Hunting Trip Results....

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I have just returned from my annual pilgrimage out to West Texas to hunt Scalded(Blue) Quail and had a BLAST!!!

Brought home around 130 birds and two bobcats. The kitty's are beautiful specimens that will be mounted and displayed. Normally I don't shoot anything I don't eat but the cats and song dogs are really doing a number on the quail populations this year. These two lined up perfectly and fell to one shell from my shotgun.

The two friends I took out to the property are old country boys that love to cook.........we ate like kings. Two HUGH meals a day left me fat and happy. Steaming hot quail dumplings on a cold night does the body good !!!

The weather was perfect though the nights were cold and presented some opportunities in the mornings. All food and water inside and outside the tent that were not in ice chests were frozen solid in the mornings. Even the dish wash soap froze and water had to be thawed to make coffee......lol !!! It was also interesting to wake up to frost on top of your bedding.

Our little 1949 Willis jeep with foam filled tires preformed flawlessly over rough terr. We burned over 20 gals of fuel in it covering some 7000+ acres. Really beats walking through vegetation that is solid thorns.

Saw whitetail deer, mule deer, dove, ducks, quail, badgers, cotton tails, jack rabbits and bobcats. The song dogs made two passes close to camp around 11:00pm and 2:00am every evening.

Here are a few pics of our trip.


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[arizona]

That sounds great. Quail are tasty and fun to hunt. Happy New Year!!!

 

[BamaSixGun]

I've never had quail before, those dumplings sound good.

Looks like a great time T. Glad you made it back safely.

 

[f100cleveland]

That looks like you had a great time and good luck. We just ended the pheasant season up here and had one of the best populations of birds in decades. I've shot bobwhite quail in southern Iowa but those blue's look to be bigger.

 

[Scarlet_Nape]

Congrats, and great looking pics, Lance!!

 

[Maxtor]

I have a Remington 700 BDL that has not been shot for over 20 years. I am waiting for Angus to be in open season. We had pet deer on the ranch, so now I can't shoot deer. Like you I only shoot what I am going to eat, and right now, I only like Prime Rib.
I will shoot snakes, woodpeckers, rats, ground squirrels, badgers, etc. (pests).
We had coyotes come on the ranch and I could not shoot them. They looked to much like a dog, and they did not do any harm on our ranch. Badgers and squirrels made holes in the ground which could break livestock legs. Rats would try to make nests into the tractors or any vehicle that was setting for a couple of days. Woodpeckers would make swiss cheese out of the barn, if we did not take care of them first. We had lots of quail on the ranch, but never shot any.
What do they taste like?

 

[Tbar]

Max.........the quail we cooked were the best I have ever had. Slow cooked in the crock pot for 8-10 hours with nothing more than salt, pepper and water. The meat had no wild taste, was not dry and just fell off the bone. We deboned the meat then made dumplings.........mixed it all together and added more salt and pepper. It was cold outside and the dumplings were steaming hot........it really, really hit the spot.

On edit.............the Brangus were tempting targets. lol


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[Maxtor]

Max.........the quail we cooked were the best I have ever had. Slow cooked in the crock pot for 8-10 hours with nothing more than salt, pepper and water. The meat had no wild taste, was not dry and just fell off the bone. We deboned the meat then made dumplings.........mixed it all together and added more salt and pepper. It was cold outside and the dumplings were steaming hot........it really, really hit the spot.

On edit.............the Brangus were tempting targets. lol


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Sounds like you had a great trip. I will have to try quail in the near future.
There is nothing better and going on a trip with good friends and enjoying the outdoors.

 

[Crumm]

On edit.............the Brangus were tempting targets.

A nice little roast would have hit the spot on one of those cold evenings..

 

[Ironmerganser]

I am SOOOOOO jealous and SOOOO happy to see quail numbers doing so good. We make a trip to Kansas every year to chase bobwhites and have a blast. I have been lucky enought to find some coveys are home here in Nebraska too this year which has been nice. PM me if you ever want to trade a bobwhite hunt for a scalded hunt!!!