Whos ready for saturday?

quail hound

quail hound

Moderator
The dogs and I can't wait. My birthday is Friday, dad asked what I want. For me you and James (my brother) to have a good hunt. Hope everyone gets out and finds some birds.:cheers: A pic of last years opening morning to really get the blood pumping.

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Happy birthday to you Quail hound. I hope the three of you get into them big time.:thumbsup::)
 
Thanks Jmac, I hope so too. We got a good soaking rain, not good for the farmers who have raisins and almond on the ground but should help out the scenting conditions.
 
Thats correct its always the 3rd sat in Oct so its the 15th this year. Cant wait as I seen over 200 chukar in a new area we scouted last weekend. Unfortunatley its suppose to warm up by then so look out for snakes. Good luck and post pictures.
 
Yeah sorry guys I don't know what I was thinking. I guess its another weekend of the mountains for me and the pups.
 
I am planning on heading up to the Sacramento Valley opening weekend and hunting both Saturday and Sunday. Never been there before but from the DFG website it looks like Sacramento Bypass, Fremont Weir, Feather River, Sutter Bypass and Spenceville, look to all be options close the the Best Western in Sacramento I will be staying. Anybody have any recommendations on the best spots?
 
I've never personally hunted any of those areas but I've heard Spenceville can be very good. I'm sure you know to look for the berry bushes and wild roses, these are the quails favorite cover.
 
The Feather River WA has quail and so does the Fremont Weir. Feather River has a lot of unauthorized ATV use that puts you at a disadvantage if you're walking. Thick cover that is hard to get through too but it is doable and if you have a good dog you'll find quail. You won't be alone. Last year Fremont flooded for quite a period of time which may have affected their population in a negative way.
Spencville has quail but they are spotty. Unfortunately they are in the spots where there are rattlers too and Spenceville has a lot of them. A friend had his dog bitten there and it ended up costing him $1,300 and a dog that was never the same afterward. Guys I know who work there say they are constantly dealing with snakes when they clean the ditches. The snakes are near water in the tall grass just like the birds and not just in rock outcrops and brush piles. One benefit of a place that floods is no snakes. Be careful there.
 
Ok guys let's hear some reports. I hunted on the San Jaquine river Saturday and Sunday and boy have the coveys grown and so has the cover. Head high sun flower, cockle burrs, and what I call wild carrot made for hard hunting for dogs and hunters. Managed 14 birds Saturday; my brother 7, me 6, and dad 1 and 10 Sunday; 5 each my brother and I, dad didn't make it Sunday. Biggest covey was about 80 quail and the smallest was around 40.

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Great picture QH. I didn't know those guys were so plentiful out there. By the looks of it it was worth while to plow through all that tall cover!

Congrats:thumbsup::cheers:
 
1pheas4, our quail populations are very strong here in cali. Valley quail especially seem to be more adaptable than almost any other game bird and don't need much cover to sustain a healthy covey. Mountain quail and gambels have more specialized habitat but still have strong holds in California. I think average quail harvest is around 800,000 quail and the only reason it isn't over a million is a lack of dedicated quail hunters I believe.
 
QH, very nice shooting, looks like you and fam. had a lot of fun!!

My tree service buisness has been super busy lately, but will try to get out at end of this week.
 
Good luck Sg, I hope you get time to get out and chase some quail. My dad and I are going camping, leaving Thursday night and coming back Saturday afternoon, in one of our favorite quail spots. It should be a great time for us and the dogs.:cheers:
 
I got a chance to get out today, 10 min. drive from home, and ran into a smaller covey of 12 valley quail....got 5, what a fun day kicking blackberry bushes.

Saw a rooster running a head of me, then flushed, would have been a easy shot.

Just tons of doves out there...hope Nov. is this good.
 
Congratulations guys:cheers: It's good to hear there are populations of birds and enough access in California to recruit and retain hunters:thumbsup: Keep the :coolpics: coming.
 
I haven't been able to get much hunting in yet this year. I hope things change here soon for me. I did get out to a "local" spot (read 2 hours drive) on Saturday but the temps down here were over 85 degrees inland. On the coast were I live it was only 68 degrees in the middle of the afternoon.

Anyway, I didn't want to hunt the dog too hard in the heat. Maybe I'm used to hunting a black lab, but my cocker spaniel didn't seem to mind the heat that much. I made him rest and gave him lots of small drinks but I was still concerned about the heat and lack of water for him to swim in first to stay cool. So, in the brief hunt I did take, I saw no quail but the dog did flush two rabbits. I let them pass. No big deal, but out of the dozens of times I've hunted that area in the past I've only seen Jacks before. I guess the cocker really does get into the cover well to kick things up. I'm sort of looking forward to getting into some birds soon though; hopefully in cooler weather.

If you don't mind me asking, quail hound, what sort of heat can your springers handle?
 
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kansasbrittany said:
Congratulations guys:cheers: It's good to hear there are populations of birds and enough access in California to recruit and retain hunters:thumbsup: Keep the :coolpics: coming.
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There's quite a lot of bird hunting in CA and lots of access. Of course for many of us we have to drive several hours to get to the thousands and thousands of productive acres, but quail, chukar and waterfowl are really good here. I have yet to hunt wild pheasant here in Cali but I hope that changes.

But for me personally, there's a pretty good chance that I'll be moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth TX area next year. I've got mixed feelings about that and fear that bird hunting in TX isn't nearly as good as it is here, plus you have to pay big bucks to do it. On the other hand, Kansas is only 5-8 hours north of where I would be living. Now that just might make up for it!

Hope you guys in Kansas don't mind a Californian residing in Texas hunting in your state. ;)
 
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