SAQF and Arizona Game and Fish Department co-host an annual free event called QuailFest around the opening weekend for Montezuma or Mearns’ Quail.  It is scheduled for Sunday December 4th from 12 PM to 3 PM at Pioneer Hall in the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds in Sonoita.  Southern Arizona German Shorthair Club provides grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and beverages at a nominal price.  The event is held in the afternoon which gives hunters a chance to get out in the morning and stop by later.  
QuailFest is an outdoor education forum that will include other wildlife organizations and also shows the local community the significant economic impact that quail hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts bring into the local economy.    Santa Cruz County is the heart of Mearns’ country in Arizona which sees hunters from nearly every western state and several Canadian provinces. 
Well behaved dogs are permitted inside the hall so you will see a wide selection of great hunting dog breeds. 
SAQF has been asked by Tucson Audubon to help supply native seeds to start a food plot experimental program for Mearns’ quail. They want to use native plants from the Patagonia area. We can help by bringing the crops from birds we harvest this season!  Please bring your crops in a paper bag.  Audubon will have a table to collect these crops. They will process the seeds from the crops and use them to start plants so they can gather more seeds; then in a couple years they hopefully will have enough seeds to start building native food plots.  Mark Stromberg, a retired U of A professor will have a table next to the Audubon table to answer questions and explain how to handle crops later in the season. Thanks to Linda and Tad Pfister for helping to get this program started.

 

Anyone interested in Arizona outdoors, habitat, conservation and recreation will certainly learn and enjoy from the 3^rd annual QuailFest!