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| Mearns | Scaled | Gambel |
| Biology | Biology | Biology |
| Distribution | Biology | Biology |
| Hunting | Biology | Biology |
| Books | Distribution | Distribution |
| Habitat Management | Call | |
| Call | ||
Please consider the following voluntary "Mearns Quail Hunter Guidelines" that will help the Mearns quail come back every season:
1. Participate in the Arizona Quail Alliance surveys and opinion polls. This data is submitted straight to the Arizona Game & Fish Commissioners (as well as to the Game & Fish Department). Today it is the only opportunity offered to hunters to have their voices be heard directly by those that indeed do set the actual bag limits and define seasons. To find out where these boxes are to be found this season - see Survey Boxes..
2. Participate in the Arizona Game & Fish Department small game and wing barrels questionnaires . Wing information helps determine the state quail population, when the season should occur and how long it should take place. After-season questionnaires are mailed to random license holders and it is the AFGD's principal instrument to estimate seasonal harvest.
3. Limit your daily harvest. The high bag limit of 2000 and again in 2001 has dramatically hurt the population of the Mearns quail for this season (2002). The fact that the bag limit for Mearns quail has been finally reduced to ten (10) birds for 2002 will help in some instances somewhat, but is not low enough yet to help the bird come back to its otherwise natural numbers in the coming years. You can help by voluntarily limiting your daily kill to 5-6 birds. Our hunter surveys found many hunters now limit their daily harvest of Merans to 5-8 on the averag to help ensure ample breeding stock for next year.
4. Be very careful in the pursuit and dispersal of Mearns quail coveys. The practice of not limiting shooting only to a 'covey rise' can be dangerous to Mearns quail. The biological trend in the last two seasons has been that Mearns quail coveys are not regrouping during the latter part of the season - due to constant hunting pressure. Example; during the 2000 season, by January 5th, coveys demonstrated a 'permanent dispersal' and never regrouped. In 2001 this phenomenon was exhibited by December 15th. When you consider that on the average each known Mearns quail canyon is visited by six (6) hunters per day (based on 2000-2001 hunter data), you can see why the birds are now not getting the opportunity to regroup. To what extend this new phenomenon is contributing to natural mortality during the season is not known, but its dangerous ramifications can be imagined.
5. Confine you hunting hours from Dawn - 3pm in the afternoon during the coldest times of the season. This gesture may help the bird during extremely cold weather conditions (below 20 degrees). Its importance however is that it allows the birds a chance to regroup before nightfall.
6. Respect the land and landowner's rights. Close gates, leave an area cleaner than you found it and always pick up your expended shotgun shells. And please do not clean birds in the field. Nothing is more disheartening than to see a pile of dead carcasses in a place you intent to hunt. Please keep in mind, that by law a wing needs to be left on all Mearns quails until comsumption. During the last two seasons, rancher-hunter relationship took a beating in Mearns quail country, as a direct result of many new hunters joining the ranks but not knowing the area and its local culture.
7.
New Quail Regulations. The
limit on Mearns quail is no more than ten (10) per
day. Desert Quail: fifteen (15) quail per
day in the aggregate of which no more than 15 Gambel's,
Scaled, or California quail may be taken in any one
day.
Ecology
Mearns
quail defense is to crouch and freeze, blending into
their environment. This makes them a premier bird
for pointing dog enthusiasts. At the last second Mearns
will flush explosively but fly only a short distance.
With hunting pressure during the season, birds become
wary, learn to run and once flushed, can be hard to
reflush.
Not early risers, the birds are active during the fall and winter from about 8am to 6pm. They feed throughout the day but are most active midmorning and late afternoon. They roost on the ground in a circle or semicircle. It is important in late afternoon to give the birds enough time to call and recovey for protection and warmth. Temperatures can drop well below freezing in Southeast Arizona. Their assembly call is a low whistled series of six to nine descending notes.
Mearns have strong legs and long claws that they use to dig up bulbs and tubers. Wood sorrel (Oxalis) is one tuber that is consumed year round. Other prominent foods are acorns, sedge (Cyperus) and other tubers, insects and seeds. When searching for Mearns, look for their diggings under bushes or trees, at the base of rocks or grass clumps. Mearns can exist and reproduce without free water.
Mearns begin to pair up in mid February. Nesting coincides with the summer rains, starting late June or July. The male call is an eerie, vibrant descending whistle. They nest on the ground with a clutch consisting usually of 10-12 eggs. Both parents protect and tend the young who can fly in 10 days. The young are shown food but not directly fed.
Mearns live in small family coveys of 8-12 birds, are territorial and do not travel great distances. During hunting season, they will stay closer to cover and by season's end they may migrate to the steeper slopes and higher up on the ridges. More research is needed on Mearns quail movement.
Distribution
Mearns are found in appreciable numbers only in
a very small portion of southeast Arizona in what
can be called "island populations". They
exist in even more limited areas in New Mexico and
Texas. Though they've been seen between 4,000 to 9,000
feet, they are most commonly found in oak-grasslands
from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. The majority of hunters
concentrate in the canyons and valleys of the Coronado
National Forest, principally in Santa Cruz County.
Many factors point to treating these birds with care:
a concentration of hunters and small population distribution,
lower reproductive skills, small covey size, their
defense posture of 'crouch and freeze', the unpredictability
of rainfall and habitat loss or degradation.
The
old quail management strategies do not hold in today's
modern landscape. Current research is shedding light
on the interplay of the many factors that affect quail.
Liberal regulations were socially justified on the
basis that they provide maximum recreational opportunity
to hunters. Support your sport, communicate with the
Arizona Game & Fish Department and get involved
in organizations that promote habitat improvement
and improved quail management.
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|
|
| Mearns | Scaled | Gambel |
| Biology | Biology | Biology |
| Distribution | Biology | Biology |
| Hunting | Biology | Biology |
| Books | Distribution | Distribution |
| Habitat Management | Call | |
| Call | ||