Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Quail Hunting In The Snow.......

I took two of my buddies and their grandkids to the ranch this past week to hunt blue quail and deer. We had a blast. I was impressed that the two boys cleaned all the birds/rabbits/deer that were shot.


Our camp. Saturday night it came a blizzard with snow and ice.



The grandkids hunting birds. It was much easier seeing them against the white background.



The grandkids cleaning birds and rabbits



Collecting firewood.



Hard to beat ribeyes cooked over a mesquite fire.



Patterson rig behind the windmill.



Snowy roads.



LOTS of quail tracks.

I'm jealous as can be. I quail hunted down around Big Spring for many years, but we lost our contact down there. What a blast. We would sometimes see more birds down there in four days than we would in a dozen hunts up here in Missouri. My setters couldn't leave the stinking porcupines alone though. Always had to have pliers with me.
My neighbor up at the farm said his dad was down there recently. (With his 8 pointers) he said the birds are back. In the area he hunted, they had found 28 coveys before lunch on day one. I don't have a dog to take down there anymore. My last setter is 15..
Oh the memories... Great hunts when the birds were "there".. We hunted out of jeeps just like yours, with the seat up in back, dog box underneath, and a dog trailer in tow.
Your grandsons are getting quite the opportunity. Just awesome.

Tbar , like Setterguy, I miss those days also. I had English pointers I raised and trained in W. Texas and hunted a 3,700 acre place there most every day of quail season for years and years.. You pictures bring back memories. Parts of Oklahoma were similar also. I see Weatherford's sign along with the Patterson rig. I have friends in the highest places there. Most of such things are rusting in the fields. Thanks for the pics.

Tracy

Tbar, great pics! I'll bet the time you guys had will be remembered for a long time.

Who's afraid of the dark??

No one but if we had been that genset/light pole would have lite up the whole camp.

It looks like it would have melted the snow around the camp too!!

TBAR, what area; closest town?

Its in Upton county Dave....

Tbar, it's great seeing all those quail! They look fat and happy.

Prime Blue Quail habitat......

Ok, I'm beyond jealous! This is just mean.. Haha! That looks great!

Haven't seen Blues since I was a teenager in Bailey an Palmer Counties. Looks like they are doing well. How are the Bobs holding up out there? My Bobs went about 10 or so years ago.

Hunting blues is fun, I used to bust them up and then put the dogs down. I took in a tire for a flat repair due to mesquite thorns and the tire guys said they had never seen so many thorns in a tire. Ha I would add one gallon of the green slime sealant to each tire. it worked most all of the time, even with hundreds of 2 or 3" thorns in the tire. Once again you bring back fond memories. Thanks Tbar

Tracy

Tracy....one of the best things we ever did was have the tires on this little Willis foam filled.

Tbar I am not familiar with foam filled tires. And they Willis is what I would use to bust the quail up. used it like a tank, in and around the mesquite. Here @ my place in E. Texas, I still use the green slime, about 1/2 gal per tire in my side by side. I get some funny looks from those around me when I add that much.

Tracy

That brings back memories of sitting on a rocky outcropping picking Cholla spines out of one of my Springers. It took about 45 minutes to get them all. She wasn't used to cactus, and jumped over one, but didn't clear it 100%. Luckily most ended up in her chest/front legs. She never even yipped when she hit it, her focus was on birds.

Unfortunately the Bobs are almost non existent anymore on our ranch. There is one very small covey we don't shoot at hoping they will reestablish.

Tbar, is there anyway you could plant milo or sorgum out there. Might help with providing food and cover for the bob's. and essup, the E. pointers would be covered in cactus, misquite thorns om W Texas. Or when hunting Okla. they might come back with big tears in their skin from Barb wire. amazed me their pain tolerance. At one time I was flying dogs to W. Texas for hunting when one Sunday morning a favorite dogs was sprayed by a skunk. Tried everything to get rid of the smell and was surprised when the Airline still bordered the dog for the flight home.

Tracy

I carried a larger first aid kit for the dogs than I did for me. Superglue works great on barb wire cuts.

I wonder if they used a different air system for the animal transporting area of the plane vs. the people transporting part?

T same here there are no quail here any longer ... Such a shame too

Dono....its possible. We have about 15 miles of new pipeline/power-line easements that have been cleared and reseeded with native grass. Wouldn't hurt to add some milo/soroum to the mix.

Haven't seen a Quail since I was a kid. Along with the Pheasants, they seem to be gone. Darn Turkeys all over the place tho. What is the DNR thinking?