

Did you hear of anyone losing a GSP male over Thanksgiving? I hope the one that frantically ran past us found its owner. The dog woud not come to us, and we heard no other whistles or calling nearby.

No I haven't heard of a missing dog.

I had encountered a lost wirehair a few years ago and he wouldn't let me get close either.

I lost both dogs thanksgiving weekend near Redrock while dove hunting. It was really stupid how it happened. I was getting the shock collar off of my one dog and got distracted talking to my friend's 6 yr old son. It was his first hunt. Turned around and the dogs were gone! They have done this at our house but never on a hunt. I got them 4 days later. They were close to where I lost them. They did a long hike somewhere as they had cholla spines in them and there are none nearby. I figured the female would be caught as she was very friendly. NO way. She was seen by the guys that work at the agricultural area where they were lost. They tried to get close and the dogs ran. One of them called me and even I had difficulty getting close, until they realized it was me. This is when I bought the GPS collar for the male. What a sense of relief, kind of like having a gunsafe.

So that is how we ended up trying mearns. I was told that the dogs could encounter whitetail and take off. The male did it once at Gardner. I couldn't not see the dog or a deer but he went off on a beeline I noticed at 100 yds or so. I began tooting the whistle, no change. He got a shock and came right back.

Loosing a dog sucks. Don said the dogs just wanted to try the coyote lifestyle. Turns out they didn't like it much. The female changed after the event. She is mellower and responds to commands far faster. FYI she was given to me two years ago, as a 3 yr old. The owner couldn't control her, she was starved for affection and frequently found ways out of his yard. She has turned out to be more self assured over the last two years. Much to my amazement she has turned out to be one hell of a hunter too. She usually stays fairly close and sees most birds that are shot. She ends up doing most of the retrieving.

I wouldn't ever consider hunting birds without a dog. Once you have owned a bird dog there is no other way.

Nice talking to you

I'm jealous!

I hunted a hella long morning walking about 6 miles with my 5YO son. I shot one California Quail with my 5MO GSP pup. I wish I had more quail, we saw one covy and only one hen pheasant.

My wife runs in the mornings, she saw one covey and a dozen Phesants. Maybe I should start running with her and carry my shotgun?

Hi JJ,
I understand your frustration. Gambels hunting has been very poor in S. Az for many years. I had the one GWP for over 5 yrs and I couldn't get him on enough gambels to get him fully trained. He would flush the few coveys we found. He would point singles though. I acquired the other dog two years ago, another five year old, who never saw many quail either.

In a way loosing those dogs changed my life for the better. I just couldn't bring myself to take them to those dense wooded oak slopes without the very real fear of loosing them. With the GPS collar that fear is laid to rest. It also let my dog do his thing with less interference of calling him to see where is might be. Mearns hunting is unlike any other bird hunting I have ever done. I have discovered a new hunting passion.

I couldn't believe that one dog only took two outings to figure out that pointing on coveys is better than flusing them. The new dog took five outings and she did the same. I can't wait to go again.

The season ends Feb 11. This means I am about 1/2 way through the season!

I wish you some better days seeking quail and pheasants.
-----Ross

I'm thinking you should teach her to quarter and whoa.