Afternoon Scouting Trip.....7-20-17

[ilovesprig]

Got a call from Tyler at about 3:00 pm today and he wanted to do some scouting on Palomar Mt.....We also stopped off at a couple of my spots and MCC.....Ended the day with a little cottontail shoot with the Savage HMR .17 and Tyler's 177 pellet gun.

9 game animals seen in about 3 hours....Turkeys, valley quail, mountain quail, band-tailed pigeons, mourning doves, cotton tails, jack rabbits, coyotes, and deer.


ps....Wild black berries were delish.....

.

 

[Bowman]

I know a few places with wild berries. and I will take it with me when it's time. nice day out Steve. great job on the rabbits. I never seen so many ground squirrels and rabbits. and makes me smile to see the turkey's hanging in there. I keeping my fingers crossed. and they make a full come back.

 

[ilovesprig]

Lee,

The one thing that I've noticed is how far along poults are that were below the snow line....And not only are they bigger, there's more per hen too....One hen had 4 and 2 hens had 11....That's pretty good recruitment.

We also saw a doe with a fawn and the fawn was almost out of spots....probably dropped in late April or early May.

The mountain quail were cool to see and the fact that males will sit on eggs. They can increase rapidly, when the hen lays a 2nd or 3rd nest.

The rabbit spot that we hunted last night was the same spot I hunted Monday.....Hardly saw a rabbit monday.....Yesterday evening, they were coming out of the wood work.

The black berries were thick, but trying to pick them was tough....I think their thorns are worse than roses....lol

.

 

[Kellendv]

I saw a large group of Turkeys two weeks ago, didn't get an exact count on the hens, there were 4 or 5, but I quickly counted 15 poults. As for quail I saw a male a week ago with a group of tennis ball sized youngsters that could already fly, but still also seeing some male/female breeding pairs which makes me think they are laying multiple clutches this year.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Very cool Steve. It's been awhile since I've seen mountain quail, although I hear them from time to time in the thickest, steepest hillsides of higher elevation. Tough guys to hunt.

 

[Kellendv]

They're out there!

 

[Bowman]

beauties. The little guys are like ghost during hunting season. in spring they are every where, singing & breeding. once upon a time they where every where at east county.

 

[ilovesprig]

Very cool Steve. It's been awhile since I've seen mountain quail, although I hear them from time to time in the thickest, steepest hillsides of higher elevation. Tough guys to hunt.

Jason & Kellen,

They are the toughest of all the quail IMO.....And I only know maybe 3 guys that have ever gotten a limit.....Beautiful bird.

This pic is from like 1970...Scodie Mts...One of the 2 limits (10) I got of mountain quail....This same area was a great place to get a valley quail, mountain quail, and a chukar in one walk.

.

 

[Baller]

And damn near impossible to get without a dog imo. Those little bastards can run up a hill like you cannot believe..!! I have hunted them a lot up in NorCal. Tough, tough bird to hunt...

 

[ilovesprig]

Yep Bill....There's always the luck factor on getting them, but to get them good, a dog is essential....Just finding them in that steep stuff or killing multiples is almost impossible.

.

 

[Kellendv]

Jason & Kellen,

They are the toughest of all the quail IMO.....

Habitat wise I absolutely agree with you, but I think Mearn's Quail are just about impossible to hunt without a dog. You'll just flat never find them. Whereas Mountain quail are possible to walk up. Great pictures Steve!