This was our second year to hunt with the great guys of West Texas Quail Outfitters. It is a terrific hunt in the most beautiful place on earth! This was our last planned hunt for the 2019-2020 season. It is sad to see the season end. The birds were a challenge from Wyoming to Arizona to Texas, but we had a great time doing all we could to find them! I hope you enjoy these pictures of the hunt.
A pair of scaled quail, taken by the good old Armas Garbi
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
Texas quail are by FAR our favorite bird to hunt! We had the pleasure of spending 3 days with West Texas Quail Outfitters hunting near Alpine, Texas. Chasing scaled quail in the shadow of the Davis mountains on crisp west Texas days is about as good as upland bird hunting gets. The guides, Ryan and Josh, are hard working guys and did all they could to put us in the right places. They were an absolute pleasure to hunt with.
But know that hunting wild birds means that bird counts are at the whim of the cycles of mother nature . This year finding birds at times was a challenge and required covering a lot of ground to hit the coveys. It reminds you that every bird is indeed a gift from God.
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
Tex takes a swim in a Texas stock pond during our annual dove hunt. The still morning gave us a pool of glass, reflecting a very happy puppy.
Filed under Bird Dogs
This year we had the great fortune to hunt the opening day of the Texas dove season.
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Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
There was no Texas quail hunt this year for us. A 100 year drought, a new job and the bird dog up and dying kept us home. Here are a few pictures of the good old days.
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
Since turkeys are birds, hunting them must qualify as “bird hunting” but if you ask me its much more like hunting big game. Head-to-toe in camo you sneak into the woods, sit perfectly still and then when you get a tom in range you shoot him in the face with a shotgun. No flushing coveys, no dogs, no talking. Just like deer hunting except the spring weather is beautiful and later you get to de-tick your balls.
Joking aside, hunting turkeys is a blast. Being in the woods at day break holds its own magic – song birds erupt, a distant maniacal yelping of a coyote pack, the ungraceful crashing of a turkey flock coming off the roost and then the stirring, booming gobble of a courting tom. Exciting stuff.
Here is a Texas Rio Grande Tom, bizarre but beautifully iridescent. Talk to Mike Wyatt at First Shot Outfitters for a terrific Texas turkey hunt.
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
We love West Texas quail hunting for a lot of reasons but mostly because we get to hunt behind these beautiful pointers. I can’t imagine hunting without them. Below are some of the superb animals at First Shot Outfitters. These are hardworking dogs, tools of the trade who spend their lives doing exactly what they were put on earth to do. I can’t think of a place I would rather be than walking up on one of these puppies pointing the way to old Bob.
Filed under Bird Dogs
West Texas Bobwhite quail have pink faces from feasting on prickly pear cactus. These cocks were taken southwest of Sweetwater on a perfect December morning.
Filed under Wild Bird Hunts
White-tail deer usually clear fences with ease but sometimes will catch the top wire with thier hind legs which when pulled below the second wire creates a deadly snare.
Filed under Other Photography (not bird hunting)
Birdhunter 