New to hunting on land.

[Ismael De La Torre]

Hello guys, I've been saltwater fishing for over 10 years. Looking into doing some quail hunting this coming season. What are some steps I need to take to be ready aside from gun and hunting license with upland bird stamp. What's a good site I could use for locations on public hunting land? Any other tips are welcome, Thanks

 

[ilovesprig]

Ismael,

Welcome to SCH.....Nobodies going to tell you exactly where to find a covey of quail.....Having a known covey is pretty sacred & held tight to the vest.....What I can tell you is, there's Gambel quail in much of the desert edges of Imperial, Riverside, & San Bernardino Counties....Lots of BLM out there too.

Valley quail are most everywhere here locally & in California.....The biggest problem is finding public land to hunt them (the drought has hurt too).....Kern County is still considered one of the best places to find valley quail.....Lots of public around places like Lake Isabella, the Scodie Mts, Kelso Valley, and Ridgecrest.

Mountain quail are in most mountains in SoCal, but are the hardest to hunt.....They mostly live in small coveys in the highest & thickest willow bottoms or buck brush.....Again, Kern Co. was my favorite place to hunt them on a consistent basis.....San Diego Co. has them too.

Also, in many of these same areas of the desert are chukar.....Quail like partridge, that can be right in with valley & mt. quail.....Ridgecrest, Black Mts, Randsberg, Stoddard Wells, are just a few of the places I've shot them.

Check out national forest maps, blm, & wildlife areas.....Google is your friend when looking for info as well.....I think the DFW website may even mentions spots or more areas.

Quail & chukar season always opens the 3rd Saturday of October.....So there's plenty of time for scouting......Good luck.

 

[Ismael De La Torre]

Ismael,

Welcome to SCH.....Nobodies going to tell you exactly where to find a covey of quail.....Having a known covey is pretty sacred & held tight to the vest.....What I can tell you is, there's Gambel quail in much of the desert edges of Imperial, Riverside, & San Bernardino Counties....Lots of BLM out there too.

Valley quail are most everywhere here locally & in California.....The biggest problem is finding public land to hunt them (the drought has hurt too).....Kern County is still considered one of the best places to find valley quail.....Lots of public around places like Lake Isabella, the Scodie Mts, Kelso Valley, and Ridgecrest.

Mountain quail are in most mountains in SoCal, but are the hardest to hunt.....They mostly live in small coveys in the highest & thickest willow bottoms or buck brush.....Again, Kern Co. was my favorite place to hunt them on a consistent basis.....San Diego Co. has them too.

Also, in many of these same areas of the desert are chukar.....Quail like partridge, that can be right in with valley & mt. quail.....Ridgecrest, Black Mts, Randsberg, Stoddard Wells, are just a few of the places I've shot them.

Check out national forest maps, blm, & wildlife areas.....Google is your friend when looking for info as well.....I think the DFW website may even mentions spots or more areas.

Quail & chukar season always opens the 3rd Saturday of October.....So there's plenty of time for scouting......Good luck.

Thanks for the help, not looking for specific spots just maps that I could use to start scouting. I've found some but trying to find the most up to date regulations and public lands available. Thanks again.

 

[Aeon]

as we say over and over get onx maps for your phone. it will help you know where you are and if its public land.

There are no up to date print maps to be honest. just the standard blm and national forest maps.

DFG does have some online guides to the land they own.
https://www.wildlife.ca.gov/Lands/Regulations

sprig gave you the needed info to get started. Go out and have fun its a long long ways to oct but it will be here before you know it.

 

[Josh Pearson]

https://www.huntinggpsmaps.com/hunt-premium-membership

 

[invisible man]

About 3rd week of May Start doing short hikes around the back country. Just start spending time in the hills and you will soon start establishing your favorite spots and you will start seeing more and more wild life. When you find birds while hiking around check your national forest map to see if its huntable. Remember those spots and when season comes around make a plan to go to those legal spots with your shot gun in hand. You will soon figure out what kind of terrain your favorite game is attracted too and you will get a feel for the right stuff. That is a lot funner and rewarding then having us send you into areas that are no good. Plus you will gain valuable skills to help keep you out of trouble. Most of us learned that way and it wont take long before you start seeing the fruit of your labors. Have fun, and no flare guns!!!

 

[Ismael De La Torre]

Appreciate all the help. Are snake boots or guards really necessary? I don't have a dog and I've seen a couple of videos online where you might have to shake up a bush to get a quail to come out of its hiding spot. Thanks again for the help.

 

[ilovesprig]

I went about 48 years without wearing snake boots or gaiters.....Since, I got into spring turkey hunting (rattlers favorite time), I've decided they're a necessary piece of equipment.....I now almost always where my gaiters.....They're just too comfortable not to wear and give you piece of mind.

Ps....I almost stepped on this guy.....Josh & I both had snake boots on.

.

 

[longbowhunter2]

I went about 48 years without wearing snake boots or gaiters.....Since, I got into spring turkey hunting (rattlers favorite time), I've decided they're a necessary piece of equipment.....I now almost always where my gaiters.....They're just too comfortable not to wear and give you piece of mind.

Ps....I almost stepped on this guy.....Josh & I both had snake boots on.

.View attachment 29643

Yikes, I had a close one last year, and no like a stupid Sh_t , I did not have my snake chaps on.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Appreciate all the help. Are snake boots or guards really necessary? I don't have a dog and I've seen a couple of videos online where you might have to shake up a bush to get a quail to come out of its hiding spot. Thanks again for the help.

As others said, snakeproof gear is a great investment. A couple close calls awhile back led me to buy some Turtleskin gaiters, which I love and wear almost all the time. If you're quail hunting you'll be busting brush and stepping through tall grass and oak leaves, all places rattlers love to be.

 

[Ismael De La Torre]

I downloaded that onx app on my phone, going to have to play with it when I go out on some scouting trips. Just finished up the hunter safety online part of the course. With the second part being in class, do they just review the online stuff again and run another test or is it different information plus the online info? Just wondering cause the class is three weeks from now and thinking I might have to review the classes online over again. Thanks again a lot of good info from you guys.

 

[Ismael De La Torre]

Had a question about ammo, I reload my shot shells. How do the game wardens check to see that your shot does not contain lead? Just wondering if they're looking for specific brands or if I could buy some non lead shot and re load some at home.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Had a question about ammo, I reload my shot shells. How do the game wardens check to see that your shot does not contain lead? Just wondering if they're looking for specific brands or if I could buy some non lead shot and re load some at home.

Good question.. I got checked by a warden last year in a wildlife area and we were shooting WWB steel shot that's labeled as such on the hull. But if you're shooting reloads I would assume the only way to really check is to use a magnet or cut them open?

 

[Ismael De La Torre]

Good question.. I got checked by a warden last year in a wildlife area and we were shooting WWB steel shot that's labeled as such on the hull. But if you're shooting reloads I would assume the only way to really check is to use a magnet or cut them open?

Thanks, I'll keep looking into that. There's not too many options with what's available from what i've been able to find. Any suggestions on some ammo stores that have a good variety of non lead shot shells?

 

[ilovesprig]

I'm sure the wardens will be outfitted with devices to tell what is what.....Copper is not magnetic or is Remington HD, Federal HW, and Kent bismuth. Hevi-Shot is somewhat magnetic....If you reload steel, it will be easy.....The biggest drawback will be the cost of non-lead in small quantities.

 

[Ismael De La Torre]

Got my Hunters Ed cert this weekend. I've been looking into snake boots but I've never worn boots that high. Do they make 8 inch snake boots that I could just wear snake proof gaiters? I haven't called my ammo reload spot for non lead shot to check on prices but I have found more shot shell brands in store that I'm going to try out.

 

[gregg]

I kicked up a covey just today scouting in east county. There is tons of water and apparently birds! Go hike around and you'll find what you're looking for, these were in some high sage brush on the edge of some oaks. I was looking for bigger birds but am happy I found some of the smaller ones.

 

[Ismael De La Torre]

I kicked up a covey just today scouting in east county. There is tons of water and apparently birds! Go hike around and you'll find what you're looking for, these were in some high sage brush on the edge of some oaks. I was looking for bigger birds but am happy I found some of the smaller ones.

Thanks for the tip, can't wait to get out there and start doing some scouting of my own.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

I kicked up a covey just today scouting in east county. There is tons of water and apparently birds! Go hike around and you'll find what you're looking for, these were in some high sage brush on the edge of some oaks. I was looking for bigger birds but am happy I found some of the smaller ones.

Hoping these rains help out our quail population. They've been hit hard for sure.

 

[ilovesprig]

Saw quail scouting today myself.......Should be a great recruitment year.

Ismael,

I don't know of any 8" snake boots......Snake gaiters go all the way down to the top of your boots.....Like I've stated before, snake boots have never fit me well.....Hence, my use of very comfortable Rattler Brand gaiters.