Just in case anyone still hunts quail in the Rolling plains.

I'll go first. Went out today for the first time this season since the weather finally cooperated. Overnight low was around 20. High today was around 50. Light south wind. lots of green vegetation; cover looked good...a little too thick in a few areas but good overall. Lots of broomweed. I was hopeful since we had timely rains and some birds last year.

Hunted 4-4.5 hours. Skunked.
Did not see a single quail (or rabbit, armadillo, or even a hawk). I did see about 15 deer though.

Not goimg to Rolling Plains this year. Contacts says stay home. Hope you guys have luck.

beatarmy what county were you in?

I moved a couple coveys the first saturday of November, but by 11 it was too hot to keep going.

I have Been working young dog in Collingsworth county since season opened. On a 750 acre parcel I can usually find 1 covey. In different areas of the place. I have only covered a small area each time perhaps 10%. Since the weather has cooled off I plan to cover most of the place next time out. I'm not planning on actually shooting any because of low expected numbers. It's more of a dog workout and bird survey. I have taken 1 bird that I will deliver to dale Rollins for eye worm testing before year end. I planted upland bird mix in 3 plots and .5 mile strip. I usually find the single covey near these areas.

Clay county. Best day last year was 6 coveys in the same amount of time.

I will try again in January. I have been hunting on the same place since around 2005...quail only.

Lately I have been thinking that I should spend my money on a deer lease that might have quail rather than on a quail lease that might have quail.

I have a friend who got on a lease up there a few years ago. The rancher or outfitter closed it down, and promised them a refund. The refund was replaced by an offer for a free years lease when the birds came back. My friend is still waiting.

I know that guy he was a guest on a lease I was on and the member and guest got kicked off by the rancher for unethical practices.

Ran dogs for 10 hrs saturday in on 2000 acres on a friends place in Kent county and saw one covey of 13 one covey of 5 and 2 singles. Great weather but very dry. Talked to Dale after trip and he said that was above average.

Going Sunday morning as the weather looks pretty good with cooler temps and higher humidity, will post but from what I am seeing it aint looking good.

headed out friday. its a dust bowl out there right now..

Hunted Young County. Had dogs on the ground right under 5 hours. It was around 50 degrees for the first three hours. Two coveys and one pretty point on a fresh covey roost (but never got birds up). Both coveys were about 12 birds. Might do a couple of hunts down south, but think I am hanging up my boots on the Rolling Plains for this year

Sounds good. I would count myself fortunate if I could do the same up here. I saw a covey of six run across a pasture road last week and haven't seen them since, nor did anything eat the grain I threw. The only quail I've seen since early September.
Devoting my time now to trapping hogs and bobcats. Might not help but it isn't going to hurt the quail population. I'll be in FM the 21st through 26th. We'll have a cup of coffee and visit, if I can find your number.

hall county...3 hrs sat morning..3 hrs sat evening...3 coveys... 2 porcupines and a three dogs on one coon fight ...coon had the best day of all of us.

3 covey in 6 hours is enough punishment, the porcupines and a coon is just rubing it in. Hope all the dogs are OK.....

Motley County. I saw 9 bobwhite in my hog trap today. I didn't get a gender count.

my big male pointer retrieved one of the porcupines and pointed the largest coon in north texas. the coon and all three dogs rolled off a bluff bank alternating between dog on top, coon on top. surprisingly, other than nicks and cuts, everybody came out ok..
we did however have a talk....

saw your thread on the garmin chet....
the garmin was the only thing injured in the coon fight.. the coon chewed the antenna smooth off......

Coons and porcupines. Hope I never see either again. Reminds me of some of my hunts. Glad dogs ok. That male pointer must be one tough hombre.

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Tried again today. 2 Coveys in about 3.5 hours of actual hunting. One covey was stylishly pointed with an over-the-shoulder lock up. I shot twice and missed both times...here's to low impact hunting. The second covey was either bumped or flushed wild...I couldn't tell but I don't think Rosy locked up on them and she's not one to bump them once she locks up. First covey was around 10 birds, second 15 to 20.

Rosy pointed her first dog/coyote today. I was following up on the second covey to try and get some singles when Rosy locked up hard in front of me (facing me) over some knee high broomweed. I was closing in when a big ball of fur busted out of the weeds and ran off. At first I thought it was a hog but it growled at us as it ran off. It was either the fattest coyote I've seen or some kind of feral dog. I'd rather not have that encounter again.

We also flushed about a dozen deer, 15-20 hogs, 200 doves, 50 ducks, a jack rabbit and a cottontail. And the dog/coyote thing.

It was good to see a few quail but I still think after this season I am going to stop wasting my money on a 'quail lease.' If it just pour rain between now and June I might change my mind.

Wrapped up my deer hunting this weekend just SE of Snyder. Saw a small covey (4-5 birds) scurry across the sendero I was hunting. Oddly they ran right through the corn I had put out for the deer without giving it a second look. 7000 acres of prime country and I bet we have less than 100 birds total. Heck, we might not have 50! This makes the 3rd year in a row that we haven't fired a shot at a quail.

I called Matador WMA today and they said don't bother to come up unless I just want some exercise. They haven't had any precip since August. It's a shame because my Brittanies aren't getting any younger, nor am I. The only thing I can ever count on is my annual South Dakota pheasant hunts.

2 coveys yesterday in 4 hours of walking...shot a couple, missed several,got lots of points on singles and took pics rather than shooting.

good pics beatarmy...birdy looking cover for sure

Great pics, glad someone is having some luck and some fun.

My kind of hunter. The cover looks about right. What county

Good lookin' dog!! I just bought my first a couple weeks back.

Made the trip back out to hall county saturday for a quick one day hunt.
We had a beautiful day to hunt . Wind was descent and temps were 30-50's.

We started off hunting down a draw that was knee high in broom weed and got off to a great start. Rounded a bend to find both dogs down hard and kicked up an 18 bird covey right in our faces. We shot the covey rise and left the singles for another day.




An hour or so later, spirits were still high and we were discussing how pleased we were with the progress of our young female who had the point on the first covey when I came upon a sight that made my heart sink.
We had stopped for a second to locate both dogs and could not find our female. As I stepped over a hill into a wash there she lay sprawled out and in obvious distress.
Long story short, we calmed her and tried to determine what had her laid out. I believed her to be in low blood sugar shock. I was kicking myself for not carry a syringe of karo syrup for just such occasions. The only source of sugar we had was some oreo cookies but they were in the front seat of the truck which was now about 2 miles away. I figured I could take the cream off those cookies and and rub it into her gums and hope for the best. She had a far away look in her eyes and I knew she couldn't make the trip back to the truck.....So we pealed off a hunting vest and unzipped the game pouch and loaded her up and made the long trek back with her in tow.



The cookie cream did the trick..In a few minutes you could see her coming back around..




she drank a little water and we put her up for the trip and she seems as good as new today..


After all the excitement, that wrapped us up for the morning. We went back out for a couple of hours in the afternoon and found two more nice coveys...shot the covey rise and called it a day.


our take from the first covey...
we took home seven little brown birds for the day and left lots for seed...




All things considered , we had a great time...got some good dog work..can't think of a better way to spend a sat.
This one will probably wrap me up for the year on wild birds. I will say there seems to be more coveys and more birds/covey vs. last year....but we are still a long way from home....

Thats great, glad the pup is doing ok.

Sorry to hear about your gyp and really glad it turned out ok. As with some other reports it sounds like there are seed birds out there, now if we can brake this drought maybe things will turn. Congrats on the fine day in the field and the good outcome for your new girl.

Went Monday...one covey in about 4 hours. I agree about seed birds...we seem to have the same number of coveys as last year and they are occupying the same general areas. I think you really get a feel for good habitat when numbers are low...kind of like finding the good fishing holes in a river in the late summer when the water is down. There are large areas of the place I hunt that never have birds, and there are areas that always have birds. It all looks birdy at first glance though. I force myself to hunt the non-productive areas just to be sure. The good years are fun because the birds are even in the poor habitat...but the bad years are when you really learn to hunt.

I must be learning plenty!

Two of us went to Collingsworth County on Saturday. We hunted about 3 hours on 2 small acreages and found 2 coveys. We took one bird and plan to deliver it to Dale Rollins at Texas A&M for parasite and DNA testing. I'm posting pictures of Luke my 3 yr old pointer. He loves to hunt. If we only had more birds I think he could be a good one. He did have an encounter with his first porcupine, that was quite a distraction but after pulling all the quills from his mouth, tongue, nose, chest and front feet. He immediately hunted all the way back to the truck. I hope he learns from this but based on previous dogs I doubt that he will. He's been to the vet for a round of antibiotics.