I know many may not appreciate the beauty of shooting quail but I just got back from a fantastic quail hunt today. The fine folks who process our oranges into orange juice that ends up as Coke Cola's Minute Maid OJ have a ranch in Yee Haw Junction (Lets just say as far away as you want to be in Florida from a gas station). We got there at noon time and had ribs, quail, smoked chicken, broccoli corn bread (Wow, great stuff, got the recipe if you are interested), fresh corn, collard greens and sweet tea. We then hopped on a custom made buggy with eight birds dogs and two labs and hunted for the next 5 hours. The temperature was 84 degrees with 80% humidity so it was pretty much hot and sweaty but a weak cold front passed through later in the day to make it bearable. The quail were flying great and the dogs worked great with us bagging 32 birds even though we missed most of what was presented to us. The beauty of the Florida flatland's was at it's best with the pine trees and palmettos. For me just being out there in the midst of this beauty is the most rewarding and if we got birds or not is not too important. Watching the dogs work and stay on point then the labs busting through to flush the birds is as much fun as shooting the birds. I ended up with ten birds down which is nice and will be a treat to add to the Thanksgiving table next week.... The day ended up snacking on leftovers and indulging in a dish called smack which is a fish dip made in Vero Beach that has to be more addictive than crack. This was washed down with Crown Royal and coke or anything else of your choice and then it was time to load the guns up and make the trek back to civilization where we parked and drive home. Yes it was a hard day but just to verify we did talk business so this was work related...
Sounds like a great time, would have been good to be out there. I used to go hunting fairly often with the guys (elk, deer, pheasant, grouse, quail, duck, geese...) but only when I was young (in my teens) did I carry a rifle. After killing a few animals, I just didn't feel like killing anything anymore. I still enjoy getting out with others that want to hunt, and have no moral objections to anyone that wants to hunt, and I'll gladly eat the day's bounty, I just don't feel like being the agent of death myself.
I never had the advantage of dogs. Quail will startle you when you are the one flushing them out. Makes for closer shots though! 8)
Couple years back at the same place we were working behind a dog on point and a turkey busted out of the palmettos and flew off into the distance. I was torn between shooting the turkey and respecting my role as a guest there to shoot quail. Since I am a little bit older and much wiser :roll: I have decided that I should have shot the damn turkey and this would have become legend in later years.... And to give you an Amen, yes quail will startle the crap out of you when they take off two feet in front of you as you are walking through the brush.
Ralph sounds like you were in good habitat for the Fla Rattler as well...do you wear snake boots when you hunt?
Good question, no I don't wear them. Many times today I barged through palmettos up my waist and thought hmm this is not the smartest move in the world. I know the weather is warm and the snakes are moving so I can walk right up on a rattler that would strike me in fear for his life. My father after retiring from the Miami Police moved us into Gods country in Central Florida and worked as an assistant at a 19,000 acre hunting area. He would fill the 180 quail feeders they had on the ranch and requested snake boots after running into many a rattlesnake laying at the base of the feeder waiting for quail to feed. In all honesty I have spent considerable hours in the woods as a young man and now as a middle aged man moving rapidly toward old man hood and have not run into many rattlesnakes. But I can tell you that if you ever had the illumination of smelling a goat in your life this is exactly what a rattlesnake in the wild smells like. So even though I have never had a problem with rattlers I have walked into areas where I knew they were in the area and quickly worked my way out of that area in respect of what they represented... I have often thought that if passage through areas such as this was mandatory for all Americans we would quickly reduce the amount of Americans on food stamps and assistance. It would separate those who can think with common sense and those who cannot...
84 degrees! Yeah, when I left the house this evening it was 32 degrees and we had a pretty good snow squall. If I had a choice....give me the shotgun.
eeehhhhh.....Quail Smail... :wink: :lol: When you go Rootybird hunting in the Motherland without a bird dog, you're gonna run into a covey of Quail sooner or later. The difference between them and Ringnecks is that Quail will wait until you almost step on their head, then they flush, all at once, scares the hell outa ya if you ain't ready. I've had these things bounce off my groin area before trying to get away.
Back in my teens, I had a buddy that reacted to that scenario one time. All I saw before I hit the ground was the Barrel of his shotgun swing towards my head. He almost got the hell beat out of him after that. He still apologizes to this day.
Not much of a hunter but I'm a pretty good trap shooter. Given my percentage of misses when I have hunted slow fat pheasants, I'm sure that quail would have no problem eluding me.
Up in Michigan I hunted Pheasant a few times with dogs in high ankle deep snow. The dogs would get one on point right in front of your nose but the bird would hunker down in the snow and a tuft of grass. Even though you knew the bird was there you couldn't see a feather until the damned thing would explode in a cloud of snow dust and fly by your nose in a whirlwind. You would think it would be easy pickins at such close range but many times you would miss such a bird inexplicably. Pretty exciting stuff and glad I had a chance to do it. As Tom says there is nothing like walking through the woods and unexpectedly happening upon a covey of quail who all get up at once... beating their wings loudly and collectively against the palmettos and making you almost crap your pants.... :lol: Sounds like a great time Ralph.....thanks for sharing.
I used to hunt small game when I lived in Ohio and have quail hunted a few times. Like Kes, I never really enjoyed the kill. I didn't have any issues with the animal and there were plenty of places to eat nearby. The last time I went out hunting was for rabbit and we got skunked. As we headed back to the car we were thrashing through some heavy brush when my (ex) friend kicked up a bunny who broke right at me. He inexplicably chambered a shell and fired, missing the rabbit but catching me in the left cheek with two pellets. Knocked me right on my ass. I got up, he ran over to check on me, I dropped him with a picture perfect overhand right to the nose. I drove him to the nearest small farm town where I forced him out of the car and have never seen him since. That was around 1973. Went home and picked the shot out my face with a pair of tweezers and retired from hunting. Think I ate at McDonald's that night. :? I too have no problem with others hunting.
I grew up with maternal grandparents that lived so far out in the sticks that the 5 p.m. radio news got to them at 5:30. 8) 8) 8) You trapped, shot, or fished for the meat you ate. The veggies came from the garden. The nearest restaurant was over 60 miles away. I learned at an early age that you can survive that way. My father taught me to make every shot count. I didn't understand the disadvantage at the time but I am a better shot now for what he did then. We went squirrel hunting. He had a Remington 1100 12 gauge automatic shotgun. He handed me a single shot 22 LR bolt action rifle. If you missed the first shot, the squirrel was long gone by the time you got the next round chambered.
I'm glad I mentioned the quail trip now because your stories and experiences are great, thanks for sharing them..... Keep-em coming... One quick note, I have only hunted pheasant one time and those were "pen raised" birds. The nearest experience I can relate to shooting the pheasants would be tossing 3 lb marshmallows up in the air and shooting them. It was not too "sporty" and I have never gone back, maybe one day I will get the chance to hunt a few wild birds...
I went wild boar hunting for the last day, day and a half. 6 dead hogs, 4 cracked ribs... lots of fun. I'll be doing it again.
As a long time hog hunter I need to ask how in the heck did you crack 4 ribs....? 6 hogs though is pretty damn impressive....