Mining for Quail

Our season ended with a trip to the public lands of the Southwest in search of desert quail. We hunted the rugged country of the true West, where, 150 years ago, you might have been scalped by Indians, where the famous and infamous of western lore existed, and stalwart, hearty men mined the rocky ground for riches. This is a tough, rugged country, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time in it. I hope you enjoy these pictures of the hunt.

Henry is on point. He is 4 years old now, and I sure hope we will be hunting together for the next 6 years or so.

There are plenty of these primitive stone mining shacks around in this part of the country. Those were some hearty souls risking everything to find riches in the dirt. I can’t imagine the work they had to do to build these things and dig massive holes looking for gold or silver.

Has anyone seen the dog? Holy Crap! Add open mine shafts to the danger list of snakes, cacti, heat stroke, and barbed wire!

A wall of stone stands alone. The rest of the structure is long gone. There are many of these kinds of ruins in the old mining country.

Henry staring down at a Gambel’s quail.

Good boy Milo delivers a Gambel’s quail to his hunting buddy.

The terrain in the southwest is often brutal. This stuff is really tough on paws, so booting up the dog is not a bad idea.

Oil seems to have replaced gold and silver.

Remnants of an old Jail.

This was our VRBO on the trip. It was perfect, except there was no electricity, running water, or heat. However, they allow dogs in the house, which is a big plus.

Henry has nailed a covey. Dessert quail are not as accommodating as Bob Whites, but we get a good number of points on these running devils. This covey turned out to be 100 yards up the hill, and Henry tracked them down. A great performance.

The gold we are looking for! Here is a covey of Gambel’s quail, about 9 birds. They were left unmolested, but a pin was dropped for next year.

Better shoot fast! These little rockets do not hang around

A safe in the middle of nowhere. There must be a story here.

Ruins from long ago. The people and the purpose are long forgotten.

Tough country.

Our last pic of the season. Thank you for visiting the Birdhunter!