Hunters will have to work to put quail on the table

Our caravan of pickup trucks had just come to a stop when two Gambel's quail stepped out from behind a Creosote bush and began walking up the road. Soon they were followed by six more birds, and we could see several more milling around in the brush behind them. The young men in our group carefully crept up on the quail until the covey of about 25 to 30 birds finally took flight.

Most of the covey flew ahead and to the left, but two birds suddenly broke off from the main covey and turned in my direction. I focused on the lead bird, a plump rooster, as he offered a left-to-right passing shot at no more than 25 to 30 yards. The second bird followed; it was making for a nice double, if I could make the second shot. But among us all, not an actual shot was fired.

In fact, none of us even had a shotgun because we were still in town, the only place it seems one can find an actual covey of quail during this challenging hunting season.

During the past two weeks, I have visited with several frustrated hunters, some I have known for many years. These guys are serious bird hunters who have been hunting Southern Nevada since their youth, and they are saying the same things - most of which can't be put in print.

To sum up their thoughts, the hunting this season has been difficult at best, even in their favorite haunts and secret spots. Hunters are finding birds, but they are finding them by the handful rather than in large coveys.

Reports are the same out of northwestern Arizona, normally a hot spot for Gambel's quail even during an off year. The bottom line is that little or no rainfall during the winter last year has translated into fewer available birds this fall. True, we had all kinds of rain in August and September, but that was far too late to put food on the ground for a spring hatch. In good water years, like those we experienced back to back in 2004-05 and 2005-06, quail might have raised two clutches of chicks. That didn't happen this year, and the hatch we had was minimally successful at best.

Does this mean you should put up your shotgun and let the dog grow fat? Not at all, but it does mean you have some work ahead of you to put some quail on the table.

In a normal year, unwary young birds comprise the majority of the quail population and thus account for the vast majority of birds taken by hunters. The older adult birds have been through one or two hunting seasons. They know the drill and have developed tricks to avoid ending up as table fare. With few young birds in the field this year, guess which ones you are hunting. You may need to try a new strategy, such as spotting and stalking the birds like you would a big game animal.

Years of quail hunting have taught me that in response to hunting pressure, quail in Southern Nevada begin to behave a bit like chukar. They will move away from the valley floors and back into the hills where few hunters venture and the birds feel safe.

Something else to consider is that quail aren't as dependent on water in the cooler months as they are when it's 85 or 90 degrees. This frees them up to wander farther from water sources as the temperatures drop. It also means that if you are focusing primarily on water sources, you may be limiting your opportunity.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.