Quail hunting without a pointing dog? Blasphemy! You probably shoot rabbits and squirrels while you're out too!

I like the way quail taste and I like the idea of shooting genuine wild birds. I will never buy birds or hunt over pen raised birds. I'm not knocking those that do, it's just not my thing. I'm a working man with a family, I don't have the time or money for a bird dog. When the quail numbers go down, I will spend more time hunting deer, hogs, doves or whatever else is in season. I do enjoy the surprise of a covey exploding at my feet unexpectedly. I'm 37 years old so hopefully I've got many more miles of walking left in me. I do not live and breath quail hunting, it's just one of the many things I hunt. I hunt with a 1955 Remington 870 loaded with number 6 and I shoot rabbits when I see them too.

Nothing wrong with that eastwood

Heathens!

I've been known to shoot a cottontail if the dogs were far enough out to where I could get it picked up before they came to the shot. I like to eat them too.

X2

I completely agree.
Reading through this thread it seems "hunting without dogs" has evoked a negative connotation more than likely based on assumptions about those who do and the practices they may or may not employ.

Blasphemy! Heathens! - I certainly hope these were intended as jokes. Is this really how we treat our brothers who all in some form or another share a common interest in the pursuit of game and enjoying the outdoors?

Quail are back for now and there are plenty to go around in certain counties across Texas. I think it is quite "sporting" to randomly walk around on Public land and successfully down a bird without any chance to prepare for the flush.

To demean another hunter simply b/c they do not have the privilege of owning dogs or even if simply by choice nonetheless, very disappointing.

What is so blasphemous about giving the birds an even better chance at getting away? I guess you are assuming people without dogs grain the roads, etc. Can't do that on Public land.

I only see one issue with hunting quail without dogs. Your chances of recovering downed birds are not nearly as good as with hunting with dogs. Actually, I hunt with dogs, and quit hunting one morning when I downed 4 birds and the dogs didn't recover any of them. And I had some dogs with really good "dead hunting noses". Certain times when all they have to eat is dry seed this seems to be an issue. One time hunting in the drought, I watched 3 different dogs step on and over a dead bird.
I just don't like wasting game.

Whoa slow down there Aggie! Just joking around. If you want to go hunt quail, you're free to go hunt them any way that you'd like! As is the OP. Just some friendly punning from some guys that consider bird hunting behind a bird dog just below religion.

Jumping to some pretty harsh conclusions there for one who doesn't want to demean another hunter aren't you? I can find nowhere where someone suggested that if you don't have a dog you must "grain the roads" and to clear things up I was not demeaning anyone....

To the original poster, my OPINION, the best way to hunt quail without a bird dog is to find someone who has a bird dog to hunt with!

No wonder the Aggies left the big 12, bunch of cry babies!!!

Calm down that was a joke too...

Hey there! I grew up mostly hunting birds without dogs( PaPaw had dogs, but we only got to run with him once or twice a season, and by that time he had gone to brittanies🙄). We did ok sometimes... I acquired a dog at 19, and now can't imagine living through a year in anticipation of the season without dogs to train. I think it was the venerable gene hill who said " it IS possible to hunt birds without dogs, but eating cold oatmeal is possible too. They are equally palatable.

#128580 was supposed to be an eye roll;-)

Nope I was dead serious! lighten up Francis.

Some folks are strung a little tight. I raised, trained and hunted English setters for the last 35 years. Until you see that flag tail flying on staunch point, or your best friends Elhew pointer quivering while pointing you're missing the best part of quail hunting. But, as Grampa used to say "different strokes for different folks."

Some of the funnest and most memorable hunts of my lifetime included Quail at a Deer lease and no dog. Most of those years I had hounds for night hunting and no room for bird dogs. As most Deer leases go, bird hunting was not allowed during Deer season. As was the case for every lease I have ever been on except my current one. But bird and small game was always allowed starting the day after Deer season. I had a yearly tradition every year of taking a family member or two to the lease the day after Deer season for some fur and feather hunting. Back then there was usually one or two days left of the late Dove season, Quail and Duck season would be open, And of course there would be a few rabbits and Squirrels around. We often purposely set our nice shotguns aside and used old family guns like my Grandfather's and Father's single shots.

We would be pulling in the gate at the same time the last Deer hunters would be pulling out. It was as simple as walking a circuit at sunrise from feeder to feeder shooting flushed Quail, including areas along the roads we frequently saw Quail. During Deer season one can't help but take notice of areas they see Quail all the time and tried graining those areas at first, but those areas were usually associated with feeders, or water, or gravel on the roads already. We found it not necessary.

After the morning walking hunt, we would go back to camp and eat a throwdown breakfast. Late morning we would swap our lead shot for steel, jump the tanks and creeks for ducks and anything flushed between. Return to camp and eat lunch. After a Siesta do the Dove/Quail/Rabbit circuit again and maybe a late afternoon field Dove hunt. Then back at camp that evening we would cook much of what we killed and have a feast.

It was not unusual for us to kill a limit of Dove, Quail, and Ducks on the first day with a few bonus Rabbits and Squirrel. We never lost game. We treated it like any hunting without a dog by watching the bird fall and taking a landmark of the spot and either retrieving the bird or dropping a marker on the spot before shooting another bird. Also by not taking shots at birds that we knew would fall into an area that would be near impossible to retrieve from. If you knew me at all you would know I love hunting with a dog as much as anyone here if not more than anyone here, but I would not trade those old hunts and memories with family and old family guns for anything. By all means don't stay home just because you don't have a dog or a dog for that type of game. Don't overthink it, just go, walk from place to place you have seen birds before, and pick your shots.

Wow, some pretty strong opinions...lol.

Actually, I would LOVE to hunt behind dogs, just don't have any and since I have no addiction to hunting behind a dog, walking around flushing them is my only option right now. But appreciate all e opinions, suggestions and offers from others to bring their dogs....hope to take someone up on it one day.