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Hunt‘em High By Dave King
Sitting on the edge of a hillside I looked down in the huge creek bottom that I had just covered wondering how the heck I didn’t find a single bird. The area was perfect with lots of brushy cover and green grass for the quail to hide in and eat, but I didn’t even see a single track in the grainy sand in the bottom of the creek bed. Looking over the country with my binoculars I noticed something up on the side of a hill running under the bushes. Hey! There’s the quail! Within minutes I had taken off in pursuit of these tricky critters. It didn’t take long for me to get into the birds and to my surprise this was the biggest covey I had seen all year. Picking up a couple birds I chased the rest of the singles around hillside. At the end of the loop I had found over 50 birds in two different coveys. I had hunted all around the base of this hill and covered over a mile but here I was only 200 yards from my truck and I already had seven birds in my bag. Hunting the hillsides can be very productive once our quail season has been open for a month or so. Since most of the hunters like to hunt the thick mesquites in the bottom of washes and creek beds the birds figure out the routine and move to the hills knowing that they are safer from most of the hunters. Also birds will move on up out of the washes when the weather cools. They like to bask and feed on the south/east facing slopes in the mornings. Of course the birds are not always going to be in the hills but more often than not from mid November to the end of the season you’ll find a greater percentage here. Finding the right hillside isn’t that tricky but you need to know what to look for as not all hills are going to hold birds. First of all if you have a spot that you have hunted all season and now you aren’t finding any birds, check the hills. Birds don’t have the largest home range around so if you find a good looking wash or have wash that has been productive in the past the birds are more than likely up above you instead of in the wash. Secondly look for boulders. Birds love to meander and hide in boulders. If you see a grassy/rocky hillside it would be a good idea to get out and see what’s around. Third, of course, there needs to be cover. I have found birds on hills that looked like they couldn’t hide a tick but more often than not it’s best to avoid these areas. Rocks, mesquite trees, prickly pears and grass are usually the best ingredients to make up a good hillside. So get out of those washes and do some hiking, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
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