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This is a journal of my 06/07 hunting/guiding season. Pictures of these hunts may be seen in the photos sections.
August 11-24
I spent 12 day in an antelope blind waiting for buck to walk within archery distance. 80 yards was about as close as anything came. I saw a lot of antelope every day. Some were really nice bucks. I'll have to try it again another year.
September 22-29
I had the great fortune of drawing an archery bull tag in a premier hunting unit in Arizona. What a fantastic hunt this was. I shot this bull on the 4th day and then hunted a few more days helping a friend of mine. Wow what a hunt!
November 3
I made it out for a quick morning of chasing gambles. We found a few birds but the shooting was not great.
November 10-13
My dad, Terry and I went south for a Coues hunt. Things were slow the first three days. I made a 300 meter shot on Sunday morning then dad and Terry got these two bucks on Monday. All's well that ends well.
November 24-26
Brian, Tanner and I headed south for mearns. There were a lot, I mean a lot of people that had the same idea. We got up early to beat the crowd to a nice canyon. We saw a few coveys but not as many as I had hoped. The following day we decided to move elsewhere and did fairly well also. On Sunday we had a pretty good day to round out the weekend. I was hoping for an exceptional year but it looks to be more like an average year.
December 1-2
Josh and I hunted all day Saturday and half a day on Sunday. We had fun with the puppy Clyde learning new things. Bird numbers were good.
December 8-9
Ruth, Greg, Zeik and Gizmo came in from California. 8 coveys and limit on Saturday followed by 6 or so coveys and almost a limit on Sunday. We had a great time! I have to say, this was some of the best shooting I've seen! Nice Job!
December 15-16
Ron and Ted came down from Utah. 7 coveys and a lot of doves on Saturday followed by 8 or 9 coveys and some great excitement on Sunday. I greatly appreciated the hard hunting attitude and comic relief of these gentlemen. There's nothing better than spending time in the field with people who really enjoy what the day brings.
December 30-31
Dave and Bob came in from California. Dave has one of my A litter pups, Archer. We had somewhat of a slow Saturday with lots of walking and 6 coveys. The birds didn't give many second chances. Sunday was a little more productive with at least 10 coveys and lots of shooting. The young archer got some great experience and a few nice points. Bob ended up with a limit of quail and a few doves. Jazz ended up backing Archer toward the end of the day. That had to be a little embarrassing.
January 6-7
I took Erin and Jeff out for a two day Mearns hunt. We had a spectacular day of shooting on Saturday. Multiple second opportunities and multiple coveys. Erin shot well bagging 8 birds with 10 shots. Jeff probably shot more than any hunter I've taken. He finally got his limit in the afternoon. Those explosive quail can be tough to settle in on if you aren't used to them.
Sunday was another fine day. We found several coveys immediately in the morning and the action was consistent. We didn't get many shooting opportunities but he dog work was great and the covey rises were spectacular.
January 13-14
I took the weekend off.
January 20-21
Kevin, Jared and Mike came in from Vegas. We had a great day of mearns hunting, partially in the snow. Almost everyone had soaked feet. Sunday was similar with more snow and tight holding gambles. We had a great time! These three guys know how to have fun.
January 27-28
Scott and Kurt came in from MN and GA. These guys were here last year with similar results. We had some spectacular large covey flushes. The last covey of the day there were 5 birds on the ground from the initial flush. It was sweet!
I'm finished quail hunting but will probably chase Javelina and Turkey this spring. Stay tuned!
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