The Firearms Forum banner

Woo Hoo- 4 quail in one shot!

3K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  garydude 
#1 ·
Quail hunting this morning in sunny AZ and had the misfortune of encountering highly educated birds. First group would not let me get within 50 yards without flying. Second group was far more cooperative; got 4 out of that covey. I then ran by a waterhole on the way home and managed to catch a covey just leaving. I waited until they were bunched up and *BAM* found four flopping quail! It was the most I've ever bagged with one shot.
First pic is of the waterhole berm (water to the right of the image), second is the 4 birds (taken with an old Remington 58) and last pic is of some desert "pinstriping" that I get to wax out tonight.

All told, 8 birds. That's a fine morning in my book.
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
#2 ·
That's awesome! My Dad has huge pecan trees in his backyard (North Alabama), and starlings come and eat them every year. I once laid on the ground with my Remington 1100 and killed 11 with one shot out of a group of about 80 or so. The shot passing horizontally over the ground hit all of them.

Awesome pictures! I love quail and biscuits with gravy!
 
#3 ·
i have only ever killed 2 quail in my life.
i shot one standing in a open old log road that i was walking.
after shooting i started toward the bird, made about 2 steps, and i guess it was its mate that came from the brush along side of the road to the dead bird.
it was kinda sad in a way. i raised the gun and the live bird started to flutter its wings and dance around as if it was telling me to leave. but i didn't.
last time i ever shot at them
 
#4 ·
Great pics, and a good story! I used to love to quail hunt when I was a lot younger. Don't even see them anymore arournd here. It would be nice to just sit on the porch again, and listen to them call.
 
#5 ·
Thanks guys for the comments. While I understand the gravity of taking any life, be certain that I did thank the Lord above for my good fortune. I had been literally trotting and running after the birds for the better part of four hours before I managed to get these four. Up and down, sideways on hills covered in spiny bushes and cactus. ALOT of work for what you get.

As it is with most nearly flightless birds (turkey chicken pheasant chuckar etc.) they are white meat and happen to be very tasty. My family enjoyed them last night in a gravy sauce served over rice, with steamed broccoli and apple cider. Any quail feast is memorable because of all the effort put into procuring the birds.
 
#6 ·
A group of wealthy landowners with thousands of acres are now having research into the disappearance of the bob white quail. One of them commented that his property by survey held over 9,000 quail five years ago, and today there are less than a thousand birds. His habitat hasn't changed in 50 years, and he and his friends are convinced something is seriously wrong. They are putting their money to work and hiring people to solve the mystery!
 
#8 · (Edited)
Gary are those trees in the pic looks like cotton on them?
Beth if I guessed correctly the trees you are referring to are cholla cactus, and are quite the opposite of cotton. They have buds that are completely surrounded with needles and will fall off or sick on anything that happens to lightly brush against them. Another name for them is jumping cactus, though in truth they don't actually jump on you, just seems that way. Many newbies out for a trek in the desert will look down and see one stuck on themselves and try to pluck it off with their hand, thereby creating a whole new problem for themselves. Best way to get them off is pliers or with two rocks or sticks.
 
#9 ·
Here's more info about jumping cactus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cylindropuntia_fulgida

and a picture of a particularly unfortunate golfer!

Golfer falls into Jumping Chollah cactus
Found March 02, 2012 on Sportress of Blogitude: Yardbarker Blogger Network
Tweet

Via Sportress of Blogitude:

Courtesy of @jtbourne comes this photo of one golfer's particularly painful experience while playing some desert golf. According to the original tweet, this unidentified golfer apparently fell back into a Jumping Chollah during his swing, and as you can see, the situation got a little prickly from there.

For those unfamiliar with the cactus Cylindropuntia fulgida, some relevant qualities of the desert plant:

The "jumping cholla" name comes from the ease with which the stems detach when brushed, giving the impression that the stem jumped. Often the merest touch will leave a person with bits of cactus hanging on their clothes to be discovered later when either sitting or leaning on them. The ground around a mature plant will often be covered with dead stems, and young plants are started from stems that have fallen from the adult. They attach themselves to desert animals and are dispersed for short distances.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top