Photo by Lance Beeny

For good reason, in most years, it's the big-game critters that get all of the hunting attention in the Southwest, as anyone who has ever chased elk, mule deer or antelope in either Arizona or New Mexico can attest. But while such attention might be well-deserved, it also keeps the spotlight from shining on what might well be the region's best small-game claim to fame -- some mighty fine quail hunting.

That's just fine for the wing-shooting enthusiasts who are eagerly anticipating another solid season of quail hunting this fall and winter.

What do biologists in the two states have to say about this year's upland bird hunting prospects? Well, let's just say that hunters should keep plenty of shotgun shells handy!

ARIZONA
After a winter that saw ample rains and high country snows descend upon the Grand Canyon State, moisture has certainly been on the upswing across Arizona.

That comes as bona fide good news for the state's three species of quail -- the Montezuma quail (also called the Mearn's quail), the scaled quail (also referred to as the blue quail), and the Gambel's quail -- not to mention the bird hunters who chase them each year.

"It's a good time out here," said Mark Zornes, small game biologist for the Arizona Game & Fish Department. I'll give it a 'B' (grade) overall with some pockets of 'A' out there and probably some pockets of 'C.' "

According to the biologist, the Gambel's quail has, without a doubt, the brightest outlook of the three species for the 2005 season.

"Their population is going to be pretty darn high," Zornes said. "With the hunting opportunity we have here -- we have a long season -- there is going to be some pretty good hunting out there."

Zornes is certain of his prediction because of one simple reason: Supply the right moisture at the right time and the birds will respond. They got that type of moisture this year.

"Gambel's quail annual production is tied to winter moisture," Zornes said. "Throughout the western half of the state, we had way, way above normal precipitation from last October to March. Some places had 400 percent of their normal precipitation. If that country doesn't all burn up this summer (at press time, some fires were burning), there is going to be some fantastic Gambel's quail hunting."

As a quail hunter, Zornes admits that he is like a kid waiting on Santa Claus for this year's season to unfold, which typically does so between October and early February. "We're seeing really large broods out there and I'm excited, my dogs are excited, and I'm loading up shotgun shells. It's kind of like waiting for Christmas."

Where exactly do you look for Gambel's quail when you turn the dogs loose?

"This is a desert bird," Zornes said. "These birds don't ground roost like bobwhites do. Instead, they roost in desert shrubs like desert hackberry and desert wolfberry.

"I'd start in the morning looking for an island of green out in those desert washes," he added. "Find where the birds were roosting the night before. If you do, you'll get into birds relatively quickly doing that."

Zornes says the birds will move upslope as the day progresses, feeding up and out of those wash bottoms. The washes, however, are always real good places to start."

How about hunters interested in targeting Arizona's scaled, or blue quail, population?

"Those are the track stars," Zornes said with a laugh, noting the bird's propensity to run.