It’s been a while since Patty and I went up to Shasta County to look for quail. But Ron called the other day. He said he was up there fishing and hunting and invited us to come join him for a bit. So I packed up Patty and Parker and we headed north.
Patty hunted with Ripley, Ron’s Brittany and long-time upland dog. They are both experienced dogs with a lot of confidence and both tend to range a little further than we’d like in thick cover. Regardless, they located a few coveys and even though valley quail don’t always (ever?) hold very well, we did manage to walk into a bunch on this point from Patty. He’d tracked them moving through the brush for several minutes and several hundred yards before they finally held tight.
Parker hunted with Ron’s short-hair Mesquite. They are both younger dogs and perhaps a bit more cautious. They both tend to hunt in a little closer. If a covey gets bumped, at least we might hear it. Parker hadn’t hunted valley quail before and she bumped one covey in front of Ron. Perhaps the experience made something click for her because later during the same walk, she pointed a covey that held long enough for Ron to walk in and get a couple shots.
Of course, I was so proud.
Patty Outdoors 
Very cool Dale
LikeLike