Recent content by Cast N Blast

I hunted the west side of the sierra's last year and got some mountain quail, but no grouse. I had to skip this year's opener for the wife's 50th! How did you do in the Mammoth area?!

Thanks for the update. I trained the dog on BLM land a few weeks ago and saw and much the same. Water everywhere still and quail everywhere making their single note call. Did you hear many quail of the curved or straight top variety?!

Agree with the training and breed selection comments posted here. First time training a dog and made tons of mistakes as a trainer but got the hang of it and the lab took up everything and then some and wants to please. Loves the hunt and the retrieve and delivers to hand willingly every bird...

Hunted the Sierra National forest for mountain quail and after several days of slow hunting (I was also targeting Sooties), I dropped down in elevation and bagged my first mountain quail. Six actually. Singles were still calling but the dog was on his last legs (third day hunting) so we called...

Nice job given the tough conditions.

Blanked at SJ

Glad to see all the interest in Barrett. Once you learn the registration process its really a simple and fun hunt.... whereas San J and Wister are wading hunts, Barrett is generally a very deep lake accessible by boat. I have decoys specifically rigged for Barrett with 25' lines! There are no...

Yes, mostly loafing near buildings/houses.

Scouted IV today. Saw a bobcat and plenty of rabbit and quail. Doves…. Not so much. Usual spots just not holding as many birds.

Hunted the west facing slopes of the Cleveland Nat Forest today for quail. Quail was slow but got a bird I’ve never shot in the mountains before- a white wing dove. Anyone else ever see white wings in the mountains? I usually just see them in the desert...

Really enjoy seeing all three labs colors- so cool together!

I posted earlier about scouting for quail this year. One aspect I neglected to mention was that many of the locations I checked in San Diego and Imperial county was that I seemed to see a second clutch of chicks. I don’t recall exact dates but my trips ranged from May through the end of...

I refuse to wear cotton (death cloth) when I hunt. The stuff doesn’t breath and once I start sweating it’s miserable. I wore out a pair of cabela’s synthetic upland pants (their new version is $129), and I know that first lite makes an upland pant with a durable front face called “sawbuck”...

I cut out the spine, brine them, and side-heat grill them BBQ-style. They were tasty and the kids were asking for seconds!

I spent many days scouting in the off season, in between training the dog, gearing up, and all the other obsessive stuff we do in the off season. Several of those trips didn’t pan out, and not every call to the local game warden or biologist paid off. But I was able to narrow down a few new...