After hunting really hard last weekend only to have little success, and this being the last week of the season, I had to take yesterday off work so that I had a chance to redeem myself. My buddy Darin picked me up yesterday morning at about 6am, we drove to a new spot that he found for quail, and from there proceed to have a great hunt. All of the dogs got a lot of good work in and everyone was very happy at the day’s end. At the end of every season there are always a handful of unique moments in the field that you remember for years, and yesterday definitely had a few of those moments. Big thanks go out to Darin for sharing a great day with me.

I don’t think that there is anything more fun than hunting upland birds in the snow. There might not be much snow here, but seeing tracks on the ground was a sight for sore eyes. This season has been exceptionally dry and we need a lot more moisture.

The result of a good day in the field. These birds are going to be tasty.

Jay Kincaid

This is the last week of upland bird hunting season here in Nevada and I will be taking at least one day off work this week so that I can get a few more days in the field before it is all over. Usually my annual pattern is that I am kind of worn out and relieved when the season is over, then two weeks later I am ready to cry myself to sleep at night because the realization that I am something like 7 months away from bird hunting again has set in.

I have been wrestling on and off the majority of my life starting at about 10 years old. I love one on one competition, and I can’t image a more pure form of it. In the last 8 years I have been training extensively in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, which is a form of submission wrestling, and Saturday I was promoted to black belt. So, that is my excuse for not hunting.

Sunday I hunted one of my all time favorite spots, and it was a letdown. My buddy Darin hunted with me and we knocked down some birds, but I was really expecting a lot more action than we found. We had a great time anyway though. The dogs got in some good bird work and they will sleep well today, so I am happy with that.

I have found more new places to hunt quail this year than in the last 8 or 9 years combined. I think that the forecast Wednesday is for a good quail hunt. Peepers beware...

A pretty nice view, if you ask me.

Between Porter and Cash, they don’t let very many get away… Porter found this cripple in a creek bed under this big boulder. (You can see the birds tail feather is the far back.)With a little prodding from a long stick I was able to get the bird to run out of the little cave, and Cash was right there to snatch him up as he was trying to get under another set of rocks.
Jay Kincaid

Paolo and I were at the annual SHOT Show last week in Las Vegas representing Glacier Glove. It was a good time, like always, as it really is the most amazing place for people who are passionate about shooting and hunting. We had the opportunity to see a bunch of our dealers, and the opportunity to meet and hang out with a whole bunch of people that love to hunt just like we do. In particular I got to speak with a bunch of really good dog handlers and upland bird hunters. For me, that is always a pleasure. Thank you to everyone that stopped by our booth.

My wife was home with our 3 month old twins all week, and when I got home Friday night it was very obvious that she needed a break and that I would not be hunting on Saturday. It is VERY rare that she ever asks me to not go hunting, so when she does I know that there must be a good reason for it, and I don’t go. It doesn’t take a lot of common sense to know that she needed a break, so I hung out on Saturday with the babies, and was happy to do so.

I have never had what I would consider a good upland bird hunt after a really big windstorm, or during a big windstorm. Never. Not even one time… We had big winds in northern Nevada late in the week with gusts up to 70 mph. Sunday I hunted a mountain that I had hunted the weekend before. I only had a few hours, but I did not see a single bird. That is very rare. In fact I can only think of a small handful of hunts ever that I have not even seen a bird. I can add yesterday to that short list. No worries, next weekend I could have some of the best hunting of my life. All you can do is keep after it, and have fun either way. The good news is that some well needed moisture blew in, and every drop of that moisture is really helpful to our desert wildlife, especially in a dry year like this.

Our booth at the SHOT Show.

I looked over at my GPS on my dashboard Sunday morning and I thought that someone was messing with me. It is kind of hard to read, but it does say what you are thinking that it says.

Jay Kincaid

I managed to talk my buddy Darin into another exploratory mission this weekend. We hunted a mountain that I had wondered about for years. This has kind of been the year for me to try a bunch of new stuff within an hour and a half of town. I really like this particular spot and the area in general, and I will for sure be heading back out that direction to hunt.
This may also be the first time that I can remember seeing chukar at a guzzler trying to get water in January. Unfortunatly the water in the guzzler was frozen solid. It is obviously really dry for this time of year.

Another cold clear day in the desert. We really need some moisture and it sounds like it may FINALLY be arriving this week.

The resiliency of the high desert. Sage brush growing out of a small crack in the rock.

Cash with a retrieve.

Jay Kincaid

I hunted this weekend with our Sales Manager here at Glacier Glove, Paolo, who is a good friend of mine. We didn’t have the best hunting ever, but it was a lot better than sitting on the couch doing nothing. We knocked down some birds and like always had a great time.

Porter on Point with Cash backing.

Cash (aka, Senor Blanco) making a retrieve. Just prior to this retrieve the dogs had a great point. Paolo and I walked in right on top of these birds, and knocked down four.

Porter found this bird dead, and Cash retrieved it.

Paolo with one of the Chukar.

A pair of Quail that Paolo knocked down.

I am always talking about the hunt itself, but this is the result of a good hunt. The best free-range organic meat in the world. We made these birds up into a nice Chukar Piccata. I dont think that anything tastes better.

Lastly, I have got to say that I am starting to get really nervous about our lack of moisture. I know that there is still plenty of time left, but with that said day by day we are running out of time, and if we don’t get some serious moisture fairly soon, we are going to have no birds next year to speak of. And that is not mentioning all of the other desert critters that need the food and water that moisture provides. I am nervous….

Jay Kincaid