I need suggestions for a 1 or two day trip. I'm at a loss on where I can go.

Was thinking packsaddle, ok but wouldn't mind trying something different if anyone knows a place within that same distance or so (~300 miles give or take). Has anyone waterfowl hunted along the Canadian river there at Packsaddle. I have read that there are designated waterfowl areas there but they aren't listed on the map I have.

I was also thinking of going to the coast but that would be ducks only and i would be completely winging it if I did that.

Could squirrel hunt in Breckenridge but that's kind of meh.

Any other ideas. Would drive a little further too. Could go pretty much anywhere if the place has rv camping nearby.

PM if you'd like.

I haven't hunted public land in about 15 years, but Packsaddle has potential this year or might want to check into Gene Howe as well

How do you guys find quail leases? Or do you own land?

I have posted several times asking for a spot that's open on a quail lease without a response. My guess is that most people are suspicious of people they don't know. Lease hunter web site has a couple leases but I don't know enough people to get together to pay for the whole place. I don't know if it will work or not but rather than avoid them, this year (2015) I plan to attend the QF and The Quail Coalition banquets. Get to know folks and hopefully get invited to join one.

Iliketohunt, I would said on the whole, if you would have asked 25 years ago (if the TFF existed), 90% of the folks that would be on here if it existed would either have access to private or have a lease and most of those leases would be full season for quail. If you would have asked about 1998, it would have been the same, except a lot of guys probably had been booted off their full season lease by deer hunters that came in and offered $7 an acre instead of $2.25 an acre, and the quail hunters got pushed into an after deer season lease. Since you are asking now, all you have to do is stay the night in the old traditional quail hunting haunts of Seymour, Spur, Aspermont, Paducah, La Mesa, Wellington, Ballinger to see what a difference 16 years makes. When I see another guy with a dog trailer, I roll down my window and wave because its such a rare sight. Last year, it liked to almost killed me, but it was the first year in 22 years I didn't have quail ground leased, but I did the math on 2012 lease costs vs. birds taken and I paid $1,100 a bird.

The drought and eyeworms and feral hogs and corn fed coons etc. have driven a lot of guys completely out of the quail hunting game or at least out of the $2K+ a year a gun quail lease game into trying to put together some day leasing where the pockets of birds are. This year is, without a doubt, the most promising in four or five years...but I think the spread of deer leasing to what 15 years ago we would all call quail country (e.g. nearly treeless dirt) is probably a game changer. I can remember a wide open place (I am talking like 25 trees on 1,000 acres) n of Archer City that I saw one deer on all year, and the farmer leased it for deer the next year. That part of the country had basically zero deer 10 years before that.

I called one of the farmers I used to lease from to day hunt a month ago, and he had already leased half of it to deer hunters; pretty sure that same progression has happened all over the Rolling Plains. It would take several years of guys seeing lots of quail on their deer leases to stem the tide, and even then, its going to be a lot of after deer season leases for $2 to $3 an acre because that's mostly whats going to be left to lease. Going to take several years for most land owners to see a serious rebound to want to let someone lease for quail as they are trying to conserve them, so that is the other side of the coin. South Texas has had more boom years in between, so the quail hunting trade/economics has held up better down there.

iliketohunt, and the other hand full of upland bird hunters on this site. Are any of you planning on Chaparral WMA for Jan 2 - 4? They should have birds there, but it does get a bit crowded.

Unfortunately I'm only off until about the first then it's back to work in Oklahoma for a few weeks.

If I could get away with taking my dog to work I could hunt every day. I work about 45 minutes from packsaddle and could switch to nights.

I actually probably could. If we were to hunt like 6 hours during the day (which would be a lot of running for him) how long would be reasonable to keep him in a crate?

I drive to Arizona and Kansas every year for quail and pheasant hunts; during these trips I usually let them out every three to four hours for a good leg stretching.

East Texas or Louisiana WMA and National Forest land for Woodcock which could be combined with a morning or evening duck hunt once you look around whatever your destination was.

You could drive lots of directions for a Waterfowl trip of any style of hunting you want be it in texas or a border state. Make it a destination that is remote, far from metropolitan areas and you should not see much competing hunting pressure and have a quality experience. Which could be combined with an after morning Dove or Snipe hunt if your lucky.

Of course Western OK Quail as your already thinking.

Late season Dove hunting is going on in both Texas and Oklahoma. With some research you should be able to find a nice public hotspot, or affordable private one, which could be combined or followed with some Quail hunting or a Duck hunt depending on where you light.

Whatever you do, and no matter how the hunting is, have fun just being out there with your dog. Other than our CO trip, it seems like every hunt I plan this year be it a long one or a day trip always has to be cut short or cancelled last minute for reasons out of my control. On the crating I would concur I would say I try to air my dog at least every 4 hours or so on the road. If really tired and crashed out, I leave them be and go longer.

I used to have a full season quail lease but it went away. I couldn't find another one so I got on a deer lease that has quail too. my advice would be to not limit your search to something called a "quail lease". The term "deer lease" has broader meaning than the term "quail lease". Besides deer hunting is fun too.

I found my quail lease through a random contact.

I hear yall on the leases. My problem is that I don't want to get on a lease with a bunch of strangers, especially hardcore deer hunters. I'd really like to find a lease that is small enough to make it affordable for me to just buy all the spots on it.

John, thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of going east at all. Will look into it further. We've decided to turn this into a family camping trip so need to find a place with rv camping nearby.

Shamrock C of C
Wellington "
Childress "
Paducah (Father of 4) PM him. I think he's the mayor or something.
Colorado City
Roscoe
Matador WMA (I've always found birds there.)

Appreciate the help!

Blake Kettle or Southern Kansas would be a great idea.

Next time I'm off work my wife and I are going to make a west texas/west Oklahoma trip. That's what I really wanted to do but since we are taking the kids and grandma camping this time we collectively (they) decided to do something different and head east where we've never camped. Going to pull the rv to Martin dies he state park and see what kind of hunting I can find in the area. Looks like a pretty nice park.

Need to come out and shoot Chukar at the gundog event. You will have fun and won't have to travel as far

I wish and was planning on it. Unfortunately I have class that weekend in lubbock. I'm doing a weekend master's degree. Would have loved to try it out.

Wow if you drive all the way to Lubbock for a class traveling out of state to hunt birds should be no problem

Haha it's usually not a problem just didn't have much time this go round.

Getting rained out so far in east texas.

On another note. My dog just turned two and seems to have just stopped listening to me. Really starting to get frustrating.

Anyone's dog done this before?

Yes they have.
I can always tell when I start slacking, because the dogs get hard of hearing.
Start working with him more, and he will start listening.

Yeah looks like I need to just do some obedience work with him when we're out of the field.