scaled quail

[only a pointer]

what southern part of the state are these type of birds at? how far of a drive from kansas city? do any of you guys hunt them? i have heard that they run worse than a pheasant any info would be appreciated like old and new says lol im asking in the middle of season if you dont mind i would like gps coordinates what type of feeding habits on any particular time of day so on so forth no really is there public land to hunt them and where is there primary range hopefully someone that hunts them lots with experience can enlighten me

 

[winchester21]

I've never hunted them but I know there are good populations of them down in the Purgatoire River Canyon. My dad shot a good amount of them down there a few years ago while deer hunting the pinon canyon military installation.

 

[beaker]

I am going to reply from the perspective of here in New Mexico, but these "rules of thumb" seem to fit most scaled quail

Habitat
find rangeland with a water source, with a substantial mix of scrub, grass and bare ground, the more diverse the better; prickly pear, yucca, hackberry, snakeweed, thistle

Avoid
pure grassland, and areas that lack diversity

as with most upland birds, this year is a bad one (here in New Mexico), as far as bird numbers go; been out eight (8) times in search of these "track stars" and have yet to bag a bird. This in areas that last year held multiple coveys of significant size. The birds are there but the numbers aren't.

oh yeah, they run a he!! of a lot more than pheasants; if your dog can pin these quail down you got something special

far SW Kansas and far SE Colorado also Eastern, Central & SE New Mexico; this is not the year unless you know exactly (I mean GPS coordinate specific) where to find birds