I got back from the Southwest last weekend after chasing quail for 10 days. The numbers were way down from last year but we still had fun. Since this is a double gun forum I figured I would title it about the gun . I took my Waverly model Dickson in XXV configuration with me on the trip. I just bought the gun this last summer from RMC and have really enjoyed it. So far I have taken eight different upland species with it this year. It is shaping up as my favorite hunting gun. In addition to my Dickson I brought my GWP Daisy and my EP Sammie. My hunting partner Greg also accompanied me shooting that gawd awful Benneli Ultra Lite of his .

We started out hunting Gambels Quail.


Greg walking in on point.


Taking a break.


The first days results.


A tired old dog.


Pulling spines.


The Dickson and its first Gambels.


Both Greg and I being professional archaeologists, we are always on the lookout for remains of the past. During the first few days we encountered several pieces of rock art.






To be continued.

We meet up with another friend of mine and hunted some slopes.


Throwing me a quail.


Finding water where you can.




A beautiful bird IMO.


We had fun over the next few days exploring old and new country. I always like to hunt some previous ground as well as mixing in some new.
We had one day where we hunted way back in on some drainages where we found a number of nice sized covies.


I like to see different country and that is one of the draws of the desert. It has a wide variety of country and birds to hunt. We moved on to see some new country and birds. Our intention was to hunt Scaled quail since Mearns numbers are very low in traditional Mearns country.

Here I am working an edge.


Greg walking in on point.


Greg and his first Scaled Quail.

The little running devil.


The Dickson and its first scaled quail.


Sammie hunting a ridgeline.


Daisy working the area as well.


Sammie following up on singles.


Greg hunting.


A fellow hunter.


During the course of the hunt we stumbled upon a couple covies of Mearns. I hunted for them last year for the first time with no success. I never intended on hunting them this year as I did not want to pressure the birds anymore than they are. Daisy pointed the covey above me and my friend Greg went in for the flush. When they flushed one flew downhill towards me and he yelled quail. I lined up on it and dropped it. Only afterward did I find out it was a Mearns to my great surprise. We were in some country very unlike that found along the Mexican border. In the end we found two covies. The one I took a bird from which numbered around 10 and a 15 bird covey.
Me and my Mearns.


The Dickson and the Mearns.


Well it was an eventful trip and I enjoyed using my Dickson immensely. I look forward to hunting the desert again next year. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Hi Wade, I knew it was you by your follicle challenged head!!!!

All kidding aside, just a GREAT PE!! I sure do envy your photo skills. My pics are taken with an old Brownie (camera that is). Glad that that gun of yours did well. Looks like a good time by all.

Glad you made it home safe and sound.

Be Good!

Greg

Beautiful - the terrain, the birds and the gun.

I like the Gambels. A few years back, I got the skin from one for flytying. All those smoky blue dun feathers make wonderful soft hackles and some small crane flies for a stream I used to frequent.

I'm guessing that whoever tapped out those pictographs was recovering from a remarkably bad trip on his last vision quest. Bet nobody picks up and carries off that rock art.

Great pictorial; it really gives a south Georgia boy a feel for the Southwesten desert bird hunting. Thanks!...Geo

Great pics and great story, thanks for sharing them. It looked like some hard hunting with that beautiful Dickson!!

What gauge?

Oh, and next time just leave Greg at home or try setting him straight anyway!

Hello, I'm not the smart good looking Greg in the PE, I'm the smart a** Greg!!

BTW, Wade, my wife wants to know if you ran into John Wayne out there?

Be Good!

Greg

Oops!!
I didn't mean you Greg the other Greg!!

It is a 12ga 2 1/2". It was originally choked Cyl and Full but was later opened up to Cyl/IC. I was shooting New Era 1oz of 8 shot.

Yea I told him he was defiling the birds with that contraption.

BTW Greg, tell your wife I had lunch where John Wayne used to go from time to time. BTW my hair is quite thick and luxurious, at least what is left .

I forgot to thank everyone for their comments. The pictures are a mixture of Greg's and mine, so i can't take credit for all of them.

Fantastic pics and comments. Really gives a feel for the country and the hunting. Thank you.

Great pics and story! Really enjoyed that! Thanks for sharing with us!

Thanks for taking us along. How about more pictures of the fuzzy faced dog?

Stay well,

Franchi

It was nice to see in that rock art that tic-tac-toe hadn't been invented yet.

Awesome adventure, thanks for sharing, great pictures too.

Wade, I had to drive to town today, giving me a chance to think along the way in Montana. My thoughts were about your post. It was really a good one. I hunt the desert, mostly in New Mexico, where quail were very scarce this year. Enjoyed your photography so much, especially the Indian pictographs, and your wirehaired drinking out of the "bowl". We sometimes find similar examples of Indian habitation, but not nearly the pictograph examples you show. Thanks

I see you have bootied up your dogs with innertubes. What desert plant are you avoiding ? In New Mexico, my wirehaired pointers don't need boots and just trample prickly pear. But then again, my wirehairs are not really the great desert quail dogs that Brits and pointers can be. Too much heat , sometimes.

Cholla cactus is one of the issues, but the boots are mainly used to keep the dogs from cutting their feet up on the sharp rock up in the mountain sides. There is easier terrain to hunt down on the flats but I find more quail higher up this late probably due to all the pressure along the roads and trails. When I hunt down in Scaled quail country I don't need the boots. That is mostly prickly pear and crucifix bush.
Thanks again guys for the kind words. I enjoy hunting with a good sxs and taking photos. By sharing them like this it makes me take more photos.

Franchi I will post a few more of Daisy tonight.

That is a beautiful gun! I think it's the one I almost bought from Bob a few years ago. (Whoops.....wrong gun.) Prolly should've but, at the time, it just wasn't right for me. I'm glad you put it to such good use and posted such a beautiful photo essay. Great work! Thanks.

Wburns, I should have guessed. There are areas in the Coronado with very abraisive rock , and some very sharp,broken, rock in the hills and mountains. All tough on dogs' feet, especially those with light skinned feet. Cholla usually is avoided by the dogs after the first encounter. Anyway, thanks for bringing us along on your trip.

Great story, thanks! Slim pickins in tough country; the story of my life, quailwise. But harder on the dogs than on the people, I'm sure.

That stone drinking fountain looks too good to be natural. Did it show signs of grinding? We find these fairly often in areas where I do backcountry volunteer work in Sou Cal, but they are generally by live oak stands and ground into the bedrock. But we find portable (sorta) metates and manos fairly often, too. Our rock art is confined to caves and they are heavily protected by the "powers that be" (sealed up, I mean, not cursed). We do run into a live archeologist now and again, too.

One of the very best post on here in a long time!
Love the rock art, the country looks very Sonoitalike to me, probably my imagination.
Good gun, good dogs great fun, Thanks.

That is an A&D type Dickson action isn't it?

A wonderful photo essay. Thank you for sharing!!

Most enjoyable - great photos. I can see how that is fun.

Yes it is an A&D.

Thanks again everyone. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

Franchi, here are a few more photos of Daisy from past hunts.

Daisy and me after a hunt on my place.


Daisy pointing a ruffed grouse.


The results


Daisy and me with our first prairie chicken.






Daisy with some wild Bobwhites and pheasants in KS


Daisy pointing sharptails.


This is what we shot over her that day.

Yes, the bowl was ground into that rock. Very different sites compared to the stone circles and cairns we have up here. We have a little rock art but not much. Fun to see something different as well as hunt different birds.

Wade, your post is the kind of "I wish I was there". Great photos with not only
hunting themes, beautiful terrain, the works!

Two comments:

Locally we have California quail in big numbers introduced around 1850 that
have fared very well, and to me are they not only beautiful to watch but the best
table fare and a tricky and demanding shot.

Amazing how Daisy looks like my WPG Denise (French parents). Here is a photo
of her and my other two dogs (Freud and Emma).


Congratulations on your post!

JC

Beautiful dogs JC! Yea Daisy does not have the classic wirehair look. My new pup Lakota has that look. Someday I want to try a WPG as well.

Here is Lakota a few months ago.

Nice looking gun and memorable trip. Is this your bumper sticker?

Is it a WPG or a GWP? Great looking dog either one!

Jerry, she is a GWP. Certainly not a classic looking one! She has been a good dog to me for a number of years. She is 8 now and just starting to slow down unfortunately. I have shot 10 upland species over her in addition to several types of ducks and geese. I hope to shoot a few more species over her before all is said and done.

GLS I had a good laugh over that!

Thanks again everyone.

Great story. Kadehippy looks the part. Met him in MT hunting Sharpies with Reba.

Beautiful gun. Love to see the petroglyphs. They are really awesome.

Great pictures of what looks like a great hunt and great time with friends. The rock art knocked me out! Did someone try to liberate one off the last rock pictured?

Being a New Englander I can't relate at all to these variously beautiful western hunting grounds. Open skies! I am in NO WAY denigrating the methods of hunting, I can well believe that topography has its own bag of tricks and rocket fuel in the birds' crop.

What about booties on the dogs? Seems like you'd have to always cover all 4 paws and make sure they stay. That's got to be a tough thing to keep ahead of.

All in all you can sum it up by saying i'm jealous!

Dogs run lighter on their back feet. Most of the weight is distributed to the front and turning is done mostly by the front legs as well. Therefore you only need to boot the front of the dog most of the time. Most years excluding this one I hunt my dogs around a 100 days starting Sept 1st and ending around the end of January. I only run boots on them when I am in real rocky country as their feet are usually pretty tough.

It looked like someone tried to take the picture. Those rocks are huge and no where near any roads, so for anyone trying to steel the rock itself it would be pretty much impossible.

I Like to Dig Up Coprolites
Paleontology Rules

Wade, Great photos and story. Glad to see the Dickson getting some action. Randy

Good timing Steve - the Waste Management Open is this weekend here in Paradise http://wmphoenixopen.com/