Mearns Quail

The area of Az. that we live in is one of the few areas in the SW USA that has a hunt able population of Mearns Quail . They are great birds, the environment that they are found in is spectacular .
Their habitat is conducive to fast and tight shooting and rugged terrain .Because of these factors my two favorite guns are British Side by Sides that are choked skeet and skeet , and Cylinder and Improved Cylinder.
The average covey size for Mearns Quail seems to be around 10 birds ,and during the 07/08 season on serious days we where moving around 15 coveys per day.
Keep in mind that this was an exceptional year ,normally the covey count is lower.
I like to run 2- 3 dogs at a time , the dogs seem to pick their own zones to hunt, they search the bottoms of the canyons ,underneath the Oaks ,and the open side hills,They also learn to slow down and be thorough ,as there are many places a covey can be and plus scenting conditions can be tough.
Let's hope we have a repeat hatch in 2008.