Montezuma quail

WaylandCanyon · Aug 19, 2017

I have heard these birds are worthy opponents and tough to hunt. Love to hear from those here who have put a few in the old bird vest. Do they favor a particular type of terrain/habitat?

RabidRattleSnake1 · Aug 19, 2017

I have taken one. I was bow hunting deer in January afew years back and happened into them. I was able to shoot one before they bailed on me. By far the prettiest quail IMO. I was at a fairly high elevation in oak brush. Probably about 7000 feet on the side of steep mountain near Silver City.

mozey · Aug 19, 2017

I've gotten into them many times at around 8,000 feet elevation. The adults will play broken wing on you to try to lure you away from their young. If that happens, look closely around your feet to make sure you're not stepping on their babies. On a few occasions when guiding other hunters for deer or elk I've packed my shotgun along specifically for those birds, and taken about a dozen. A couple times I've taken some serious quail hunters to the same spots to look specifically for those birds and got completely skunked.

AlleninNM · Aug 19, 2017

I go once or twice a year to hunt them. Usually see them between 6500 and 8500 feet. Scrub oaks on grassy side hills. Along dirt rods with scrub oak nearby. A dog can really help to find them. They will hold VERY tight and flushes behind you for birds you stepped over is not uncommon. So hunt with someone you feel will observe safe gun handling requirements.

WaylandCanyon · Aug 19, 2017

Thanks fellas. Allen, that's great advice about safe gun handling for behind-the-line flushes.

NMPaul · Aug 20, 2017

If I ever have a heart attack, I am pretty sure they will cause it. When they blow up, you can literally be in the middle of a covey and they are literally feet from you.

WaylandCanyon · Aug 21, 2017

Paul, sounds like they are a bit like chukars, the bird you famously hunt the first time for sport and thereafter for revenge.

leftturnabq · Oct 15, 2017

>I've gotten into them many times
>at around 8,000 feet elevation.
>The adults will play broken
>wing on you to try
>to lure you away from
>their young. If that
>happens, look closely around your
>feet to make sure you're
>not stepping on their babies.
> On a few occasions
>when guiding other hunters for
>deer or elk I've packed
>my shotgun along specifically for
>those birds, and taken about
>a dozen. A couple
>times I've taken some serious
>quail hunters to the same
>spots to look specifically for
>those birds and got completely
>skunked.

So thought I'd share that I stepped thru a covey while closing in on some elk during my archery hunt. One did the broken wing thing exactly as you described Mozey. Once I verified my heart was still in my chest from them flushing underfoot, I noticed a female trying like he'll to get me to follow her as she fluttered about on the ground, "peeping" away, fainting injury. Never seen anything like it before.

mozey · Oct 15, 2017

HaHa! Yeah, I fell for it the first time--thought I was going to be able to catch one, but it always managed to stay just out of my reach, until it flew away with no sign of injury. The next time I saw that behavior, I stopped and looked closely at the ground around my feet. Sure enough, there were six or seven flightless babies pretending to be rocks.