2013-07-12 12:29:31One who loves me mos
the first reason
Which brings us to the first reason quail hunting wasn't so hot for a ragtag band of late-season hunters who hailed from Colorado's bobwhite-deprived Front Range. The second reason was the ice storm.
The leader of this expedition was Rick Kursevich's dog, Nika, a Gordon setter. Kursevich sat behind the wheel for the nine-hour drive from his home in Bailey and through the Panhandle to Oklahoma proper, but there was no question who was driving.
Pointing dog owners always are driven to extremes by their dogs. On this, his second trip here, Kursevich met two groups of men and seven dogs from Georgia, a state once purported to be quail nirvana.
"Driving out here is what you have to do," one of the men told him. "There's nary a wild quail left in Georgia."
Not so in these parts. "The birds out there are all native birds. We don't stock anything," Wilson said with pride.
Overall, hunters bag nearly 2 million birds in Oklahoma, putting the state in the top three nationally for harvest. It's no secret why. Take care of habitat, and the bobwhites will take care of themselves.
Sandhills and swampy bottom dominate the two state wildlife management areas Wilson manages - Fort Supply and Cooper. Dotted with cottonwoods and cedars, the land is covered with native prairie grasses, sagebrush and sand plum thickets.
The leader of this expedition was Rick Kursevich's dog, Nika, a Gordon setter. Kursevich sat behind the wheel for the nine-hour drive from his home in Bailey and through the Panhandle to Oklahoma proper, but there was no question who was driving.
Pointing dog owners always are driven to extremes by their dogs. On this, his second trip here, Kursevich met two groups of men and seven dogs from Georgia, a state once purported to be quail nirvana.
"Driving out here is what you have to do," one of the men told him. "There's nary a wild quail left in Georgia."
Not so in these parts. "The birds out there are all native birds. We don't stock anything," Wilson said with pride.
Overall, hunters bag nearly 2 million birds in Oklahoma, putting the state in the top three nationally for harvest. It's no secret why. Take care of habitat, and the bobwhites will take care of themselves.
Sandhills and swampy bottom dominate the two state wildlife management areas Wilson manages - Fort Supply and Cooper. Dotted with cottonwoods and cedars, the land is covered with native prairie grasses, sagebrush and sand plum thickets.