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Are you in search of the best quail hunting tips to sharpen your hunting skills? Do you want to raise your quail hunting to another level? Well, these quail hunting tips will not only improve your hunting but also help you take down more quails.
Best Quail Hunting Tips
1. Shooting Covey Rise
Many quail hunters come to the realization that they miss on the covey rises. You have to discipline yourself and have the focus to target one and only one bird and shoot it. However, many quail hunters have a hard time doing that as the sight of all of the birds keeps their faces from getting down on the stock.
Some of the hunters who do well on coveys, discipline themselves to shoot the first bird that flies. It is as though they condition their minds that they are shooting singles.
2. Shotgun For Quail Hunting
A shotgun is great for hunting quails and one with a 410 to 12 gauge is ideal.
3. Outfront Flush
Quails don’t always act like the birds you usually see in paintings. Instead of being positioned right under the pointing dog’s nose, you will find them at some distance out in the front, as much as 10 yards or even more. Therefore, be aware of that and be ready for the “out-front” flush.
4. Walk Into the Wind
The quail will have a faint chance of hearing you when you walk into the wind. This also makes it easier for your dog to pick up on the scent. Moreover, walking into the wind also helps your dog hear quails that are running.
5. The Safety On A Gun
Many quail hunters take their safety mechanisms off while walking to a point to flush out birds. That is very dangerous as you may realize that the birds have moved and the dog will need to relocate.
Additionally, you might also have to do a little more walking before the birds take off. Discipline yourself to keep the safety on until the bird is in the air and the gun is moving toward your shoulder to make the shot.
6. Low Flying Quail
Don’t shoot a low-flying quail. It could cause you to lower your muzzle below a horizontal plane with the ground.
7. Inside the Field Edges
Your pointing dog will only find coveys of birds that are in the field feeding. Working the woods bordering the field, the dog will have a good chance to trail and find covey activity.
8. Set of Car Keys
When you are hunting quails and are worried about rattlesnakes, just remember that the best snakebite kit is a set of car keys.
9. Avoiding Dead Birds and Cripples
You should avoid walking through areas with dead or crippled birds. Remain out to the side and let the dog find the birds.
10. Closer Than You Think
Many hunters don’t take a shot at a bird that is thirty to thirty-five yards out because they think it is out of the killing range. Most quail are killed within sixty feet. The next time you think the bobwhite is too far away for you to hit it, just remember it could be closer than you think.
11. Wet Weather Hunting
Rain and wet weather are not the best conditions for preserving quail hunting. Quality preserve hunting always depends on where you are hunting. The flight quality of preserved birds in the rain is not the best.
12. Running Birds and Your Dog
When your dog’s activity is pointing for a few seconds, then moving ahead, and then moving again and relocating, there is a good chance that you got some birds running ahead. Do your best to keep up with the dog as he moves along. It could be that the covey is going to flush wild and well ahead.
13. Focusing on Downed Birds
Many hunters make the mistake of focusing on the downed birds too quickly after a covey rise. They should be observing the escape routes of the other birds from the covey. You should continue to watch the escaping birds although they can be seen to cup their wings and sailing off in one direction, they can sail a long way and then suddenly change direction.
14. Shooting Bobwhites
Quails are fast but not as fast as ruffed grouse for you to shoot too fast. You should not adopt the “now or never” often used in ruffed grouse hunting. Most bobwhite quails are missed because the hunter shot too fast. You can read about the best ruffed grouse hunting tips to help you take more ruffed grouse home.
15. Cold Weather Hunting
When the temperature is dropping and its starts to snow or rain, quail will be feeding and leaving scent trails that your dog can easily find. This behavior of quails, when there is a cold front moving in, can reward you handsomely if you use your dog and hunt the quails. Training a dog to hunt involves patience and repeated steps that are explained in this article about how to train your hunting dog.
16. Slow Down the Hunt
You should not be in a hurry with hunting quails. Take your time and move along the edges of fields, working every nook and cranny. Be slowly and thoroughly checking every area, you will find more coveys than a hunter in a hurry.
17. Dawn Patrol
Doing the “dawn patrol” is common and effective with deer and waterfowl hunting but not for hunting bobwhites. Quails will remain huddled together until the sun comes up and the place starts to warm up. They will then come out and your dog can start picking up scents.
18. Head On the Gunstock
Many times when a covey rises, the hunter takes a shot and realizes he missed the bird. Sometimes the hunter wonders why he missed the shot. It is often because he is excited by what he is seeing and then lifts his head slightly from the gunstock. Once your head is off the gunstock, you will miss the shot.
19. Don’t Shoot All
Taking down a covey of wild bobwhites to only two or three birds is not the right thing to do. Set your personal take as five or six from a covey of about twelve birds. After you have reached that number from a covey, leave it alone for the rest of the season. Next year will be another hunting season.
20. Quail Hunting Tough Days
When the temperature is very low and there is a stiff breeze blowing over the frozen ground will be some of the toughest days to hunt quails. Finding birds in this condition is hard for even the best dogs. You can read our review of the best hunting ground blinds from this link.
Hunting quails is one of the most exciting adventures in hunting. The best quail hunting tips will help you put more of this tasty bird on your table. These quail hunting tips are for beginners as well as experienced hunters. If you have seen other hunters with dozens of quail in the back of their trucks and wonder just how they got so many, then these quail hunting tips will get you closer to that level of quail hunting.
You can also read the best dove hunting tips, the best goose hunting tips, the best duck hunting tips, the best turkey hunting tips, how to hunt teal, how to hunt snipe, and the best pheasant hunting tips.
