Bird hunting is a surprisingly hazardous occupation for a bird dog, and it can be tough on people as well... without adding being careless to the mix.  Don't worry, there is NOTHING graphic here, just some good ol' boys having fun.

A member of a forum I am a member of just recently posted this VIDEO of a group of gentlemen hunting one of my favorite game birds in areas I have hunted and by accounts, coveys I have hunted.  Bird hunting can be much harder on dogs than most might think, in particular Southern Arizona where Mearns quail live.  "Road hazards" abound, be it; barbed wire, hardscrabble, catclaw, cactus and the list goes on.  We also need to add the hunter to that list, as a potential threat to the dog, and frankly to other hunters in the area.  Sure there may be some camera angles at play here, but I'm willing to wager overzealous hunters coupled with a lack of full situational awareness is really what is mostly whats in play here.  Enjoy the scenery, enjoy the quail footage - please try to ignore the dog "work" and count your blessing you weren't hunting with these guys.

This year's epic border to border Mearns quail hunt was a good one for sure.  However, soon after arriving, we were getting some odd scraping sounds from the front-end while in four wheel drive.  Enter the 8-day Challenger visit, and a new front differential.  Despite being committed to hunting only easily accessible "bottom-feeder" hunts, the dogs did well, and it was good to have remembered my shooting mojo these combined netted my best harvest ever.  The return trip got serious in Southern Idaho when the transfer-case suffered a catastrophic failure; detonating and starting a vehicle fire when the gear oil splashed onto the exhaust.  Needless to say, having all that go down at 75mph was a whole level of excitement I'm okay without.  The link will take you to a Google Photo album, which does a fine job of encapsulates the trip, and makes skimming over a large gallery easy.  If you see something interesting, just click and take a closer look.  Enjoy The GALLERY HERE.