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My quail hunting obsession developed later in life! Growing up in Idaho, pheasants were the king of the uplands. I was once invited to hunt birds in Walla Walla, Washington with veterinarian Phill Kress. We hunted along this huge drainage ditch that was loaded with roosters, and I was having one of the most spectacular pheasant days ever! As we moved along the drainage, we ended up in an old over grown apple orchard that had thousands of valley quail in it! Dr. Kress and company went NUTS over those birds! They spent the majority of a couple hours chasing those little buzz bombs…my only thoughts were why would grown men want to chase those little stink-birds when there’s tons of roosters to chase! With all the commotion going on in that over grown orchard, I never fired a shot at the quail.
If only I could go back to that orchard! I have become crazy over quail! The photo in the heading to my blog above was taken in Idaho not far from some of the very best valley quail habitat I’ve ever seen! On our very best day in the “Dishner” we have moved thousands of quail in a single day’s hunt. With the fall season slowly approaching…I’m dreaming of upland coverts with loads of quail for my bird dogs to chase!
Upland Ways 
>Shawn, you are not alone in your admiration and enthusiasm for valley quail. This was our primary game bird when I was growing up in Northern California. These birds can really rattle a wingshooter, and a good bag of valley quail says something about a man’s dogs and his shooting ability. Delicious on the table, too.I plan to review A. Starker Leopold’s book The California Quail, on my blog soon.Thanks for the great post and photos.
>And I thought you were working today! Some deal. Sitting around dreaming about shooting quail.Hmm. I was beginning to feel sorry that I was out powdering skeets while you had to keep the Colorado economy humming. I need to have somebody there watching you every minute!
>Shot my first quail last year during a waterfowl hunt in Oregon. I would still rather chase Chukars and jump shoot Mallards off the Snake… but those little devils are growing on me.
>Shawn:Thanks for your comment my blog – much appreciated. I also read your post on Strideway – good stuff! Looking forward to the next installment.Drop me an e-mail and I’ll update you on my plans for hunting this Fall… maybe we can get together?