Traveling wingshooters often head south in the winter in pursuit of more "exotic" species of quail, especially Gambel's, scaled (often called "blues" in Texas), and Mearns'. Prime destinations for all three species are Arizona and New Mexico. West Texas often has very good numbers of scaled quail, but the population there is down significantly this year. As with bobwhites in the Southwest, good desert quail numbers depend on timely rains. Unfortunately, this year the rains were not very timely.
Arizona, will be the top desert quail destination. Gambel's are by far the most common, with harvests running from a half-million to nearly 900,000 between 2004-2007. (Harvest data for last year isn't available.) But the winter rains Gambel's require were below average, and there will be fewer birds this year. Better areas will be north of Oracle Junction, and in the Avra Valley west of Tucson.
Scaled quail are somewhat less dependent on winter rains, but Arizona hunters harvest far fewer of them, averaging only about 25,000 per year from 2004-2007. The northern part of the Avra Valley may be one of the better scalie areas.
Mearns' numbers have been excellent recently, with a harvest of around 80,000 in 2006 and 2007, and likely better than that last year. However, a lack of rain in July and early August will hurt numbers this year. The area around Nogales looks as if it might be better than the Sonoita-Patagonia area this year.
In New Mexico scaled quail are the top species. No harvest figures are available, but last year was not a good one for quail in New Mexico. This year, spotty rainfall means another below average season. The southeast is usually the top scalie area, with some bobs mixed in along the Texas border. However, rainfall was way short in that part of the state. One "sleeper" area may be the northeast corner, north of I-40, where there was more rain.
Mearns' are found basically in the southwest, and they're not as plentiful as they are in Arizona. However, that area of the state did receive more rainfall, so bird numbers should be decent.
One possibility, in both states, is to explore the option of hunting on military bases. In New Mexico, White Sands Missile Range has good numbers of scalies as well as some Gambel's. In Arizona, all three species can be successfully hunted on Fort Huachuca. However, post regulations vary as to whether hunting is restricted to only members of the military, base employees, and their guests. Also, all or portions of the bases can be closed to hunting periodically because of training and/or firing activities, or for security reasons.
JW
Traveling WingShooter Newsletter
__________________
Turkey Hunting! ~ One Turkey Calling Another!
Traveling Wingshooter 2009 Desert Quail Forecast
