Colorado Blues And Bobs Mike Gnatkowski

A chance meeting set the stage. Returning from a trade show in June, I was taking the shuttle back to the extended parking lot at Denver International Airport. Eventually, the passengers dwindled down to a guy sporting a Browning cap and me.

Turned out the guy was Cody Strong, who at the time was Pheasants Forever’s biologist for southeast Colorado. Our conversation quickly turned to quail numbers in Colorado and the prospects for the coming season. His eyes lit up, and his voice rose an octave: Winter snows and timely spring rains promised exceptional hunting in the fall.

Quail populations in southeastern Colorado are boom or bust, depending largely on moisture. Ample winter moisture and timely spring rains typically produce a bumper crop of quail, given an ample carryover from the previous year. The last time southeast Colorado quail numbers flourished was during the 2015-2016 season. Word had it that the stage was set for another banner year in 2019-2020.

Normally, prime habitat for any given game bird species encompasses a large area, and there’s a gradual transition between habitat types. However, that’s not the norm for blue (scaled) quail and bobwhite quail in southeastern Colorado. Their preferred habitat couldn’t be more different and yet are near enough to each other that you can hunt both species in a single day or weekend. On rare occasions, you’ll find both in the same habitat.

Blue quail were on my bucket list. I’d shot bobwhites before whenever I stumbled into them. I didn’t dream that I could hunt both species the same day.

Strong and I determined some mutually agreeable dates in late December, and we were fortunate that Colorado Wildlife and Parks biologist Jonathon Reitz, who works out of the Lamar office, could join us for a hunt. Strong and Reitz worked closely together managing habitat and wildlife populations in the area. The Quail Whisperers I labeled them, given their shared curiosity and knowledge about quail.