Not Good News for AZ Quail

[Mike of the Mountain]

I’m glad we did our AZ quail slam hunt in January 2025. Conditions were tough but we got into birds. Our outfitter sent this email out to all their clients. Praying for better conditions in AZ. I’d hunt with these guys again in a heartbeat.

“Nail in the coffin

The month started out with freezing temps, some wind and even humidity over 80%. But even with those conditions being in our favor, we’re just not seeing the birds nor have our dogs found enough birds to keep the entire season sustainable. Overall, Gambel’s are the most predominant bird out here with coveys as low as 10 and topping out at 20 birds several times. Scaled are the lowest we’ve seen.
Usually prominent in the grasslands, their numbers are as low as 6 and high as 10. Very poor numbers.
Best day is 4 coveys per day. Worst is 1 covey per day.
Mearns’ quail? One day in the field was enough to stay away for the season. Even good “pockets” of birds should be avoided. It may be all we have out there.
Once the the high pressure system arrived with temps reaching the mid 70s, no wind and humidity plummeting to the teens mid day, that was the nail in the coffin. No one needs to be snake bit. Especially our dogs.

It was hard but we’ve made the ethical decision to end our season early. John, Gunnar and I spoke nightly of our findings and we just didn’t see the season to be sustainable nor did we feel that we could provide a quality experience in our field.
Even our access on private ranches have produced the same findings. Great cover, good water and few coveys.
Hunting ethics first. Business ethics second.
The birds need a break and more important—the birds need winter rains for a spring insect hatch. 2025 winter rains were almost non existent. That’s what we’re facing right now. Poor survival rate.
We’ve developed a reputation here in Southern Arizona.
We preach ethics and we must uphold to that.
Although we adhered to AZGF failed recommendations in September on limits (5 on desert birds and 2 on Mearns’) we never came close to that. The birds were professional flyers and our clients were ethical with their harvests. We thank them for being true sportsmen and sportswomen.

We have a few groups that want to escape winter back east, want to enjoy Arizona weather in January and hike behind dogs.
All remaining 2025/26 deposits have been rolled over into next season.”