Connecting with the quail too.

MarceloF

Active Member
Jun 2, 2017
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Well, I waited for the rain to stop and went out to the mountains. I stopped briefly at a spot I wanted to check for a future trip and headed to my bunny honey hole.

I park and head to the field, moving towards the right side of a small hill/ridge in the middle of this field. I usually go left...The wind was blowing quite hard and on my face, I am moving slow and not a minute in, a cotton tail jumps out a couple of feet in front of me and scapes into some heavy brush.

I keep going and shortly after I see movement ahead and hear the talk...i raise my shotgun and freeze in place waiting and watching the quail cross from one bush to another...I inch my way towards them when all of the sudden they take flight...a hole bunch of them fly to my left, towards the hill/ridge and then a second smaller group flies off to the left as I take a shot and miss the first group. Too many targets to choose from...I make a mental note of the location the smaller group flew to and circle around to chase the larger group. As I approach the hill I can hear and see one off them on top of a branch calling out to the smaller group and the smaller group answering back. I just sat and watched them moving very little at a time and eventually the bigger group flew back down and joined the small one.
I chased them around for the next few hours...I missed all the fliers but managed to shoot a couple off the ground and a couple off branches. On the way to the car I got my rabbit
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Great going, Marcelo......One of the great things about areas that your in is rabbits and quail share much of the same habitat.

ps.....Quick little buggers aren't they.....lol
 
Nice shoot. I dunno what it is about quail flushing.. I also get indecisive and can't pick one out of the covey to target. It's a rush.
I’m going to try to get after them for a bit tomorrow morning and I’m already telling myself “stay calm, don’t act so shocked when the critters you’re hunting actually appear. Calmly pick out one and shoot....”.

Who am I kidding? Good chance I’ll go full Fudd again.
 
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I went out again yesterday and got 4 more quails and a rabbit. Chased them up and down the ridges the whole morning. I started to follow the click noises they make and the chi-ca-go to get closer... they were running most of the time with a few fliers here and there...still no luck hitting one in the air but I’m getting closer.... illl be back at it tomorrow.


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Nice job. I went out locally this morning and got skunked. Saw no birds in two hours of looking.
 
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I went out again yesterday and got 4 more quails and a rabbit. Chased them up and down the ridges the whole morning. I started to follow the click noises they make and the chi-ca-go to get closer... they were running most of the time with a few fliers here and there...still no luck hitting one in the air but I’m getting closer.... illl be back at it tomorrow.


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Nice work man! I love shooting quail.
 
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I’m going to try to get after them for a bit tomorrow morning and I’m already telling myself “stay calm, don’t act so shocked when the critters you’re hunting actually appear. Calmly pick out one and shoot....”.

Who am I kidding? Good chance I’ll go full Fudd again.

I feel like I’m getting closer to figuring out their flight rhythm. Soon I’ll hit a flyer.


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I feel like I’m getting closer to figuring out their flight rhythm. Soon I’ll hit a flyer.


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Practice and a gun that fits your body right and you’ll be downing them.
 
Before you start worrying about the gun fitting you, have you ever shot trap or sporting clays before? Hand throwers are about ten bucks at Walmart. I think about another six will get you a crate of 90 (?) clay pigeons to practice on. Sporting clays can be had at Raahauges and trap can be shot at Prado, if there aren’t any closer spots to you. I’d suggest trap since theres fewer variables and you get more work on the fundamentals. But for reference, upland barrels are usually 22-24 inches if you have enough money to buy a new barrel, but I’d wager most guys stick with either the 26 or 28 that came with the gun. I shoot a 28” 870.


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How long are the barrels?


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As mentioned, normally 21-24"......Stocks are a little shorter by about an inch.....Some come with an English stock (no knob).

Here's an Rem 870 Special Field upland gun.....English stock, 21" barrel.

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