When winter at home turns cold and ugly, there's no place I'd rather go than the desert. Cool nights give way to sunshine and comfortable temperatures by midmorning. In places like southern New Mexico and southern Arizona, my favorite winter escape is a hunt for desert quail.

Mearns' quail prefer grass more than rock, and timber more than cactus. With Gambel's, it's the other way around. Photo by Brandon Ray.

In New Mexico, four species of quail are available for hunting: bobwhite, Mearns', Gambel's and scaled.

Bobwhites inhabit isolated pockets in the state's eastern portion along the Texas-New Mexico line. Scaled quail have the widest distribution and are found basically statewide.

Gambel's quail inhabit the southwestern quarter of the state and extend farther north and west in the western half of the state. Though the Gambel's and scaled quail species overlap in some areas, each species prefers slightly different habitat.

According to Ben O. Williams' classic book, Hunting the Quails of North America, the scaled quail's geographical ranges are largely unoccupied by other quail, except where the Gambel's quail range overlaps in the bordering states of Arizona and New Mexico.

Williams writes, "I have spent a great deal of time hunting in the areas shared by both species, even though I look for each species in a different landscape. The Gambel's quail lives in the lower dry habitat and brushy washes, whereas the scalies reside in the grassy draws, hillsides and plateaus above the dense desert habitat."

New Mexico's Mearns' quail -- also referred to as Montezuma quail -- inhabit primarily the southwestern corner and south-central region of the state. Here again, this species overlaps geographically with both scaled and Gambel's quail, though each has its own preferred niche of habitat. (Continued)

Mearns' prefers the higher elevations with more timber. It's a bird of the high savannas, foothills and evergreen mountains of the area's deserts.

In Arizona, the primary species to hunt are scaled, Mearns' and Gambel's quail. Gambel's are the most plentiful and most widely distributed. Their habitat includes the entire southern half of the state and parts of the west and northwest.

Scaled quail are found in the southeast corner of the state and along the Arizona-New Mexico line in the central-eastern region.

Mearns' quail are the most localized, found only in the southeastern corner near the Mexican border.

In either state, it's possible to hunt two or even three different species of quail in the same day.

If you want to hunt multiple species of quail on the same trip, Arizona is probably your best bet. State parks, BLM and state land all offer places to hunt in Arizona.

New Mexico offers some BLM and public ground, but it's mixed with more private ground than Arizona, so access is a limiting factor.

With a little research, the purchase of a few maps and some time spent on the phone talking to state biologist, it's possible for you to set up a productive weekend jaunt for more than one species of quail.

Once you're in the area, stop by the local game and fish department with your maps to discuss specific canyons to hunt.

Call ahead to schedule a sit-down meeting with the local biologist. Also talk to locals like ranchers, cops and UPS drivers, anyone who will listen.