Mearns Quail in AZ...

[wankerjake]

I moved to Tucson last year and I've found a spot to hunt deer but the problem is there doesn't seem to be any Gambel's quail in the area. In the hills though I have seen a number of Mearns quail which I am excited about. I have never hunted Mearns quail before but the experiences in which I have seen them pose a few problems. I don't even see them until they are right at my feet, and when I do spook them they either just run away SLOWLY or get up and fly away SLOWLY. More often than that they just mill around for awhile before they decide what to do. They would be easy to hit with a 12 GA but I'm certain that a 12 GA would mess them up at that distance. Other than waiting untill they get some range before shooting, my theoretical solution is to shoot them with shot capsules out of a .38 Special when they are milling around at my feet. Anybody done this before? Have I just not had enough experience with them and they normally act like Gambell's quail and act like they actually do want to get away from me? I'm counting on you AZ boys with more experience to give me some pointers.

 

[azwizard]

Not sure where you ran into them, I've found them down near Parker Canyon Lake. Do you have a dog? A good or at least decent dog really helps. We hunt them at the bottom of the canyons at sun rise and follow the dig's up the hills. Mearns are digger's, pulling up the roots of the nut grass and eating it as they go up the hills. You can also chase them yourself and flush the covey then fire off a couple of shots to settle them. Marking the locations they set down. Then use a quail call as you hunt them down individually. Good luck. Also you can try and get in on some of the Grand Slam hunts there where you start in the desert hunting Gambrel's and work your way up the mountains picking up the Scaled Quails in the Higher meadows then lastly getting the Mearns in the high canyons.