PODCAST EP. 386: QF's 2026 Quail Hunting Forecast

Speaker 1 (00:50.45)

Welcome to On the Wing Podcast presented by Purina Pro Plan. Today, Quail Forever journal editor Ryan Sparks returns to the podcast to tackle the 2026 Quail Forever Quail Hunting Forecast presented by Duck Camp. Thank you, Duck Camp, for being a partner in the first quail forecast that Duck Camp's been around for. So thank you to Duck Camp. like the Pheasant Hunting Forecast that the National Treasure CARP assembled. What do we call you, Sparks? If CARP's a national treasure, you're the look the the regional. I can't. There was something funny.

Speaker 2 (01:31.918)

The local yokel.

Speaker 1 (01:48.958)

The local yokel will go with that. but like the pheasant hunting forecast, the quail forever, quail hunting forecast does a in-depth State by state prospectus for the season ahead. You can find that at quailforever.org. Rather than Sparks and I going through nearly three dozen states one by one, which would probably help put all of you to sleep. We aren't going to tackle the forecast that way. rather, we're gonna tackle it by the six different species of quail.

And there's some overlapping geographies between those six species, but that's how we're going to tackle the forecast this year as we chat through the different quail species. But before we get rolling, Sparks is recently returned from his season opener. Well, sort of season opener. You you opened it up with doves and some whitetail hunting before that.

Speaker 2 (02:42.754)

for real upland birds.

Speaker 1 (02:47.736)

Yeah, you're in Wyoming. Tell us about Cowboy, let me live vicariously through you because I had to cancel my Wyoming trip because of a truck breakdown. tell me about Wyoming.

Speaker 2 (02:57.922)

I think it was a good year to have a truck breakdown.

Speaker 1 (03:05.006)

That can't be possibly be true.

Speaker 2 (03:02.792)

well, mean, it's never a good time to have a truck breakdown, but, anyway, we, we went to Wyoming, to make a film about, water and wildlife, specifically trout and sage grouse. And we kind of particularly picked an area, that has been affected by drought quite a bit. So normally these forecasts we're going to be talking about go where the rain's been good and the habitat looks good. Like we kind of did the opposite a little bit for this. And, we definitely saw that connection between water and how it affects wildlife firsthand. you know, a few of the people we talked to, stayed in a little Airbnb in a small town and guys across the street watering his grass. And, we walked over and Casey and I talked to him and, and he said he'd been living out there for over 20 years. And this is the driest year he's ever experienced. you know, the, rivers were really low for the fishing.

They were choked full of sediment from landslides that had been caused from a lack of rain and then a lot of rain. So there's no roots to hold the soil in place. It all ends up in the rivers. And yeah, it makes you realize how important water is everywhere and particularly in the West. I think that's, we're going to talk about water a lot in this state forecast.

Speaker 1 (04:24.214)

You went to this drought stricken Wyoming and did it rain like non nonstop or at least a day. Yeah. Story of your hunting in twenty twenty six. You go to California and you get rained on your turkey.

Speaker 3 (04:40.43)

Absolutely soaked.

Speaker 1 (04:42.092)

And you go to Wyoming and you get rained out.

speaker-0 (04:44.982)

Yeah. You know, when you look at the drought maps and it's like red, and then there's like a eye of purple in there and the purple is, can't remember what they call it, but extreme drought or something like that. I mean, that's where we were. And the couple of days of hunting we had to do, we kind of, we kind of started to kind of figure them out the first day and then it rained. And if anybody has ever tried to drive like BLM road to track, you know, it's, it rains, you get a little bit of rain and.

we started driving in there and started fish tailing and throwing mud and, know, Casey's in a rental vehicle and without four wheel drive. And it's like, let's just hunt where we can and see what we can find. we didn't find much that day. So.

Speaker 1 (05:31.17)

And this film is coming out later in this year, later in the it just I because I think it's funny. No, no, this is a different piece of it. this is how much the connection between rain and sparks ha are evolving. Like he's the walking human rain delay. Like we had a conversation with somebody yesterday.

Speaker 2 (05:34.946)

This file.

Speaker 1 (06:00.896)

about you going back out west for a hunt in December and they're like, Well, you know, it's it'll probably rain like the entirety of the first half of December. So Spark, you shouldn't come then.

Speaker 2 (06:15.158)

Yeah. Maybe instead of the local Yokel, I should be Rain Man or something like that.

Speaker 1 (06:21.314)

Where do you buy your underwear?

Speaker 2 (06:24.731)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:25.88)

The appropriate response is Kmart Bob.

Speaker 2 (06:30.958)

I can't count toothpicks very quickly either.

Speaker 1 (06:35.642)

All right. Well, since we're talking about sparks underwear, it seems like a transition. I am proud to recognize Purina Pro Plan is the national dog food sponsor of Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever's Wildlife Habitat Mission. And as I mentioned in the open, the presenting sponsor of On the Wing Podcast. My pups from Tramel to Little Winter today have always eaten Purina Pro Plan. Not just because Purina supports our organizations and our incredibly important upland habitat mission. And that's important to me, but what's most important is that Purina has a team of the world's best scientists and nutritionists behind their dog food. Purina ProPlan was built. The recipe was made. It was created for the working bird dog like yours and like mine. You can learn more at Proplansport.com.

Speaker 3 (07:33.912)

From Pheasants Forever and Quill Forever National Headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota, this is Casey Sill with the Upland Newsroom, delivering top stories from the Habitat Organization and across the American Uplands. Representatives from 26 Pheasants Forever and Quill Forever chapters have recently joined together to form the second ever Upland Caucus. The Upland Caucus is a network of conservation leaders representing chapters from across the country. The group is comprised of the top contributing chapters to the legislative

Action Fund from each of our 26 chapter regions. The caucus brings together dedicated advocates to help shape policies that benefit Upland wildlife, their habitats, and the future of hunting. Upland Caucus members participate in quarterly policy briefings with the government affairs team, help shape PFQ's advocacy priorities by contributing to the organization's policy book, meet with members of Congress and federal agencies during the annual Washington, D.C. fly-in, participate in state-level advocacy opportunities,

And receive special recognition and exclusive programming at National Pheasant Fest in Quail Classic. This crop of volunteers will serve through fiscal year 2027 to advocate for the organization's policy priorities in Washington, D.C. and state capitals across the country. If you're interested in learning more about the Upland Caucus, head over to PheasantsForever.org. All right, I've had my fill of politics for the week, so let's end today with a dog story. We just released a blog.

By Jack Wattring about his dog Davy, a three-legged black lab. In the spring of 2024, Davey's left hind leg got tangled in some wire while he was out running, leading to a severe break in the leg. The story chronicles Wattring's decision to amputate, Davey's recovery, and his return to the field. It's a great story about handling a difficult situation, the determination to keep Davy hunting, and the downright superhuman toughness of all of our working dogs.

To read the full story, head over to pheasantsforever dot org. That'll do it this week reporting from PF & QF headquarters in Saint Paul, Minnesota. I'm Casey Sill.

Speaker 1 (09:37.324)

All right, as I mentioned, we're gonna tackle the quail hunting forecast presented by Duck Camp, species by species, in the logical place to start. The the king of the quail, if you will, the largest range is, I believe we've talked about it before, it's Ryan's favorite species. Yep. The Boboite. So take it away. Tell us about the forecast for the Bobwhite, which I think represents twenty four different damn near half the

Speaker 2 (10:12.238)

It's a lot ...

Speaker 2 (10:15.32)

Yeah, I think the next one after Bob's is probably Valley Quail, California Quail, Valley Quail, I'm assuming. It's probably have the next largest range, which is minuscule compared to that of Bobs. So, you know, like every other year, the Bobwhite Quail forecast is going to be very regional. Even when you break it down state by state, there's some areas within certain states that can be quite good and other areas that aren't so good. So I would encourage people to sort of break free from thinking in state lines and think more in terms of habitat and think more in terms of rainfall. You know, we started talking about me being Rain Man and it looks like maybe I visited some of these areas in the country and others I didn't. So I'm like Santa Claus going around bringing the rain.

Speaker 1 (11:08.878)

Is the drought dot gov map like your Christmas, your Santa Claus map?

Speaker 2 (11:13.954)

Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (11:16.75)

Well that is drought dot gov is an awfully good tool over on the forecast.

Speaker 2 (11:23.956)

It is, and there's a reason basically anytime the word drought drops in any of state forecasts, I make sure we have a link to the US Drought Monitor map so people can click it. It updates pretty much every week. So we might've said an area was in drought on this and they get a bunch of timely rain and you can just cross check it if you're headed to a certain state and it kind of help you narrow your search for where you might want to go specifically. You know, another lesson from the Bobwhite habitat, the forecast is that again habitat is the most important thing. So you know it determines the hatches, it determines the brood size, it determines how many adult birds make it through the winter. So looking at when we talk about habitat you know you also need to look at winter habitat and how those adult birds were able to come through the winter. So all that said let's jump into a big state, Texas.

So I sort of selected a few, I tried to select states that were highlights for me. So the states that we're going to talk about are places that if you're planning a quail trip this year, these might be good states to kind of narrow down your search and hone in on certain areas of these states. So Texas, again, huge state, but South Texas is looking very good for Bob whites. And in West Texas, not to jump ahead. West Texas is looking good for Bob's, but it's looking particularly good for scaled quail. and then the further North you go in Texas, it, you know, drought starts to complicate things and the populations are going to be a little bit more hit and miss. but I think South Texas is probably the easiest place to jump in. you know, I have some good friends that guide down in South Texas. And from what I heard last year was just absolutely spectacular. One of those seasons you dream of it. I'm kicking myself for not getting down there. And from what they're seeing the, you know, they're expecting a similar season, if not a little bit better season this year. you know, South Texas is a tough place to find access, but if you can get a foot in the door, you know, the reports have been really good and. You know, have been lucky enough to hunt in South Texas a few times. It's, one of those places left in this country where you can experience classic true wild bobwhite hunting like on a landscape scale not like you go to one spot and it's pretty good and you go to another spot and it's like when it's good It's good. I mean it You talking about like dogs just going from Covey to Covey to Covey the mornings that we kind of dream of as quail hunters So just for that alone, I think if you can get down to South Texas, this would be a great year to do it

The rolling high plains region of Texas is considerably drier. They're birds, but it seems like they had good population carryover, but then as far as the spring nesting reports went, not as much. So maybe sort of an average year rolling high plains. The Trans-Pecos, which for anybody not super familiar with Texas, it's sort of that spike that comes out of the western again, jumping ahead, the, skilled quail, multiple people I talked to just said that the rainfall was almost perfect for squ for skilled quail. they were already sort of on an upward trend in West Texas. And it looks like this year, that's just really gonna spike.

And another thing I should mention is, know, Texas Park and Wildlife surveys over 3,000 miles and over 150 routes every August. And the results weren't available or aren't available until mid-October. So we did include a link in the forecast where people can go dig into that hard data if they want to when it comes out, but it just wasn't available for these. So, you know, takeaway, South Texas, if you can get there.

I would go to South Texas, would put a big circle around it on your quail map. And then, you know, if you're thinking scale quail in Texas, you know, West Texas might be the year to do it. So as much as I don't want to talk about my home state of Nebraska, it is probably like the shining one of the shining stars of our of our quail reports this year of our quail forecasts.

Speaker 2 (15:51.278)

Ha ha ha.

Speaker 1 (16:01.646)

Yeah. You're gonna meet it head on. I am you're gonna unveil the secret of Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (16:07.51)

Yes, the bird numbers in my lifetime, last three years have been about as good as they've been in the last three years. Now, that's nothing like the best quail numbers of my dad's lifetime, but quite good. And one cool thing about Nebraska is they do their July male carrier surveys. So, you know, as the male men and male women drive the rural roads of Nebraska.

the same routes day after day, they're recording how many quail they see, how many broods they see. And this year it was up 134 % statewide from 2025. mackerel, statewide? And that's 13 % above the five-year average and 50 % above the 20-year average. Holy mackerel.

I'm excited and just anecdotally, I'm in Southeast Nebraska and from what I've seen, I'm hearing a lot of quail and I'm seeing a lot of quail. So I don't think you ever truly know until after you've spent about a week or two actually boots on the ground hunting, but I'm excited to do my research when the season opens.

Speaker 1 (17:25.62)

So it it it is interesting because just a couple of weeks ago we released the pheasant hunting forecast and the pheasant hunting forecast podcast carp. And Nebraska doesn't rise to that level of i excitement on the pheasant side of things, but it it just illustrates, you know, they're not the same bird. Slightly different habitat needs, climate affects them a little bit differently.

Speaker 2 (17:45.976)

Yeah, not the same burden. Yep, exactly.

Speaker 1 (17:53.568)

yeah, that's w that's wonderful to hear about Bob Whites in Nebraska.

Speaker 2 (17:57.602)

Yeah. And I would encourage people to dive into that state forecast because we're going to highlight the specific areas of Nebraska that are better than others. Just because there's a statewide increase doesn't necessarily mean that there's quail all of a sudden everywhere you go. You know, habitat, habitat, habitat. So find the habitat, find those places that quail live. Interconnected habitat is huge. One patch of good habitat in the middle of a section that's not connected to anything is basically, I mean, it could be the most beautiful habitat in the world, but if quail can't get there, there's not going to be any quail there. So find that interconnected, good looking habitat and you'll find the birds in this Nebraska this year, I bet. Again, thinking outside of state lines, know, what is kind of the same habitat, but not necessarily the same state as Nebraska and not a place that most people think of when it comes to quail, but Colorado this year, the report was very good. you know, it kind of a strong Bob white story, you know, just across the border in Western Nebraska. They also do survey routes and they're at multi-decade highs this year. it's just a really cool example of, know, again, why, why hunters shouldn't think of Colorado as just a pheasant state or just a.

You know, maybe a place to go hunt elk or big mule deer or something. There's, there's other opportunities there. so, you know, try to get outside of those political boundaries, those state lines and, really think on a ecosystem level or a grassland level, you know? yeah.

Speaker 1 (19:31.982)

Ever been to the the Comanche National Grasslands in Colorado?

Speaker 2 (19:36.056)

I've driven through it, but I've never hunted there.

Speaker 1 (19:38.538)

Me too. I it's it's you know on that list with Wyoming where I gotta get to and I gotta hunt. I've driven through the Comanche and it's like, I was on my way to Arizona and you know, I think in January for a hunt and it's like, I gotta come back to the Comanche. It just looks birdie.

Speaker 2 (19:58.156)

Yeah, I think I was driving across there for a wedding a few years ago and it was the same thing. I'm on Onyx like trying to see, you know, marking pins that look good from the road in case I'd ever come back. So yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:10.838)

I've been to the Cimarron, which is you know, just a little bit south and in the

Speaker 2 (20:15.64)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:17.575)

but yeah I gotta I gotta get that's a good reminder. I gotta make it to the Comanche. Maybe this is the year the burden with Quail numbers.

Speaker 2 (20:25.07)

There is a guy on our team I know you should talk to.

Speaker 2 (20:27.337)

All right. Cool.

Speaker 1 (20:29.022)

Closed circuit, well I leave myself a note.

Speaker 2 (20:31.726)

Yeah, that's the cool inside baseball stuff you get when you work for a PF and QF. It's like these little nuggets of information. So you want to go south, Let's do it. I picked the Georgia forecast to highlight for a couple of reasons. It's an interesting one.

Speaker 1 (20:43.448)

Take me where.

Speaker 2 (20:56.32)

really some other ones in the mid south as well, but you know, Georgia had a pretty mild winter. So they had a lot of adult quail make it through. And then early spring was super dry, which anybody knows anything about quail hunting in the south, like prescribed fire is king. And when you have an extremely dry spring that makes prescribed burning tricky in some areas and some places, you know, they just couldn't get it done.

And then throw on top of that, then they got a bunch of rain in the summer. So you weren't able to burn, you get a bunch of rain. You have your habitat just explodes, you know, in the South. you know, people that need to burn in the South need to burn in a frequency much higher than like, you know, someone like myself in Nebraska. so there's a lot of cover, but it's, it's going to make the, so it's going to make the birds hard to find. I think that's one thing we heard across the board from everybody, you know.

Red Hills is just an iconic landscape with so much history around quail and bird dogs. And, you know, the, the gentleman that did our report for Georgia interviewed multiple, plantation managers around Thomasville and Albany. they're seeing multiple broods, which is really encouraging, but, it might be tough to, to get at some of those broods. might be hunting some thick cover, especially.

if they weren't able to get some of those prescribed fires done. So yeah, and like I said, you just can't separate the Southeast from prescribed fire. Anywhere where there's fire, timber thinning, anywhere where there's habitat management, wild bobwhites can still thrive in the South. But when that disturbance disappears, that habitat just becomes so choked out so quickly. Doesn't really matter about the weather at that point. So.

you know, moving west, another two that I wanted to highlight was Mississippi and Louisiana, just cause I thought they have some cool, wild quail hunting opportunities, public ground hunting opportunities. again, you know, hunters wanting to find wild quail on public land should pay attention to that they're going to live in cover that is way thicker than what hunters that are hunting on those plantations are going to be finding quail in. So.

Speaker 2 (23:15.938)

You have to get off the roads and the trails. The dogs need to be getting into the thick cover. You need to be getting into the thick cover. One of the guys that was interviewed for this said, if you come out you're not bleeding, you're not hunting the right spots for wild quail in the Southeast. So, yeah, I think those were some good states to cover for that. Anything else on Bobs?

Speaker 1 (23:37.652)

Well, th that I mean that's that sentiment is true terms of coming out bleeding. You know, that's true almost universally when you're quail hunting. You talk about the southwest. It's like, yeah, if you're not, you know, getting poked, everything wants to poke you when you're hunting, you know, pick your species, gambles quail. And it's like you you gotta get in there with the dogs once in a while and and find out where those birds are and sometimes that means the habitat's a little thicker.

Speaker 2 (24:06.648)

Yeah. Yep.

Speaker 1 (24:09.026)

All right, let's let's move let's move up to the Pacific Northwest and talk about mountain quail.

Speaker 2 (24:17.24)

Yeah, from bobs, which are, you know, sort of the most widespread and most hunted quail species to what might be the least hunted quail species. you know, they're the reason they're not hunted as much is cause their range is really a lot smaller than bob whites. And then within that range, they're extremely localized. So one area, you know, one drainage in a mountain range might be loaded and one drainage over none.

This year I thought Washington was one of the standout states for me because, you know, looking back at our past forecasts, the mountain quail have sort of been increasing there for a few years and access and hunting opportunities are sort of concentrated in the Southwest part of the state, but those opportunities are good ones. And I think it's, when we talk about mountain quail, it's also really important to point out.

One difference between Bob whites and mountain quail is that we can have rural male carrier surveys for Bob whites. But when you're talking about mountain quail, you're talking about steep country. You're talking about thick brush elevation, timber edges, timber edges usually mean blow down. And anybody that's ever hunted mountain quail knows you go up and down more than you go horizontally. the same. Aspects that make them difficult to hunt, make them hard to survey as well.

so our mountain quail forecast, you know, tend to be pretty similar year after year. And that's, you know, take them with a grain of salt. They're, know, they're very localized. You're going to have to get out there and hunt in a few different places to really get a good idea of how good the bird numbers are out there. one thing our California state forecast mentioned this year for mountain quail is to look for areas that have burned in the last few years. you know, I would.

Personally, look at something that's burned from 2021 to 2023. for anyone that uses Onyx, there's layers on there where you could put on the burns and kind of see when things have burned. But after that fire, that early successional habitat, you know, just provides excellent food and cover. And those are good places to start looking for mountain quail that I would, that's what I would suggest. So.

Speaker 1 (26:35.392)

Yeah, re you're really really focused on those three, Washington, Oregon, California. They they live other places, but those are the the big three when it comes to mountain quail. all right, let's let's stay out west. talk about California Valley.

Speaker 2 (26:52.866)

Yeah, California or Valley Quail, I would say an average year, sort of range wide. California specifically, again, as somebody that's spent some time out there, California is such an ecologically diverse state that it's very hard, know, very similar to Texas. It's very hard to, you know, a statewide forecast maybe doesn't mean much. You need to kind of break it down onto a region wide level.

Valley quail are the state's most widely distributed quail species. And then within California, the coastal range and the central valley are sort of the ones that are the most historically worth watching. And this year, looking at those, you know, the rainfall and the habitat lined up pretty reasonably well in those areas. So it should be a pretty good year for California quail in California. So.

Speaker 2 (27:47.638)

I mean, kind of makes sense, right? If you want to California quail, go to California. Other states, I would say the other one that jumped out to me that might be worth a visit is Nevada, particularly Northern Nevada. And Nevada is a good example of if you just got on and read the headline, you might just click on to the next state because Nevada is a very drought stricken state as of late.

Boy, that was like a poem I strung together there. Yeah. Dr. Seuss. Yeah. Overall extremely hot and dry in Nevada, but the statewide outlook, you know, it's not that good, but if you look up in the, in the Northern parts of Nevada, there's some pockets really worth looking into. There was a super mild winter and then they had good spring precipitation from what we, what I read in the reports, you know, they.

Speaker 2 (28:20.142)

A doctor.

Speaker 2 (28:45.198)

early spring green up, good forage, quality nesting available. and then a few people reported seeing, multiple hatches of, of broods. So, you know, it's an interesting state because if you just look at the drought map, map, you'd probably write it off, but Northern Nevada is a little more nuanced and, it's a state I've never hunted and, it's, you know, I've heard good things. talked to a couple of people this year and they said they're headed to Nevada and they said they go there every year. So I was like, boy, if it's that.

Speaker 2 (29:11.874)

Good might be worth checking out.

Speaker 1 (29:14.99)

I I have to go back, yes, back to Nevada, because I did hunt Nevada immediately after SHOT Show, about 10 years ago. Got done with SHOT Show and then went west of Vegas about an hour, guided hunt, two days, twenty two thousand steps each day. I haven't seen a bird in Nevada.

Speaker 2 (29:36.334)

boy.

Speaker 2 (29:38.114)

Yeah, that makes my Wyoming trip sound spectacular.

Speaker 1 (29:42.186)

we were we were on the hunt for gambles where we were, but we're still hunting. We're still looking for a but it is it's a cool state though. I mean there's a lot of public land and a diverse landscape. It was absolutely gorgeous in the sunsets, just a purple sunset over the desert in Nevada. It was gorgeous. I wouldn't trade it. but next time I would like to add a bird or two to

Speaker 2 (30:07.47)

Always nice to have. Yeah. I think Nevada, I could be wrong, but I think Nevada has the highest percentage of public land of any state. I could be wrong. Write in and tell me I'm wrong.

Speaker 1 (30:18.146)

I don't have that in front of me.

And we I can look it up while while we jump to the next one. as we jump to the next one, I want to thank Onyx for being a partner in Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever's on the Wing podcast. we don't hunt simply for that picture to post on social media. With Onyx as our guide, what we do hunt for is that walk behind a good bird dog, the smell of burnt powder.

quality habitat and sharing the experience with the buddies and our family members right alongside us. The best spots mean more every time we return. Sometimes those spots were passed on to us, and some of those spots we found ourselves. And the traditions we carry forward are the ones we hope somebody else carries on after we're gone. Time out here is a way of putting everything else in perspective. The best days rarely

Involve what ends up in the back of our vest. They're the stories we tell for years of the unforgettable dog work and the people who were there right along with us. Long after the season ends, those are the things that stay with us. One X Hunt, here's to the hunt. Alright, we got three species covered, three species to go.

Let's start with the bird that you know many many quail species have multiple names. this bird, this quail species has a very different name depending on what state you're in. If you're in Arizona, they call it a Merns. If you're in New Mexico, they call it a Montezuma. And everybody else is confused no matter where they're from.

Speaker 2 (32:13.922)

like 10 nicknames on top of that and yeah, they're pretty confusing.

Speaker 1 (32:18.21)

But they're very cool. They're the the mountain quail have the distinction of being the largest quail, but I believe the Montezuma slash Myrns have the biggest legs because they dig oxala tubers out of the ground. So they got very tasty legs. Where are we gonna go find some Montezuma quail to eat?

Speaker 2 (32:41.358)

Well, I think when people hear Montezuma or Merne's Quail, they pretty much think of two states and that's the two you just mentioned, Arizona and New Mexico. And the story this year, both their stories this year, excuse me, are pretty similar, which is things are improving, but there's still some rebuilding to do from years past. Arizona had a really difficult year in 2025.

you know, I knew some people that went there to hunt quail and they specifically avoided hunting Mern's quail because of how low the populations were. bird production was really poor, you know, from the year prior to that even. so that just left low adult quail numbers coming into the year. you know, the good news is that, 2026, the monsoon season has been much better, from what I've heard.

the grasslands in Southern Arizona are greener. The habitat conditions have improved and biologists are seeing a better hatch than the past couple of years. but again, that's, it's a building year. It's not going to go from, you know, to a hundred from, you know, a very low number of quickly.

Speaker 1 (33:56.158)

Well, just thinking like Myrnes, Montezuma. They were the darling species of the upland world on Instagram. Yeah. Like four or five years ago. but like you say, they're stricken by drought and that's degraded the habitat. And well, you're right, the the monsoons have delivered more rain this year than in recent couple. It's probably not the year to go in search of that Instagram photo shoot with Montezumaquain.

Speaker 2 (34:29.9)

Yeah, you know, for me, Arizona, you're talking about a 22 hour drive or something like that. This probably isn't going to be the year that I make a 22 hour drive down there, but, you know, it should be better than last couple of seasons, but you know, the takeaway probably still below average. and then move into New Mexico, very similar story, improve moisture. biologists are hopeful. you know, they're seeing better, recruitment than what they saw last year.

but again, just like in Arizona, still below average. you know, if there's one thing hunters should think about when it's myrns, it's how closely they're tied to precipitation. And those monsoon rains just drive everything. They drive that grassland green up, you know, which drives the food, which drives the brood rearing, which drives, you know, the covey numbers that we as hunters see come fall. So, we're probably going to need another good year or two before we can really start talking about strong myrns numbers and,

maybe before people want to start thinking about driving down to Arizona or New Mexico specifically for Merns, Montezuma, Harlequin, clown, whatever, fool's quail, whatever you want to call them.

Speaker 1 (35:41.804)

Well, and you offer that distinction specifically for Myrns, Montezuma, because even though, you know, we're gonna jump to the desert species, gambles and scales, you know, the what we say for Myrns and Montezuma doesn't always have to apply to those other species. They use different habitat, they breed and nest slightly different time than Myrns. So let's jump into the desert species. start with gambles.

Speaker 2 (36:11.756)

I would say gambles are probably the best bet for desert quail this year, particularly in Arizona. You know, again, they didn't have the best year in 2025, but Arizona does some call counts and they were above average for this spring for gambles. you know, the few biologists that we talked to down there were optimistic. And then, you know, while we were talking to too, the monsoon rains were sort of still delivering. So,

you know, they were hopeful at that time that, you know, we could produce additional broods because of the, so stay tuned for that. you know, if you're looking at Arizona specifically based on the call counts that, that they put out, central and Northwestern Arizona are probably your best bet for gambles this season. and then moving over into New Mexico, it's looking like an average year.

For gambles, which is not a bad thing at all. think gambles an average year of gambles hunting in New Mexico You know for the people I know that go do that is a great year The western side of New Mexico did get some good moisture From what we heard in our reports better than 2025 in here. Excuse me better than 2024 anyway but drought and Real real extreme summer heat were also a concern and those same same people we talked to so I just really wouldn't expect like a big boom year

in New Mexico for gambles but sometimes average is good too if that makes sense. Wanna talk about skilled quill?

Speaker 1 (37:47.15)

Sure, absolutely. Let's go to my favorite quail species. So nice. Yeah, scales, scot cotton tops, blues. I I love those little cheatin' track stars sons ago. That they're they're underappreciated species, I think. They're they're not as showy as some of the other quail species, just the plumage. But there's something about scales that

that really speak to me. I love where they live. I love that they don't play by all the rules and

Speaker 2 (38:23.534)

that pheasant hunter in you you just love you just love a runner

Speaker 1 (38:27.31)

Well I yeah, I've really I got a soft spot for scalys. So where am I gonna go hunt scaly's this year?

Speaker 2 (38:34.272)

Well, if it was me and this is my plan, I'm going to West Texas because that's the one that jumps out to me the most. We talked about it a little bit, the Trans-Pecos region, that little spike that sort of shoots out on the western side of Texas. You know, from everyone I talked to there, they got really good rain. The habitat is there and all the reports have been really positive. The place I specifically am going to go hunt,

I spoke to the ranch owner, you know, he said on a normal year, he sees about 80 % bobs and 20 % blues. And he thought this year that his Bob white numbers were consistent with last year, which is good, but he's seeing 80 % blues, 20 % bobs. that should tell you how high the, scale quill numbers have got in that area.

You know, get to go on a handful of hunting trips each year and I think it should say something that that's one of the ones that I'm gonna go do this year. So New Mexico is still encouraging there as well. Although it's you know, it's closer to average as far as skilled quail go.

Speaker 1 (39:46.344)

Average, but you just put that in perspective. New Mexico essentially is the scaled quail capital of the country.

Speaker 2 (39:54.346)

It you're right. It's like if South Dakota said they had an average pheasant hunting season, like it's pretty dang good every year. New Mexico also does, voluntary harvest reports. Those emails that you get that ask you to spend 10 minutes and fill out how you did that season. Those are worth filling out cause they end up helping you and they end up helping biologists in the years to come. This year, they were above average, 9.1 birds per hunter. so.

I think that's a good thing. It's, know, you're going to see those adult birds that came through the winter. They're going to produce more birds and they're going to be waiting for you there this fall when the season opens. you know, as you mentioned, New Mexico is sort of known for scaled quail. They're so widespread. There's so much country to go explore, scale quail country in New Mexico that, you know, that might be a good trip to if you've never done it before, head on down to New Mexico.

Unfortunately, Arizona is sort of still a similar to your Mern's Quail. It's a rebuilding year. The conditions are better this year than previous years. People use the word recovery, but I would expect sort of below average numbers of scaled quail in Arizona this year as well.

Speaker 2 (41:10.286)

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1 (41:11.852)

You know, two states that we have not mentioned at all throughout this conversation. historically two of the top four quail states that exist, Kansas and Oklahoma. You know, and they both have bobs, they both have scalys. I they didn't come up primarily because of drought, I'm assuming, right?

Speaker 2 (41:34.23)

Well, Kansas, our headline this year for the Kansas forecast is wet conditions leave Kansas habitat booming as fall approaches.

Speaker 1 (41:45.742)

We did talk about that in the pheasant forecast that quail I'm sorry, that Kansas did get more rain than than they've had in the last couple of years.

Speaker 2 (41:55.916)

Yeah. Yup. you know, we talked to Tyler Rafter QF's, Kansas state coordinator. you know, he was talking about pretty much across the state there. They're not really down anywhere from last year. So you can, in Kansas, you could sort of expect at least numbers similar to last year, if not higher.

Speaker 1 (42:16.064)

And it what we experienced on Rooster Road Trip was that Quail saved the day in Canaan.

Speaker 2 (42:22.058)

Yeah, and from other people I talked to it sounds like maybe we should have kept driving a little further west last year for our Kansas hunting trip.

Speaker 2 (42:28.248)

For a

Speaker 1 (42:30.456)

To find pheasants.

Speaker 2 (42:32.042)

more pheasants and more quail. and quail. Yeah, and better quail numbers.

Speaker 1 (42:33.719)

Mark.

Speaker 1 (42:37.516)

And then w what about Oklahoma? What's the what what's current state of things in Oklahoma?

Speaker 2 (42:44.174)

Our headline is strong carryover has Oklahoma Bobwhites positioned for another good year. So it looks like I'm looking at their roadside quail surveys here. They were at 4.54 quail per route, which is just barely below the long-term average. And they're 70 % above the 10-year average. So should be pretty good year for quail.

in Oklahoma. You know, Oklahoma has had some regulation changes recently that makes it more difficult for non-resident hunters to go there. But, you know, it's a state that I have some really good memories hunting there. And, you know, sometimes it's worth jumping through the hoops.

Speaker 1 (43:31.202)

Yeah. And we got a relatively new path program in the state of Oklahoma too. So we're adding access to to the roster of places to go in the state of Oklahoma. all right. So I'll remind folks, quail forever.org. If we didn't bring up a state or we just touched on a state that you're interested in, please check it out online, quail forever dot org, the full state by state.

Quail Forever Quail Hunting Forecast brought to you by Duck Camp is available online. As we close out, I want to kind of mimic what we did on the Pheasantonic forecast. And I'm gonna ask Sparks basically two questions. One to throw out a tip. He can pick the species, but a a quail oriented quail hunting oriented tip, and then one piece of gear that he's excited

put through its paces this quail hunting season. So let's start with a a tip that's on your mind as you approach twenty twenty six quail season.

Speaker 2 (44:37.536)

Yeah, and it's a tip that I, it's my number one tip and I keep giving it because I just think people aren't listening to my tip. You know, growing up in an area where there's not, there has not been a lot of public land hunting opportunities, I know the great experiences that you can have if you're willing to put in a little work and knock on doors and ask permission to hunt private ground. I would say my tip,

You know, if when you're e-scouting, you got your ONEX pulled up, spend a little extra time, look at your public land areas you want to check out, drop some waypoints, but then kind of scroll around and find some bigger landowners in that area. And if you click on their properties they own, it's going to give you a tax ID address. Copy and paste that address into ONEX. It's going to show you where they live.

You can mark them with a little Sasquatch icon because they're like the mythical creature that I'm really hunting is this permission. yeah. yeah. And then it's hard to do. I know it's hard to do because I struggle to do it on almost all my hunting trips. But if you can schedule one extra day at the front of your trip, drive around and look at those public land areas so you can know which ones you want to hit the next day. But more importantly, take half that day.

Speaker 1 (45:41.109)

I didn't even know Alex had a

Speaker 2 (46:02.634)

and go knock on doors. that's, mean, it's not fun. You've already driven all the way to wherever you're going to hunt. It's more driving, but I know what it can lead to. And I would say that's for all quail species. I mean, that's pretty much everything. If you hunt, that is a good way to go about it. And it's just...

There is, somebody can hand you the keys to the castle. You sometimes you find the right person and you know, you'll find in a lot of these states, particularly in the Midwest, you know, one guy farms and guess what? His cousin farms and his brother farms. And if you can get permission from one, you can get permission from other and it takes one door and pretty soon you've got a few thousand acres that you can go play around on. Then you have sole access to it. It's just so, so cool. So.

Speaker 1 (46:47.99)

It's a good tip. I I'll throw one out there and it's not rocket science, but it is also a universal tip. Whether you are sharp tail hunting, rough grouse hunting, pheasant hunting, or pick your species of quail. There's you probably all have heard the saying water is life. Water equals sharpies, water equals roughs, water equals pheasants, and baby, water equals quail. And you know it

Sparks talked about the drought report and you know connecting that. Even when you and you leave your truck, you know, when I think about sharpie hunting, you know, in a dry state, I look for the greenest area of grass in the landscape, and that's where the grasshoppers are gonna be, which means that's where the sharpies are gonna be. Rough grouse, it's been dry in certain places up north. So I look for

Alder slough edges and creeks and streams. Yes, I say creeks, not creeks. pheasants, same thing, cattail sluhs. And with quail, I believe it's even more visual for most quail species. You know, we've all heard of people hunting from windmill to windmill in Oklahoma. If you're hunting desert species, finding the the the canyon, the

where the water goes off of the landscape when there is any rain. If you can find where the rain goes, it's normally greener. And there's normally bugs. And where there's bugs, there are birds.

Speaker 2 (48:32.588)

That's a good one. That's a good one. I was just going to say on our, on this trip to Wyoming, we were just talking about, we got to spend a day with a guide out there driving around. He was kind of showing us how he scouts and he was actually stopping and it surprised me at every little culvert underneath the road. I mean, just these little, and there'd be a little puddle, maybe the size of a, of a volleyball. And he would, he was getting excited about that. So when water is scarce.

You know, in this instance, we're talking about Sage Grouse, but, you know, he was really keying in on that. And a few areas there was Sage Grouse tracks and the little bit of mud around that tiny little puddle out there.

Speaker 1 (49:11.822)

I was searching for the word th that they use in desert areas. It's a wash, you know, canyons and draws in in the desert areas, look for the washes. That's where the birds are. Yep. all right, what piece of gear you got your eye on this year?

Speaker 2 (49:27.714)

Man, I'm just excited to go hunting. So I would just say boots because after editing a 30 some quill forecast and putting together a couple issues of quill forever journal, I'm just excited to get out of this office chair that I'm sitting in right now and wear out some boot leather. And I did get a pair of those Irish setter wing shooters, the PF version. So I'm excited to strap those on and wear them out this fall and

Maybe we can get him to make some quill forever once in the future. We'll see.

Speaker 1 (49:59.416)

might be that plant on the horizon. You know, I'm gonna throw out Duck Camp, our proud sponsor of the quail hunting forecast. And for a couple years now they've had Duck Camp Canvas Upland strap vest. It's a real kind of a minimalist vest and it came out in they call it wheat color. It's brown, but they have it in blaze orange and in brown.

It's it's a old school, like I say, relatively minimal strap vest. it's a it's a terrific, terrific little vest if you're looking, particularly if you're looking to fly with something. Yeah, some of some of the vests nowadays are fabulous until you need to take them on an airplane. And Duck Camp, our partners, have a real nice packable vest. So check that out. You can find it at duckcamp.com.

Sparks, thanks for all your work putting the Quail forecast together.

Speaker 2 (51:03.608)

Yeah, very welcome. would encourage everyone to go out and stress test it. Let us know where we screwed up. I want to hear all the people that are finding all the birds where we said there would be none.

Speaker 2 (51:13.292)

Yeah.

Speaker 1 (51:14.062)

you could send an email to on the wing podcast at pheasantsforever.org or r sparks at quailforever.org. Fire us off an email. If you are not yet a member of Quail Forever, please consider joining. those little quail, all six species, they need your support, whether that's in habitat creation, public access.

Or your voice in Washington DC, it does make a difference. It's only 45 bucks. And you get the each edition of the Quail Forever journal that Ryan Sparks and a graphic design team puts a tremendous amount of time, talent, and love into each issue. It it is worth your 45 bucks in the journals alone. So consider that, please. Quailforever.org slash join.

Sparks, thanks for doing this.

Speaker 2 (52:12.834)

Yeah, thank you. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (52:14.838)

All right, folks, get out there, chase some quail. It's amazing what you'll see, especially if you explore these six different species. I'm Bob St.Pierre and reminding you to always follow the dog. Something good will rise. Thanks for listening, folks.