The last stop of my Upland Slam journey was in Mexico’s northern state of Sonora. Sonora is just across the border from Arizona and a bit of New Mexico. For the slam, we would be seeking Elegant quail and doves. In a later blog, I will cover our amazing dove hunting in Sonora. Sonora has always been one of my favorite hunting destinations as the people, culture, terrain and plentiful game ensure that my hunts there are always memorable. In February, leaving the snow in Michigan for Sonora’s warm desert, is another plus.
The main reason we chose Sonora for the Upland Slam was that the state is home to Elegant Quail. Elegant Quail are a New World species of quail that is only found in northern Mexico. Their range reaches from Sonora and Chihuahua into Jalisco, but the majority of the birds are in Sonora. They are commonly found in thorny scrub brush areas inter-mixed with open ground and are usually near cultivated fields. Because these birds are in northern Mexico, which makes them harder to hunt for US hunters, they are not as well-known as the other northern species of quail. Elegant Quail are also the least hunted species of quail. This is not because of low population numbers, which are stable and growing. It is solely because it is more difficult for bird hunters to get to them, especially if the upland hunters want to use their own dogs. Adding to the difficulty is that you need to hunt on private ground and only a small handful of outfitters offer Elegant Quail hunting.
WTA works with great outfitters from all over the world and we have some great ones in Sonora, where our team has personally hunted and vetted the operations. One outfitter, in particular, specializes in dove, quail, and waterfowl hunting. This team knows what they are doing and have numerous areas to hunt. This past spring, while seeking my World Turkey Slam in a single season, I was with this outfitter and hunted with them for Gould’s turkeys. I took two big toms while enjoying some great Mexican cuisine along the way. It was during this spring trip that I started to make plans for my February return trip for doves and quail.
The process for bringing dogs into Mexico is extremely simple, as is the process for returning your dog back to the US. In late 2019, the Mexican laws were changed, starting in 2020, so that no formal documentation was required to bring your dog from the US into Mexico. However, having travelled to Mexico numerous times in the past, I always want to be prepared, just in case there is a snag with customs while crossing the border. As a result, to avoid any potential problem, I obtained a veterinary certificate for each of the dogs. These certificates identified each of my dogs and showed that they were each up to date on all of their shots and vaccinations. I was asked, at customs in Hermosillo, to see the veterinary certificates and I was happy to have the documentation, so we cleared customs without a problem. Our outfitter did all of the necessary gun paperwork, in advance, and met us at the airport to assist in the process. Within an hour of landing, we were on the road to the lodge. The lodge is located on the outskirts of Hermosillo, which is perfect as it allows for easy travel to the different hunting areas scattered in different directions in surrounding Sonora.
There are two species of quail that are open to hunting in the areas around Hermosillo. These are Elegant Quail, the main reason for this trip, and Gambels Quail, which we had earlier hunted in Arizona. We would split our time in Sonora and hunt for both quail on this trip. Our main focus was Elegant Quail and we decided to target them first. From Hermosillo, we headed by vehicle about two hours northeast, which brought us into a rural agricultural/cattle grazing area. There were both Elegant Quail and some Gambels in the area, but the area was preferred by Elegant Quail. When hunting quail, it is not good to start early in the morning as the quail need time to get off the roost and start moving around. We targeted to be at our hunting areas around 9:30 in the morning and to have the dogs down and hunting by 10 am. This would give us a couple of good hours of hunting before the afternoon temperatures would get high enough to cause heat troubles for our dogs. We would take the mid-afternoons off to rest, as the temperatures were just too hot for the dogs to run. Later in the afternoon, when the temperatures started to drop, we could again hunt the last couple of hours before sunset.
After the long travel from Michigan to Sonora, our dogs were excited to be back in the field. It didn’t take long for the dogs to get birdy and, just like all of the other quail species, Elegant Quail like to show off their legs and run like crazy. After a bit of teamwork, we got our first covey cornered and got them in the air. As the cover was fairly thick, I didn’t have a shot on the initial break up of our first Elegant Quail covey. We then set out after singles, which tended to hold tighter and not run as much as the large covey. Both Arrow and Shooter locked up in front of me. I slowly walked up and two quail were in the air. I raised my Benelli Ethos and covered the first bird. After a quick trigger pull, I watched the bird fall. My first Elegant Quail was a gorgeous male. The pressure was now off for the trip as my last quail for the Upland Slam was in hand.
We spent the rest of the morning, and late afternoon, walking the large area, bumping big coveys of Elegant Quail and then going after singles once the big coveys had been broken up. It looked to me that the coveys we were hunting of Elegant Quail, had probably not been hunted previously in the season. These coveys varied from 8-16 birds. We also found areas where two coveys were within a couple hundred yards of each other. The area had perfect quail habitat, with plenty of food and cover so the bird numbers were flourishing. Because these quail lived in some thick nasty areas, shots where often tough. We had three shooters as I was accompanied by my Dad and Justin McGrail. Justin is a long-time friend, a great shot, and also the dog trainer who has helped with the majority of the gun dogs I have had over the past 20 years. As our day of hunting for Elegant Quail ended, we had 15 birds. Hunting quail in Sonora, in 2020, is perhaps like hunting quail in the United States 50 or 75 years ago. While the terrain in Sonora can, at times, be rugged, the birds are plentiful and hunting competition is virtually non-existent.
The next day we traveled southwest out of Hermosillo to focus on hunting a leased area that our outfitter had for Gambels Quail hunting. There were irrigated orange groves for roosting, but we were hunting nearby fields that had previously been farmed. The quail would overnight in the groves but spend their days in these abandoned fields that were a combo of waist high grasses and clumps of woody bushes and small trees. Reaching the fields between 9 and 10am allowed the Gambels enough time to move there for feeding. Two months previously in southern Arizona, we had successfully hunted Gambels for the Upland Slam, but had only found a single covey. Our outfitter Sergio had mentioned, while I was hunting with him in Sonora for the Gould’s hunt, that he had Gambels hunting that we would find to be truly amazing. Sergio was true to his word!
This Sonora Gambels hunt was, hands down, the best quail hunt I’ve ever experienced in my life. Along with me, again, was my Dad and Justin, so we had a total of three shooters. Arrow and Shooter were constantly in birds, either coveys or small groups or singles or doubles. Our hunt was a total of two hours. Our dogs had multiple points too numerous to count. We shot, both hitting and missing, and ended up with our limit of 10 birds each. There were large coveys of 10-20 Gambels. The habitat was perfect for hunting. Although they ran just like normal Gambels, the cover had enough brush so the Gambels always had a place to stop, which was when we could get them in the air. Remember, these are 100% wild birds, but they have the right food and cover with minimal predators, so they could flourish. Hunting Gambels in Sonora, at least once, must be experienced by every
upland hunter.
After our morning hunt, we returned to Hermosillo for a fabulous lunch of traditional Mexican seafood dishes. Hermosillo has some of the best seafood, and beef restaurants, I’ve ever experienced.
If you are an upland hunter looking to experience either, or both, the Gambels or Elegant wild Quail hunts, give the team at WTA a call. If you are an upland hunter and you want to bring your dog to hunt in Sonora, call the WTA team. We will match you to the best outfitter for your upland hunt of a lifetime. You, and your upland dog, won’t be disappointed!
