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Quail Hunting
I have been quail hunting in South Texas since I
was a kid. It has been my passion for many years, and I live in the
right place for it. South Texas has the habitat and the land use
practices that support the largest quail population in the United
States.
To the average person traveling through South Texas on US Highway 77 or US
Highway 281, the area seems to contain scrub brush, cactus and little
else. One must get off the main roads and spend some time on the
big ranches that own the land in South Texas to appreciate that this
area is a haven for all kinds of wildlife.
There are white-tailed deer, javelina, feral hogs, bobcats, an
occasional mountain lion, and other smaller mammals. The birds consist
of several types of dove, wild turkey, ducks, geese, sand hill cranes,
and above all, Bob White quail, the king of game birds.
The Bob White quail hunting in our area is the
best in the world.
My home is Kingsville, TX USA. My partner and I lease a pasture
(9,000 acres) from a ranch for hunting. The lease is approximately 20
minutes drive from my house so it is very convenient to get to the
lease.
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John and his favorite
pointer, Jane, on the old Quailmobile
Serious South Texas quail hunters have bird
dogs and hunting cars for quail hunting. I raise and train
my own hunting dogs. It is a great hobby and I really
enjoy a day in the field with my dogs which are all
English Pointers. The
other dimension of my quail hunting is designing and building
my own hunting car. Long ago, a friend called it the "quailmobile"
and the name stuck. I built my first quailmobile in 1978 using a 1968 VW bus body. I have
rebuilt it three times since then. Thank goodness, VW
buses are easy to find in junk yards since that is the source of
most of my parts for these projects.
I documented the latest rebuild of the
quailmobile in several pages on this website so you can see that
it is a major undertaking. I hope you enjoy reading about
the project. I will
continue to add stories and information about quail hunting to
this site. Come along
with me and let's go quail hunting.
John Howe |
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