As good as it gets..

[Kilimanjaro]

On Sat morning, I got up and checked the weather forcast for down south of here and saw that the area had gotten a bit of the white stuff sprinkled on the ground overnight.. With that said, I loaded up the hounds and we went Mearns chasin... Again!! It's just been too good this season not to go as much as we can. There just seems to be coveys everywhere we go!! And with the scent conditions handed to us overnight, how could I pass it up??

 

On the way down to the area, I saw these Gould's turkeys.. Its not everyday you see this sub-species of turkeys.. as you guys know, this area of Az is the only place in the US that they reside in .. the vast majority or their range is Sonora and Chihuahua Mexico. pretty cool to see..

 

From there, it only got colder the further south we went!!! While I was driving down, I felt like I was in northern Montana instead of a couple of miles north of the Mexican border!!

 

Once we got to "our" area, there was still a bit of snow on the north facing slopes.. Plenty for awhile, but it didn't last too long before that AZ sun came out and did away with it..

 

Penny sure did like it!! It was only the third time she's ever seen snow.

 

An oximoron photo of sorts.. snow on cholla cactus.. its been some crazy Az weather these past couple of weeks!!

 

the pups got right to work with all the moisture on the ground and in the air.. Virgil with the first find of the day with Penny backing from the creek bottom..

 

And now, just the opposite.. Penny with a covey find with the boy backing her ..

 

I wish this pic would have come out clear, but I was in a hurry!! It both pups with 2 separate singles near eachother.. You can see both pups pointed in opposite directions.

 

As good as it gets..

 

This was a FANSTASTIC day to be out in the Mearns hills. just me and my pups.. I had my limit in just over an hour.. And I was only taking a bird or 2 from each covey.. Awesome dog work and plenty of birds make for a good outing! It was just one of those days that will be long remembered.

 

thanks for lookin!!

[corkin it]

Very Nice!! Man do i miss southern AZ. Great pics. jake

[azcouesandelk]

Fantastic job Scotty. Those look like some nice mature birds also.

[firstcoueswas80]

dang 8 birds in an hour! nicely done! and it wasnt even with the LC smith! nicely done!

[25-06]

Looks like you have this mearns chasin bit licked As always thanks for the pics.

[mikep35]

Great pics scottyboy! It looks like a blast.

[KGAINES]

Congrats it looks like you all had a great time.

[AZP&Y]

Scottyboy,

 

Great pictures, excellent contrast with the snow and desert.

 

I thought about you when I saw this auction on ebay - It's the quail grand-slam! You're well on your way,(if not already there).!

 

Bobwhite, Gambel's, Scaled, California Valley, & Mearns!

 

Not trying to hi-jack your thread, just thought that you would appreciate the display of birds!

 

Doug

AzP&Y

[Kevin]

Scotty, looks like a blast! Just wanted to make a point though, we have Gould's turkey in the "bootheel" of NM. They were transplanted by the G&F and NWTF in the mid 80's and are doing quite well. Just thought I would enlighten you

 

Kevin

[5yearcoueshunter]

Scotty, looks like you had a great time. Mearn's quail are such a neat quail that live in some of the prettiest country. Thanks for bringing us along on all your hunts! I was also going to say that we have Gould's in NM but Kevin already said it. I've seen a few down in bootheel. It's a shame we don't have enough birds in NM for any hunting.

 

Travis

[hunter4life]

Nice pictures, those Mearns sure are pretty birds!! Penny looks to be really enjoying the snow.

[Kilimanjaro]

thanks guys!!

 

Kev and 5yr, I didn't know that they had transplanted them down there.. I haven't been down there in years.. I guess the mountains down that way would have been native habitat for them as well.. Come to think of it, I do believe that I've read somewhere that we even have some in far west TX as well ,but ya can't hunt them.. Kinda like our Mearns population in TX. They're there, but not in any kind of numbers.. We used to quail hunt down there in the bootheel every year when we were kids.. My old man would load up myself and my brother and we'd meet up with my uncle adn my cousins and my Gradpa and we'd make the drive from west TX and go there every year and stay for a week or so and chase Gambels and blues till we were blue in the face!! There used to be SO many birds in that country.. good times those were.

 

AZP&Y, super cool mount, but its missing the hardest one of them all to get!! Those danged Mtn quail!! All I need is those pesky Mtn quail in Cali and I'll have the slam.. I amlost did it last year in one season, but we never did get into a mtn quail covey.. we went out near Santa Barbera, Cali and got into TONS of Valley quail, but only 1 covey of Mtns, and we only saw a fleeting glimse of them as they sailed outta sight and up the mountain.. went 5 for 6 on the species last season.. I'm 4 for 4 this season, but I'm just not gonna try and make a Cali trip this year.. Got too much going on right now.. Potential move to MT coming up right around the corner, expecting wife, etc..

 

thanks for lookin' guys!!