jonesface

Strawberry is an awesome reservoir to fish. There are some huge fish in there. I have fished it many times and have spent weeks up there fishing. I would go to Renegade and troll around in the coves. There are some big cutthroats in that lake but you can't keep them. PM if you want some other areas to check out.

Navajo lake, beaver river, or minersville reservoir. I used to fly fish the Provo river everyday. There are some big Browns in that river.

Mark Southwestern Taxidermy off of Combs and Ironwood. He's been doing it over 30 years.

If you use the e collar the correct way they work great. That being said I only use the Astro 320 with the T5 tracking collar for Ellie. You don't need an e collar to train a dog but knowing where they are at takes a lot of worry out while in the field.

Good job. Sounds like it's a good fit!

Right on! You don't need anything fancy. What gauge?

Congrats on your new shotgun. Welcome to the gentlemans club!😜

We will

Good job on those Mearns! They are my favorite to go after because how well the hold.

Freezing it is just fine. If you're not going to eat it for a while I would wrap it in a damp towel. I have seen birds get freezer burnt right at the entrance and exit points of the BB shot. The damp towel should prevent that. Your taxidermist can also give you the meat as well. We call that a taxidermy by-product.😉

Also one could hunt pheasants, chukar, and grouse to add to the upland hunter bag in Arizona. That would give you an upland mixed slam in one state; not to mention all of the migratory fowl that comes through our state. This is a great state for a wing shooter for sure!

Bill you're right! Actually we also have two subspecies of Gambels as well. I have shot both. The western Gambels quail is central and western AZ while the more richly colored Eastern Gambels quail is in higher elevations of eastern AZ around the Chiricahuas. The two scaled quail(pallida and hargravei) are also supposibly here. The larger, paler, and grayer "hargravei" scaled quail are somewhere north of Springerville up on the plateau. I've looked for them NE of Springerville and SE of Saint Johns but with no luck. This is the same subspecies as the Colorado scaled quail. Now add in the hybrids and that's a lot of verity of quail. Also not far from our border is the "Elegant Quail".

. Ha ha. No I wasn't that sore. Thursday I hit 21 times I have gone out this season so far. I plan on at least 7-8 more times before the season ends. The more I get out the easier it seems to be. Mearns country can be tough to hike in. I was once told "If you don't fall down you're not in Mearns country." It seems like 22 isn't as good as I have seen it in the past for quail. West valley did better this year. Funny thing is we were driving around and Sherman spotted a herd of Javelina.. Only when you're not hunting them you seem to find them.

I've gotten California quail before but not in AZ. I have tried looking for them a couples times as well as the larger "hargravei" scaled quail. Both of these quail are supposed to be near the Little Colorado and Zuni rivers near Springerville. I've looked for the California quail near Richville but with no luck. Most of the "good" California quail habitat in that area is private. I don't know anybody that has ever gotten some out of Arizona. If they are there, there isn't very many.

Ha ha. No she's still alive but sore today. After that sleeping picture, she found Sherman and I a huge(25+) covey of Scalies. That was the covey we needed for Sherman to finish his slam

I had a lot of fun! What a great way to end the 2015 year. I'm glad everything all worked out today.(The Weather, shooting, and great dog work for the most part ) You couldn't ask for a better day. We will do it again. Thanks again for going with me.

Ha ha. I was thinking about checking out the golf courses near Tucson

I went out today and endured the howling wind. I missed a lot of shots and Yes I'm going to blame it on the wind😉 This was my first real attempt to try and go after a slam. Today was probably not a great day to do it but I thought I will give it a shot. I got my Scalie first, within a hour and a half of hunting. Then I went a little higher and came across 4 coveys of Mearns. I could not hit the broadside of a barn with those Mearns. I missed so many shots and I'm sure my Britt was thinking "What is up with you today?" After 4 1/2 hours of hunting Mearns I finally got one. We only had about an hour and half of light left. I dropped down into Gambels country and stopped by every stock tank I could find in that short time and blew into the quail call. I didn't a response or I couldn't hear it because of the wind so I just went to the next tank. I did this several times with no luck. So I ended up just walking around a stock tank hoping to see a covey Gambels but no luck this time. I will be back at it again next week. I will go for the Gambels first!😏 Sorry, posted pictures with my iPhone and the orientation is wrong.

Ha ha thanks!

I didn't go out by you yesterday. I stayed closer to home. We should be able to do it out by you. Last month when I was out your way I saw Mearns and Scalies in the same area. The Mearns were really low in open grassland. I don't have a good Gambels spot out by you, so I'm thinking that's going to be the tough one. Here is how I did on the Scalies out by you last month.

Wow! I wish I could have found that today. I think we have a real good chance next week but it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. I have many times gotten two different quail species the same day but that wasn't on purpose. It seems like when I actually tried to get all 3 the same day it was hard to do. Hopefully I shoot better too, that will speed things up a bit!

Yes! I'm looking forward to it. I just hope the wind is not howling like it was today. Although it didn't seem to bother Ellie. She pointed those Mearns perfectly

I was able to go out and chase some quail with a good friend of mine.( Dave Lukens). The coveys were big but tough to find. Today I hunted for 3 1/2 hours for Mearns. Came across 3 coveys. Average size was about 7 birds/covey. Looks like this season is slightly better than last for Mearns.

Thanks Tres! Yes, all three of those guys are veteran quail hunters that have forgotten more than I know about quail hunting.

Good job on the Mearns!