doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT: calls for California Quail?

(I may have asked this before and plum forgot the answer).

Has anybody here used calls to locate coveys of California Quail? Or Mountain Quail? Make? Success? Do the two species require different calls?

Never used a call, but have certainly whistled them up. I shot a lot of California Quail in the three years I was in the Navy in San Diego 1971-73. The Naval Infantry kept this wonderful shooting preserve for us a ways north called Camp Pendleton.

I have been able to get responses from Cal/Valley and Gambel's quail in So Cal and AZ, but not with a lot of consistency, possibly because there just aren't that many quail around. I don't know the call's brand, but it's the small wooden one with the rubber insert that is available at Turner's. My quail stuff is packed away, but if you walk into any Turner's you will probably find it hanging on the calls rack.

thanks, Replacement. I'll have a look at Turners. Since I work as a volunteer in several areas that have a LOT of quail (partly because there is artificial watering available, and partly because we can't shoot them there), I can experiment to my heart's content.

Researcher, I'll have to mention the "Naval Infantry" to my former Marine son the next time I talk to him. He's all the way in Quantico, VA, so it'll be safe....

Pendleton. Well, the two good things you can say for it is that it ISN'T 29 Stumps or Afghanistan!

They called us "Squids" we called them "Naval Infantry" but we were all there to get a job done. In those days the Corps really had a wonderful game management program on Camp Pendleton.

Yeah, when I'm in Chula Vista, I'm always careful to order "calamari," not that other "S-word." No sense getting a knuckle sandwich for my appetizer....

Mike,
I've been busy with getting the wife a new car and working with a trainer with the pointer.

The calls that I have for quail are the Lohman (wood, round, slender barrel shaped) and a Primos, flat sided orange plastic one with a rubberband stretched in it. I've used both on valley quail to some success. I also have called them in by voice up there at my friend's place that you and I hunted a year or so ago.

I think the Lohman call is a more accurate representation of the actual bird call. While you are buying calls, grab a Lohman hawk screech call. The idea is that you can keep quail from running with a hawk screech.

Of course, I want a full report of your research.

Thanks, Chuck. Will do. Figured I'd try this before we have to get serious....

With this drought, we may be calling for quail at Whole Foods market.

I don't know if this adds to the topic but last month I was in a spot with plenty of California Quail.

Out of curiosity I used my iPhone to get to the Cornell Labs birds site and called up an assortment of recorded quail calls, each identified as to it's purpose.

Surprisingly to me, the speaker on the iPhone was loud enough to have the sound carry a bit and I can say, without a doubt, the birds reacted appropriately to the calls I played, whether it was an alarm call or an assembly call.

Lots of fun playing the assembly call and then seeing them slowly gather near me over the course of the next few minutes.