Kilimanjaro Report post Posted January 3, 2006 We went out with a mission yesterday.. to get the AZ slam ( Mearns, Scalies, and Gambels) in one day of hunting. It started out great, at first light, we found 2 big coveys of Scalies and scratched down a few. Those are the hard ones to find out here.. Got the hard one out of the way first thing!! We then headed over to some country near there that held a big covey of Gambels. We hadn't been there 5 minutes when a covey of about 30 flushed wild 50 yrds ahead of us. We took off after them and after an HOUR of trying to get just one, we said to heck with these Gambels, cactus and hot weather!! I got one shot at a male.. saw his legs drop but he just kept on going. Those Gambels are tough hunting with a .410!!! They know just how to keep a bush between you and them at all times while flying 6 inches above the ground at Mach 5!!! They make me SO FRUSTRATED!! DAMNED GAMBELS!! We gave up on the chance of the AZ slam on this day and went down south and chased Mearns all afternoon!! We got into 5 coveys in about 3 hrs of dog work. My puppy Virgil is turning into one helluva dog! He was finding coveys and singles, backing and honoring the other dogs. I ws so proud of him!! All in all, a really good day.. And as the song says, "2 outta 3 ain't bad!!" Here is my loot of birdies from the day. The ol .410 did her job! While we were walking out of the canyons back to the truck, we bumped a covey right on top who flew about 50 ft and landed together. Virgil ran over there and went on point, while the older dogs went over there and honored his point. I took a few pics, and we quietly pullled the dogs off of them so they could regroup before it got too dark. The flash in the pic made it look darker than it really was. I thought it was a good pic... A 7 month old puppy being honored by a 2 yr old Brit and a 10 yr old GSP!!! And here is a pic from last week.. as you can see, the slam eluded me once more!! I didn't find any Scalies.. Once again, 2 outta 3 ain't bad!! One of these days this season, I'm gonna get them all!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stanley Report post Posted January 3, 2006 2 out of 3 aint bad, indeed Scott! Congrats on another great hunt. I went down south with my buddy from Tucson on Tuesday last week and hunted over his vislas. We got into two coveys of mearns, and got a couple. The funnest thing was to have my 11 year old along for his first hunt with dogs. He really got a kick out of watching the dogs work. Seems like your dogs are doing great this year, even with the warm & dry conditions. My buddy keeps complaining about the weather, but I think he's just making excuses for his dogs. S. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coues4x4 Report post Posted January 4, 2006 Man i need to get out and shoot some birds,maybe i'll get one of those elusive birds in a Kers bottle also.. Awesome dogs! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Red Rabbit Report post Posted January 4, 2006 You dawg! I told Casey where I hunted and camped. Turns out I was pert close to where I SHOULDA been hunting. Guess you weren't hunt'n where I was taking Rica for a walk last week. After 4 days of runnning back and forth, she was tuckered and slept for 2 days. Also starting to wear the bluing and gold inlay off the O/U from hiking around with it so much, rather than shootin it at those mearnz birdz. After it rains, Rica and I will be back down there. RR Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kilimanjaro Report post Posted January 4, 2006 Thanks guys.. I was a pretty good day. Just wish those danged Gambels weren't such a pain in the butt!! I really don't like chasing them crazy things! Doug, I wished you woulda come down when I had the days off. Its really discouraging to walk around for 3 or 4 days and not find hardly anything. I know, I did it time and time again when I first moved out here to AZ in '03!! I Those Mearns are really funny about where they live. You can be in the right general area, but if the habitat isn't EXACTLY right, they won't be in there. Everything has to be there in the right order, so to speak... grass, cover, overstory, food, etc. You are right about the rain.. it is DRY!! Everywhere.. Dogs did really good, considering the conditions. Now if we get some moisture, I'll show ya some super dog work!! Hope ya can make it back down here before season ends. I'll be in Cali from the 20th to the 24th of this month hunting Mt quail, Valley quail, and Chukar.. After that, I'll be game to get into a couple more Mearns coveys before the season closes here in AZ. Then its back home to TX in Feb to finish the North American quail Slam in one season with Mr Bobwhite!! And maybe even slip in a day or two to hunt free-range Aoudads as well, time permitting... I gotta test out that rifle I'm taking to Africa this summer on a tough critter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
firstcoueswas80 Report post Posted January 5, 2006 Scott, you should get you but up here, ill take a few days during the week off of work and we should go around the cordes junction area where doug and i run into a lot of them gambels! what ya think! what are you taking to africa? the 300wby? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
