Leaving for Arizona.....

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Leaving tomorrow for Arizona to spend a few days with Phil Carr. I've got three sandhill crane permits to hopefully fill plus we're going to give the doves and quail a try as well.

Phil was out this past weekend and had his three birds in a couple hours so I'm hoping for great things. He was shooting his Parker DH 10 gauge with some slick Winchester 2 7/8 #2 paper shells I'd sent him. Lead is legal for cranes in AZ by the way.

I'm going to take "The Preacher" my #3 frame 10 gauge GH magnum and some 3 1/2 inch Federal 2 ounces of #2 shot. Hopefully the sermon it gives will be as deadly as in times past.

If I shoot just one crane it will be well worth the trip as I've never had the opportunity before. Reports to follow.....


Destry

[John Dunkle]

... Reports to follow.....Destry The heck with reports...? Pictures....

We want pictures...

Real pictures...

John
(And bless The Preacher.. Didn't Clint Eastwood play that part? And you have his gun??? Whatever.. ;) )

[Dean Romig]

I've heard them called "Beefsteak on the Wing" so please let us know if the rumors are true. That's a great bird to practice head-shots on.

[Drew Hause]

Courtesy of Bill Brink

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20611291/335872079.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com:80/VOL1373/6511424/20611291/335872081.jpg

Snowed in Willcox Sunday night Destry and I about froze in Sonoita Monday morning. You and Phil have fun!

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I'm a little disappointed, I figured you'd come down and drink some whiskey with us. *wink*


Destry

[Phillip Carr]

Here are a few pictures.

[Don Kaas]

Philip- you are in charge of Destry. It is an awesome task and a profound responsibility but I am sure you are up to it...Best of luck to you!

[Drew Hause]

Phil-you got an e-collar that will fit Destry? :shock: :rotf:

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Phil,

Those are some fantastic photos, I'm chomping at the bit to get on the plane this afternoon.

Don and Drew,

Do I really even have to say it?


Regards,
Destry

[Derrick Stewart]

Phil,

Nice pics and very nice looking DH as well. Take care of ole Destry good luck to both of you.

Derrick

[Drew Hause]

Just received a cryptic message from Destry. Phil ran him up and down hills chasing Mearns all day totin' "The Preacher", and now he looks like one of those Biggest Loser contestants after 11 weeks on The Ranch. Unfortunately, they met some meth haulers with La Familia who thought they'd get a good ransom for his carcass. He's now in a drop house somewhere in Phoenix in his underwear with 15 Guatemaltecos. At first they demanded nothing less than a BHE, but I got them down to a C grade toplever hammer gun only if Dale Edmonds refinished the barrels. I gave them Kaas' home phone number. The FBI was trying to trace his cell GPS, but sorta lost interest when they found out he grew up in downstate Ill. :rolleyes: More to follow!

[Drew Hause]

UPDATE
Well the coyotes are tough guys, but Destry in his underwear was a bit more than they could handle, and Kaas wouldn't answer his phone.
Now they're holding out for a 20g Trojan, but I thought I'd stall a bit and maybe they'd go for a Lefever Nitro Special.

[Drew Hause]

UPDATE
With Destry's winsome personality, the gang was going to give him up for a Stevens 311 when some Mara Salvatrucha fellas busted in to steal the load of meth and took Destry with them BUT he's still wearing Phil's Garmin Astro tracker and is headed back south down I-10.

[Drew Hause]

GOOD NEWS
Destry was whining about being hungry, so the gang gave him a bean burrito and the resultant emissions in the back of the Tahoe caused them to drop him somewhere on the Tohono O'odham Rez. La Migra has him, but they're not buying the "I'm from Michigan" story (esp. since he's still in his underwear) so we all need to call 1-I KNO DESTRY and vouch for his good character. BTW: now Phil won't answer his phone.

[Bill Murphy]

Doc, as soon as you said that Destry was chasing Mearn's quail, I knew that this was a bogus report. Destry doesn't chase birds, his statement, not mine.

[Dean Romig]

Drew, you're killin' me... :rotf::crying::rotf::crying::rotf::crying:

[Drew Hause]

Phil's online now so we should shortly have the REAL story :bigbye:

I'm still trying to get over the image of Destry in his U-wear :eek:

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Preacher,

Apparently on your last quail hunt there in the desert you must have chewed on some of that special cactus the Injun's call peyote. It was nice talking to you today on the phone though all your reqests for photos of me in my union suit are officially denied.

To All The Rest,

The cranes proved elusive today so after a half days efforts we decided to hit the low desert hills and gullies for some quail. The dogs handled a small covey we found with grand style though my quail shooting skills are mighty rusty what with about a 15+ year lay off. Phil let me do all the gunning over the points we got and I managed to miss a single clean and only killed one out of a chance for a perfect double. The birds were scaled quail, a first for me, I'd never even seen one before outside of a glass case. I think I only managed to kill the one quail through the graces of having shot at it with Dad's old Stevens 311. That gun has killed more bobwhite quail than most folks have a chance to see in a lifetime. It knows it's business even when handled by a professed and very sinful duck hunter.

After that bit of success we made a move to a dove shooting spot for the evening flight but managed to run onto another big covey of the blue scaled birds before we got settled. The dogs were loosed again but the birds proved to be wild, running a long way before finally flushing wide. Phil made a tremendous long shot on one that impressed me very much. After the dogs did us the service of finding it in a dry creek bed we continued on to the doves. Not many flew but I got a barrel in at a couple and managed to scratch one down.

All in all a great day, seeing new country and new game I'd never seen before, good company, and excellent dog work.

We're going to give the cranes a try again first thing in the morning them move off to a new spot that Phil claims in the prettiest piece of land in the state to try the Mearn's Quail. As you all know, I'm not a bird hunter and haven't been for a long long time. I was a little worried about not being able to keep up in the rocky ground and cactus covered slopes but I managed well enough. I think Phil was easy on me and the air here must be filled with some remedy for bad knees and a fat belly. Hopefully I'm able to keep us as well again tomorrow because I'm mighty keen to get one of the strange little quail with the hawklike claws.

More reports to follow unless I get snake bit. If that happens I'm praying the whiskey holds out.


Regards,
Destry


P.S. Phil's lovely wife just treated us to the finest pot of split pea and ham soup I think I've ever had the pleasure to dribble down my whiskers. One more drink, a quick resorting of gear, and I'm off to bed.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Here's a few pics to prove I'm not making this up.

This is one of Phil's dogs, I just snuck in to show off:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/MarketHunter/012.jpg

Another to show off the beauty of the bird and this mighty fine bird gun. It ain't nothing fancy but if I ever had to sell off my guns it would be the one I couldn't bear to part with:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/MarketHunter/019.jpg

[Dean Romig]

Good stuff Destry... I think we have an upland hunter in the making! I'm rootin' for ya Destry. When I close my eyes I can see you scramblin' after a brace of fine pointers come onto a pretty point on those Michigan grouse. :bowdown:

[Don Kaas]

Destry, I am very disappointed in you. Signed, Wilkes "The Quail Dog" Kaas

[Derrick Stewart]

OK Destry, were waiting for a report of today's hunt

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Today was another mighty fine day though my shooting was markedly poor. We started off with cranes same as yesterday, but they didn't much wanna play. We had a pair get about 50 yards and, though "The Preacher" is very capable of such distances, operator error failed to bring one to bag.

We stayed at it for awhile but they were all flying high so about 9ish we left off and headed for Mearn's Quail territory. Phil wasn't lying when he said it was going to be a pretty piece of country. High mountainous ridges surrounding a long valley filled with oak and mesquite trees, criss crossed with rocky dry creek beds.

Let me tell you boys, we covered some ground today, thankfully the brandywine like air kept the fat boy together. We hunted over hill and dale, through gullies and meadows, up and down back and forth for several hours.

We had quite a few tense moments and found quail sign nearly everywhere but just couldn't get to grips with them. Finally, just before sunset as we were coming off the last ridge, the young dog pointed right in front of us. But before we had time to even realize it, the covey was up and away. I managed two quick shots but even Dad's old gun couldn't provide enough help to make me connect on that kind of chance. They headed straight for the bushes, I made a fine shower of leaves on my first shot and my second I don't even know. We hit the brush again chasing singles and I managed to miss two more wild flushing birds in the thick stuff. Tough shots, but I should have killed at least one, I was pretty disappointed in myself needless to say.

But what a grand day even if we came home birdless, what a fine piece of country to be carrying a gun in. We found half a dozen patches of scattered deer bones where mountain lions had made kills, I saw ravens flying the thermals overhead, I picked up pieces of white quartz off a hillside and imagined finding a vein of gold running through them. We chatted with a rancher that was headed to check a lion kill with the roughest looking pack of coursing dogs I ever ran across.

Phil left me at the bottom of the hill as he headed to get the truck after our last pass through the quail cover. I took a seat on a piece of lava rock just as the sun touched the hills. I can't remember when I was somewhere so quiet. No tires whining on a highway, no cel phones ringing, nobody but me and the wind for just those few minutes.

Tomorrow it's another quick try at the cranes then off to another stretch of desert around Douglas, AZ to see if I can't miss a Gamble's Quail. The fat duck hunters legs and lungs are holding up surprisingly well even though I'm sure Phil is being pretty easy on me as far as cover goes.


Regards,
Destry

P.S. to Dean: I don't see a grouse dog in my future anytime soon. Though I did have a bit of grouse hunter sympathy today after the first couple hours without a solid point. Those Mearn's Quail proved almost as elusive as those ruffed legged birds you all seem so fond of. But I'd go after them again in a minute. I told Phil at dinner I was almost (that's almost) glad we didn't get one today. Gives me an excuse to come back......

[Dean Romig]

Destry - A big slap on the back for hangin' in there and giving it all ya got. :cheers:

Those legs and knees are gonna kill you tomorrow.

[Richard Flanders]

Nice description Destry. Any day afield with a gun in country such as that is indeed a glorious day, bird to bag or no. I warned you about those cranes, eh? There's no more wary a waterfowl as them. Now you know why I loaded my 12ga front loader to 8ga equivalent when I hunted them in Nome 29 yrs ago now.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Clear skies this morning and no wind, so the cranes were flying in the stratosphere. We watched the first few groups cross and never even bothered setting the decoys. It was 24 degrees at daylight, I didn't think it got quite that cold here.

Took off to another area and made a few stands for coyote. Phil is quite the predator caller and kills a ton every year. I was hoping to get a shot with my 10 gauge but was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We had one come right in but we were on separate sides of a mesquite thicket and it came to Phil's side. He had a snap shot with his Winchester 25-20 lever action but missed I'm sorry to say.

After that we headed off to Tombstone for a bite of lunch and so I could say I'd been in the famous town. Quite the tourist trap these days but the waitress at the Crystal Palace Saloon was a voluptuous beauty, and they even had Pabst Blue Ribbon on draft. I was in love for about as long as it took to eat a buffalo burger and slake my thirst.

While in Tombstone we discovered that I'd left the tail gate down and my $100 Muck Boot Company swampers and Phil's dove bucket had fallen out on the rough roads. So we headed back the way we'd come, stopping for a try at some Gamble's Quail around a high ridge but had no luck. But we got got lucky, found everything we'd lost after a turn around the ranch roads and had a good laugh about it.

We still had some daylight left so Phil suggested we try a valley he knew nearby that held some Mearn's Quail. Unfortunately our bad luck (as far as quail went) continued to hold and we never saw a feather though the dogs worked hard trying.

Tonight it was a big Mexican dinner at a local spot and a few drinks. I'm a trifle sore and stiff, have a few cactus thorns stuck in various spots, and a knee and shin are a bit banged up from a tumble I took down a ridge. I feel great, I'm coming back next year if they'll have me!

I want to extend a public thanks to Phil and his lovely wife for putting up with me for half a week. I really had a great time and am ready to try it again as soon as possible. I'm praying for more rain this spring and summer so the quail population peaks up a bit.

Headed home tomorrow in the AM, off to bed.......


Destry

[Richard Flanders]

No cranes! That's too bad. I was hoping you'd get to taste one. Guess I'll have to bag some up here next year and bring some down for you....

[Phillip Carr]

Destry, It was a pleasure hunting with you. Birds did not cooperate as we had hoped but there is always next year. Enjoyed the camaraderie, stories and all of the laughs. Lets pray for rain here in AZ, a big storm they say is on its way. Winter rains = Desert Quail, Summer rains = Mearns Quail.
Hope the trip home was uneventful.

[Don Kaas]

Sorry, your Crane Quest turned out like your Curlew Quest. Off tomorrow to spend the week at Beaver Dam in lovely Tunica, Mississippi. Let's hope the ducks don't prove as eloosive as dem cranes was...