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I am fortunate that we have a large backyard/horse corral that encompasses 2/3 of an acre. It contains rocks, and cactus. These two run all over that land keeping their feet tough year round.

Gambel quail hunting is the toughest on their feet. There is a great deal of cactus in their habitat. Dogs often get thorns while we hunt. I carry tweezers and some hemostats. Once home the feet are inspected with the use a jewler's loop in bright sunlight to find the small thorns. If I were to come from out of state I would consider some of the rubber booties that some tape on if you had to hunt several days in a row.

Scaled quail hunting is easier as there are few thorny cactus but rocks can cut and bruise their feet some.

Mearns is the best with much of the running on soft slopes but there are rocks too.

I am certain any bird dog would figure out how to hunt mearns. They are always in groups and leave a pretty good scent trail where they have been feeding.

Check out these pics:






Most of the trees are oaks and those wonderful grassy slopes will have mearns. How far do you want to hunt?