Habitat & Conservation,Hunting & Heritage,Quail Hunting Forecast  |  10/02/2017

Utah Quail Hunting Forecast 2017


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Utah will have pockets of excellent Gambel’s quail hunting this year

Utah doesn’t have the same abundance of quail that some states boast. But for hunters who are bent on targeting them, there are opportunities. The state offers seasons on both California and Gambel’s quail. There are scaled quail in some parts of the state, but they are very limited and can’t be hunted.

Hunters intent on harvesting a quail in Utah this year should focus their efforts on Gambel’s quail. Utah conducts surveys for those birds each year and this year “we saw four times the 10-year average,” says Jason Robinson, upland game program coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. “It should be a great Gambel’s quail year.”

While the summer conditions in Utah were “extremely hot and dry,” Robinson doesn’t believe they had an adverse effect on quail because “we had a very wet winter and spring, which created plenty of water.”

For Gambel’s quail, Robinson steers hunters toward Washington County in the state’s extreme southwestern corner. California quail hunters should head for Utah County in the north-central portion of the state.

“Quail hunting in Utah is fairly limited, but there are pockets of good hunting,” Robinson says.
 

UTAH HUNTING TIP

* Habitat is key, of course. And in a dry place like Utah, one absolutely critical quail habitat element is water. Whether a creek or natural seep, or livestock stock tank or wildlife guzzler, hunt where there’s access to water within a half-mile to mile.
 

LINKS

Utah Public Land Mapping Tool

Utah Hunting Regulations Handbook