Northwest Fishing Reports

Down here in Arizona, as the new year begins, my uncle is going to be getting back into hunting fo quail and dove. Im his new hunting buddy[thumbsup] . Although, ive never been hunting..at all... hes going to be teaching me alot about hunting quail and dove ( thats what we will hunt for ) . Any of you guys have expierience hunting either of the bird? If so, please share some tips,past expierences, or maybe some links that I could read and learn some more. Thanks.

I'm not too experienced, but I do know it helps to be able to hit your target (as a multitude of still-living quail can attest to). Try to get some shootin' in before you go. For something to shoot at, our family has used thrown worm-infested apples when we didn't have clay targets.

quail and dove are the hardest to hit due to them being small fast flying birds. Both birds usually are in groups so 1 thing to remember is to pick one bird to shoot at and not shoot at the group. But ya get to the range and start shooting!!!

I've never hunted Dove but I know that shooting Quail is like shooting small Cruise missiles. You have to lead them and predict their flight path because like a cruise missile they follow ground contours. Give them time to get out away from you if you're shooting a choked shotgun and you'll do fine.

Hello fishbait.
The first thing I would do is to learn the pattern of your load.
Take a large sheet of paper and set it out around 30 yards and shoot it.
Walk up and see where the shot has hit.
Big D gave you a good tip for Quail as they are a contour flier.
They will come up to the top of the cover and then head out.
The other good tip from fishaholictaz is to pick out a single bird, when it drops go pick it up.
9 times out of 10 if you try for a double you loose the first one unless you have a dog.

You are in for a great experiance.

Thanks guys, alot of a great information. After my first expierence, I will let you guys know how I do.

Quail are one of the best tasting game birds in my opinion. Some like to just breast them out, but they are so easy to clean and I keep the whole bird. When you get into a covey, there always will be one or two that do not spook up right away. Be ready! Keep pushing your dog or stomping the cover if you don't have a dog for those singles to fly out. If they have been hunted heavily, they will hold tight until you kick them out of their cover and will not fly as a big group. I love hunting them and hunt them every weekend of the season. Good luck!

crappiemaster wrote:Quail are one of the best tasting game birds in my opinion. Some like to just breast them out, but they are so easy to clean and I keep the whole bird.

They are delish! We keep the whole bird, too.

And, as crappiemaster said, they are easy to clean. If you are fortunate to get some quail, here's one of the better videos on cleaning these birds: Y-rGM6rjQyc

YellowBear wrote: They will come up to the top of the cover and then head out.

This is a great tip, too. I've seen them skim just over the top of sagebrush before landing well out of range.

Hey, Fish_Bait...did you go hunting with your uncle, yet? I was wondering how well you did.

Hunted both for several years growing up in Eastern WA. Still have a scar on my thumb from cleaning a dove when I was 13. Sharp knife!

Anyhow- make sure you use small birdshot- 7 or smaller. Anything bigger will grind them little birds up, and blow 'em apart, so there is little left to clean and eat.

Never plucked them like you would a pheasant or duck, but rather a small slice at the bottom of the breast, and then tear the breast out. Both yummy birds.

Quail are all over, but the best dove hunting seemed to be near river/ creek beds in the early evenings.

Cheers!

ZogTheFuzzy wrote:Hey, Fish_Bait...did you go hunting with your uncle, yet? I was wondering how well you did.

Hey, i went once, and I got 8 out of my 10 limit.

Thanks for the tips everyone !