Mearns
 

Hunted mearns in Arizona last month. My first time. Can"t wait to go back.
Hunted my 20 ga. DH. My good friend Rick and I were able to knock a bunch of them down. Challenging targets. Well worth the chase.

And they're pretty birds too. How do they eat?

They usually eat seeds and a few bugs in the springtime by pecking on the ground.:rotf::rotf::rotf:

Took the words right out of my beak.:bigbye:

Oh stop please... you guys are killin' me - my sides hurt from laffin'.

Congratulations Mark!
They are a wonderful bird, and fantastic for pointing dogs.

I find them to be the best table fare. A bit larger than the other quails. My family has always voted to have Mearns first. Even over elk.

This was a very good year for the birds, waist high grass is the key to a great season.

The terrain was totally unexpected on my first time down years ago. I expected desert, and was amazed by the oak trees and tall grass.

Not to hard to take the weather either at that time of year!

Agreed - I too was not expecting the terrain to be so beautiful.

another

San Rafael valley

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Near Canelo looking north on a frosty morning. Fog in the San Ignacio del Babocomari Valley, and Mustang Mountains.

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Winter sunrise on the Santa Ritas and Mt. Wrightson

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Santa Ritas from Greaterville

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Congratulations on your first Mearns Quail hunt. In my opinion they are the ultimate upland game bird and the country and terrain is spectacular. Hope you and your group also took the time to visit the many wineries in the area and had the opportunity to see some of our Gould Turkey.

This is a hunt that I need to put on my bucket list.

One more pic then a comment, and Bill or Phil might respond. Las Cienegas National Conservation Area with snow on Mt. Wrightson/Santa Rita Mountains/Coronado National Forest

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Mearns have been hit hard by the continued drought in AZ, and the success of the hatch is very dependent on summer Monsoon rains producing grasshoppers and weed seeds. Word was out that this might be a better season, and the first week saw hordes of hunters covering the hills, lots from California. Unfortunately, it was quite warm. Hard on the dogs and the snakes were still out.
The snow birds and frozen Midwestern and Wash. state bird hunters came after Christmas, accompanied by some dog trainers towing 8 hole dog trailers and ATVs to haul their paying sports. I met Bill and Chuck H. in the Canelo Hills area, and every forest road turn in had a rig parked, and lots of 5th wheels and trailers were set up. The little parking area at the Gardner Canyon road turn in off 83 north of Sonoita looked like WalMart.

Not sure what my Dirk thought he was doing, but I told Chuck he was backing Sky :rolleyes:

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My point is come on out, AZ F&G can use the money, but it is tough hunting at altitude and there will be lots of competition. And please leave some seed for next year!! Once you've seen a covey get up, it's not that hard to be selective and just shoot the cocks.

That country looks awfully nerve-racking to this eastern Grouse hunter. Very few trees to shoot around or jump in the way of one's shot charge.:eek:

Hope all is well with you and Beth, Drew.

Marcus

Drew you are right on the money with all of your comments and observations. The season was pretty good, but just a quick glance at a map showing where the traditional Mearns areas are, clearly shows this is a renewable resource only if hunters practice good conservation. Conservatively 8 out of 10 vehicles were out of state. Lots of them are good good guys, that try to shoot roosters and do not hunt the coveys day after day until they are gone. Then there are others that come in with a truck load of dogs and then hunt ever bird down that is in the canyon. Some stay for 2 months, and hunt almost every day. Some of the comments attitudes we experienced was " we have been hunting this same area for the past 10 years, the first few days we got here last week the hunting was great, now getting hard to find the birds, they must be getting smart. Pulling up behind us, one guy stated I see you found my best spot. Yet another comment to my hunting partner one day, We are here for the next 3 days ( a well known quail support group ) we are having a friendly contest to see who can shot the most birds. Finally the most discusting and greedy comment was from a hunter that after discussing with him the need to shoot one or two birds out of a covey and then pull his dogs out and walk away from the rest of the covey, I am not about to do that hell I might not be back next year? I love to hunt out of state also when possible, so I sure do not want to begrudge any sportsman from enjoying a hunt for Mearns, but if you do come be prepared for for having a lot of other hunters, and please practice good conservation, and sportsmanship.
PS don't be fooled by the wonderful picture Drew posted, this is a beautiful grassy area, and in fact is where I will be running one of my dogs Sunday in a NSTRA trial. Most of the Mearns areas are just as beautiful, but is not by any stretch of the imagination easy walking in most cases.

Hailing from Utah and being a wild chukar hunter, we tend to migrate towards steeper country than the majority of hunters, I suppose.
In 18 days of hunting, on 3 separate trips, I personally saw one group of other hunters in the field. I was treated to a good #ss chewing by the "guide" that lead the party. From across the canyon. Another reason to seek solitude.
I believe it is easier than many think to get far away from crowds. I saw more "illegals" in the field than hunters this season.

Hog Canyon, Parker Reservoir, and some of the other well known spots offer nothing for me.

Yes, the total area the Mearns dwell, is fairly well defined. Yet I'm convinced that even on my last day hunting, my dogs pointed a covey that had not seen another hunter all season.
Not every day of hunting is about shooting a limit. The opportunity to work my dogs, further their experience is plenty satisfying for me.

I do not hunt up singles after the initial flush.

Being a native Arizonan, having spent most of my life chasing quail I know where I can go to avoid the crowds. In 18 days of hunting you only saw 1 group of hunters in the field is nice to hear. That has not been my experience unfortunately. The one group I would have liked to have seen would have been Arizona G&F officers in the field checking limits and licenses, as well as gathering data on the harvest.

Phil,
I am amazed by that myself.
Each time down I expect to see someone of authority.
Even the couple of fellas that had Coues tags were never checked.
We set up camps, both east and west of Nogales, so someone was present in camp a pretty fair amount of time. Not one person in the parties was ever checked by a warden.
I don't mean to minimize the number of hunters or the effect that it has on the quail. It takes some effort for us to get away from the crowds. The birds get "hammered" in many areas.
Is there any type of conservation group in AZ for the Mearns?

as a Grouse hunter in Michigan's Upper peninsula I see a lot of out of state hunters. Most don't practice any kind of conservation. I heard one guy bitching in a local restaurant that he had been there for two weeks and hunted every day and had only killed 30 or so Grouse when last year during the same time period he was over 40:eek: IMHO every Grouse is a trophy bird. I guess there are game hogs no matter where you go. Some people are hunters while others are just plain killers.:cuss:

I've done a bit of hunting around Houghton. Deer and grouse. The grouse are like rockets compared to our ruffles in the west!
Beautiful country.
I love the smell of the woods in the fall. The musty wet woodsy odors remind me of younger days in Vermont.

I don't know why that guy would be in a restaurant.
I'd think he'd need to be eating grouse day and night to stay under his possession limit.
Must be a helluva shot.
I have not had the opportunity to overhear someone like that before, but it would make me wonder if they were telling the truth,or just a blowhard. I've never seen those numbers of grouse in the woods in the UP when I've been there.

The limit is 5 birds per day but unfortunately there is no possession limit. I looked it up as I was going to give the DNR a heads up with his plate number. I'm sure most of these guys shoot them Yooper style...in trees, on the ground etc.
It's hasn't been uncommon to get 20 plus flushes per day and I guess if you shoot at everything your going to hit something esp with an open choked 12ga:shock: These killers must be tough guys as I see the 2 3/4 12ga hulls with 1 1/8th oz of shot on the ground. I once saw six hunters coming out to the their truck so I stopped to chat. to a man they all had Rem 1100's. I much prefer my little VHE 28 or light weight 0 frame 20ga.

"I much prefer my little VHE 28 or light weight O frame 20ga."

I agree with that 100%!!

It's hard to believe that there is no possession limit.
But one would guess if they are that far off, possession limits would not deter them either.
I picked up about 3 pounds of others spent hulls while walking the hills this year.

The game bag on my hunting vest carries out 'way more beer cans, spent shells and candy wrappers than grouse

AZ F&G is cracking down on leaving shell casings and target trash out in the desert, but it remains a big problem.

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I carry a plastic grocery bag, and picked up a bag full of beer bottles, .223, .40 S&W, .308 brass and 12g shotshells where I run the dog north of Cordes on State Trust Land. Pleased to find everything had been cleaned up when I returned the next week

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And then there is the 'migrant' left-overs. I almost always find water jugs and backbacks around Sonoita and south to the border

http://azbordertrash.gov/
Altar Valley, 30 miles southwest of Tucson, which includes the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

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