jackshoe

I have a two year old female that I bought as a puppy from Desert Point Kennels. She is a beautiful black and white gsp and a great companion and hunter. She was a natural retriever and honored the other dogs points from the first time she saw another dog on point. very smart and biddable and hardly required any training, just did this naturally by instinct. She is great around people and other dogs. I know of three other dogs that came from desert point kennels, and they all made nice hunting dogs.

Don't know of anyone in the east valley. Pratt's feed store in glendale usually has some. Call before you drive over there to make sure they have some. last one's I bought there were $2 a bird.

contact Rick Maher at weimviz.com He and his wife Debbie raise Weimaraner and Vizslas and know all the breeders in the area. They also do really good snake proofing clinics at a reasonable price.

This is the first year in quite a few that we have had a decent population of Mears quail down south, and all of the upland bird hunters are pretty excited about the prospects of having an above average year next year if the summer monsoons deliver again. Evidently, AZG&F are excited also and want to share the wealth. All I've heard all year from AZG&F is only shoot the covey rise, shoot half a limit, don't shoot at all if a covey has 4 birds or less and so on, to make sure we have enough birds left for brood stock in the Mearns population. Then today I get my copy of Gun Dog magazine, and the title of the letter from the Editor is Mearns Mania. He goes on to tell how he left the frozen Midwest to come to sunny Arizona in mid December for a Mearns hunt hosted by Stevens shotguns and D.T. systems with additional support from Federal Ammunition and Q5 outdoor Products.(an in state company) Guides were Kirby Bristow, A Wildlife Research Specialist with Arizona Game and Fish Department, and Brett Browning of Bella Reta Upland Outfitters. Wonder if Kirby had a guides license? Well known outdoor writer Ron Spomer was also on the trip, and he will write a feature article about the hunt in the August issue of Gun Dog magazine. So if any of you local upland bird hunters who aren't being guided by game and fish staff want a room in Patagonia, Sonoita, or Nogales for the season opener next year, better get it now. Might be a little crowded for those of us who don't have access to guides and private property in Southern Arizona next winter

1uglydude, in response to your question, no. If you think that someone who works for a bureaucracy would do something like this without the ok from his superiors you are naive. That would be akin to the whitehouse chief of staff deciding to go target shooting and joining the NRA expecting no repercussions. because he did it on his own time. As far as overgrazing affecting mearns or any other wildlife, overgrazing harms the habitat and all of the animals that live on it. Having said that, I have been told by a AG&F biologist that mearns do better in country that is grazed properly than they do in country that isn't grazed at all. The understory on the grasses becomes so thick and matted that the birds can't get around on the ground in areas that aren't grazed at all.

The reasons that I posted this topic in the first place is because I don't think it is the job of our game and fish department to do anything to put more stress on a resource that is already stressed. I have no idea if Kirby Bristow took compensation for guiding. If I had to bet on it I would give long odds that he did not, as that would be blatantly illegal. I also doubt if he took a bunch of guys hunting that were from the Midwest just because he's a nice guy and he stands on a street corner looking for people he doesn't know to take hunting for free. I didn't make this story up or enhance it any. Go buy Gundog magazine March/April/May 2015 volume 32 number 2 and read it for yourself. If you think no one will come here just to hunt mearns quail, guess again. Go to any café in Patagonia or Sonoita in mearns season and see how many outfitters and their clients are eating breakfast there, and how many rental cars and out of state tags are parked at the motels. Mearns are arguably the premier bird in the world to shoot over a pointing dog because the hold so well, and unlike some of the other great game birds like chukar and pheasant they live in a relatively small area in Arizona and New Mexico and no where else. Guide fees for a day of mearns hunting is typically $600.00 for one hunter and $850.00 for two hunters. I think game and fish shouldn't be involved in commercializing our game and fish resources. I don't know what steps need to be taken to protect the resource, but publishing the article in a national magazine and having no limit on the number of out of state hunters that can come and hunt isn't the answer.

I highly recommend desert point kennels if you want a gsp that is a hunting dog. I have a female that I hunted this year through the quail season, she is ten months old NOW. SHE WAS A NATURAL ON POINTING, RETREIVING AND HONORING other dogs points. the only training I did with her was making sure she was ok around gunfire before I started taking her hunting, and it was a non issue. I didn't hunt waterfowl with her but she loves the water and I'm sure she would fit right in for ducks or doves. Has a great disposition, likes all the people and dogs she's met, and started pointing mearns quail after she retrieved one bird, and is beautiful to look at.The kennel is in Wellton, Arizona. Give Randy Randall a call at 209-256-4853. He has a great breeding program breeding hunting dogs for foot hunters, or check out his website.

TJ- Ann and I send our condolences. Leonard was a great guy and a lot of fun to be in camp with, much like you. Next time you and I share a camp fire we'll tip one in his memory-I hope it's sometime soon.

Weatherby SA-08 youth model shot gun for sale. Semi auto shot gun with synthetic stock. Had it cut down to fit my wife even more than the already short youth stock. She tore a rotar cuff and can no longer shoot it. Would be a great gun for a youngster or a small woman. My wife is about 5'1" and it fits her great with the extra cut on the stock. Has had 5 or 6 boxes of shells shot through it. Has both gas valves for light and heavy loads. Can shoot from light target loads to three inch magnums. This shotgun is about $ 550.00 dollars new + tax. Will take $450.00 firm. Comes with swivels and a sling. Comes with 3 screw in chokes and a choke wrench. You can contact me at 480-250-3937. Ask for Ted.

I have a pair of mearns quail I would like to have mounted. Any suggestions on a taxidermist who does a nice job on birds at a reasonable price? Thanks. Jackshoe

Thanks guys. I'll give him a call.

I remember seeing a post about a member who has a mobile trailer service. I need the wheel bearings packed on my travel trailer and was wondering if anyone has his name and contact information. If so call or text me at 480-250-3937. Thanks. Ted Bounds

Great job Peggy! You put the smack down on that old bird! Thanks for sharing. Really nice job on the video.

Thanks TJ and Amanda. I'm looking forward to being able to walk withour pain again. Wish you could be with us at the Juan this year Tom. The boys will all miss you, and me too. Ted B.

The article also makes mention of the raptor population on the ranch. Pen raised birds don't have a chance against raptors or any other wild predator. I think for the reintroduction efforts to have a chance of success, some serious predator control would have to be implemented and give the released birds a chance to live long enough to become wild. Doubt that this will ever happen with the feds involved. I have read several privately owned plantations have done this in the south, along with habitat improvement, and are having good success reintroducing bobwhite quail in areas where they have been scares for decades.

I have been on this hunt several times. Scout all you can and then go back as close as you can to your hunt dates and make sure the fields where you have located birds haven't been plowed under. September - October is the time when crops are being harvested and new crops planted. For the most part, fields that have any kind of produce are posted now, as the farmers don't want dogs in the produce fields for fear of e coli contamination. Areas that have water nearby with a food source and good cover are where you will find birds. For instance, a hay field that is next to a canal with a stand of weeds or mesquite trees nearby. If you have a dog, it's a big help, and having a few buddies with you also helps. If you have a piece of cover or a field that you want to hunt, if you have people-dogs on each end working toward each other where you can pinch the birds between you, you'll have a lot better chance of getting some shooting. The birds are wild and if you are hunting by yourself they will often run in front of you and flush wild without you ever getting into shotgun range. Be careful not to get your dog overheated, and watch for snakes. Make sure your shots are all above parallel to the ground so you don't shoot your buddy our your dog. If you are hunting with a group and you flush a bird everyone should call out rooster or hen as soon as they can identify the bird so you don't accidently shoot a hen. It's a fun hunt and hope you have good luck.

Cattle will be off of Thompson Mesa this fall. That area is part of the rotational grazing for the Jackshoe ranch.

Looks like a lot more fun than I had yesterday. Be glad When I can take this boot off my foot and stat doing some outside stuff.

I have both a tube and a pontoon boat and both have good and bad points. a float tube is easier to store and hike with and easier to maneuver especially in a windy day. You don't sit as high out of the water as in a pontoon, so your body is less of a sail in the wind. Most of the float tubes don't have a frame, so are not set up to row with oars- you have to use fins for propulsion. This limits your range. Also, if you fish cold water in the winter you get pretty cold sitting so low in the water. Pontoon boats take up a lot of room in the garage, and in your vehicle when you are transporting them. you are only in the water from below your knees down. so you don't get as cold if you are fishing in the winter. The wind pushes you around a lot more, but the pontoon also goes through the water a lot easier-the pontoons are parallel and don't sit deep in the water, where as most tubes are either u shaped or pointed on the front, so you are pushing more surface through the water than you are with a pontoon. You can also propel a pontoon boat with fins, oars, or even an electric motor, and they are safer if you are going to fish any moving waters(rivers) Hope this helps.

Great write up and Pics. Kudos to you for getting the young'uns out and started right. If more parents would do what you're doing, our country would be in a lot better shape in a few years.

I am interested in your truck if it is still for sale-I'll send you a pm.

If you have never hunted bears with dogs-why in the heck would you even question that it is a sporting way to hunt? Does it require more skill to sit a mile away with good optics and glass a pear patch then "sneak within" rifle range-500 yards-and shoot a bear than it does to run one up a tree with hounds that have been trained and have many generations of genetics and selective breeding in their favor-and then get your self to the same tree before the bear decides to leave? I don't think so. If their is a good crop of prickly pear fruit just about anyone with the slighest clue can go out and glass up a legally shootable bear- take fido out of the backyard and turn the odds all in your favor and let me know how well you do. In this case it's all about the hounds and the hound handler-the shooter is a bit player in the whole scenario-if you happen to be the shooter and can appreciate the physical effort and the time and work that the hounds and the houndsman have put into the hunt-then congratulations-you are part of the equation. If not I hope you don't condem an ancient way of hunting because you don't consider it sporting.

I have seen quail in the past that couldn't fly real well on opening day-but this is pretty late.

Great pics of you and your boys. I have many fond memories of Red River. My wife and I fished a lot in that area. My favorite places were castilla creek, comanche creek, shuree ponds, and upper red river. Hope I get to go back there someday. The Rio Grande Cuts that they have in that area are some of the most beautiful trout I have ever seen. Post more pics if you have them.

I did that trip in 2005. The guides thought we were nuts fishing with fly rods and not keeping every fish we caught. ac in the rooms was ice cold and slept like a log. I remember thinking that the ship felt top heavy when we were on the top deck eating and drinking in the evenings-guess I was right. Hope they find the rest of the fishermen and that they are safe and sound.