WyoCoyoteHunter:
are there many quail in the hills
Very few. Thousands in town and around farm/homesteads, a few along brushy drainages and edges of meadows, and rare and extremely scattered out in the sagebrush hills. They really like thick conifers like fir, spruce, and some juniper for overnighting, and a bit of water available.
They are widely dispersed during the spring summer breeding season well up into the forests, but covey back up and come down in late summer. Lots of chukar and hun hunters here, but few bother looking for California quail.
Saw fair numbers of quail in the Arizona deserts in winter, but they're not out and about much here in Oregon.
Have a good one,
