March Update

Overview:

The AZ Quail Season was not great in terms of quail numbers.  While desert quail numbers were a little better than the last couple of years they were well below long term averages.  Those that participated in the Wing Bee assessing wings collected from wing barrels saw a mixed bag – some areas provided good numbers of Mearns but several of our traditional hot spots were poor.  Those willing to explore new areas did the best. We saw improved use of the wing barrels which will help AZ G&F manage the bird. 
The chapter got several new hunters out and made new friends from Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and QF staff.  I believe many new friends were also made by those attending our meetings and banquet.
Our decent rainfall this winter bodes well for better desert quail numbers next year assuming we get some spring rain to keep bug numbers up to feed chicks in their early days. 

Habitat:

We are on contract with Borderlands Restoration to complete new loose rock dams in the borderlands grassland project led by Coronado National Forest.  The rock dams will slow water flow and improve habitat. Volunteer dates are:  March 9 & 16, and April 4 & 8 at 8:30 AM.  Any amount of help is appreciated.  The volunteer meet up location will be at Montezuma Pass. There is a large sign for Montezuma Pass and it’s also a big parking area with drop toilets, making it difficult to miss. The latitude and longitude of the meeting location is around 31.351144, -110.285430.
Nick Besenick, Howie Swenson and Jim Littlejohn with help from Dexter installed 9 quail ramps at Empire Ranch.  We are working to schedule more installations.A

Access to Public Lands:

We will continue to do our road cleanup on highway 82 to promote a positive image of the chapter and to keep Hog Canyon access off highway 82 open. 
Please be respectful of and make sure your actions do not impact public or private land.  Close gates, watch for livestock, pick up trash (yours and others) and keep speed and dust down.
Buenos Aires NWR:USFWS has added a 3 month, 10 person Americorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) crew working on quail habitat at BANWR.  That’s the equivalent of having one full-time person for 2.5 years!   We are also working with them to restart some old wells to provide wildlife water.  Trevor Lauber from US Fish and Wildlife is looking for help from those with well trained dogs to help find Masked Bobwhite Quail on the refuge.  If you can help please contact him directly at tslauber@gmail.com or  (828) 407-3141.

Getting Folks Outdoors:
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Thanks to all that volunteered or participated with Family Day under the leadership of Tony Valentino.   We had perfect weather and got several new folks into the outdoors.  Our great partners from AZ G&F, Huachuca Gould’s Chapter of NWTF and the Southern AZ German Shorthair Club made this event look easy. Thanks also to the San Pedro Flycasters, Darling Geomatics, and the Huachuca Mountain Archers for their superb support.   We increased our capacity this year by adding a second dog field and trap station.  We also added two new events with an exciting working dog demo from Pima County Sheriff’s Department and a raptor display from the Arizona Falconers Association.  We had the largest number of participants and volunteers ever for this event.  We were able to provide all the youth participants a hat and a shirt and everyone got a great breakfast and lunch, all at no cost to individuals.  We were able to support this with grants from Arizona Sportsman for Wildlife Conservation and Justin Corbet Memorial Shooting Sports Foundation plus a generous donation from the Robert D. Fisher Foundation.  Please pass any lessons that will enable us to do even better next year.

Chapter Meetings:

We had several great speakers this season.  Please send your inputs for next season.-At our Nov meeting, we received a great presentation on dog first aid from Dr Rebecca Keil, quail hunting 101 to polish our skills from Kirby Bristow and an overview of Southwestern Birds from Jenny Mcfarland from Tucson Audubon.-In our Dec meeting we got an update from Trevor Laubor on the Masked Bobwhite Recovery at BANWR.  Greg Munther led a group of retired professional biologist who reviewed Southern AZ quail management.  He reported that AZ G&F was doing an overall good job of managing quail and CNF was managing grazing relatively well.  He highlighted areas for potential improvement.  Zack May talked about the need to tackle R3 (recruit, retain and reactivate) or risk losing the North American Model for Wildlife Management.-In Jan we had staff from the Coronado National Forest update us on progress on the Meadow Valley road bypass and the large scale habitat and fuel management project along the border.  The access issue is moving slowly but because of our input Meadow Valley is the highest priority road project for CNF.  Ugo Pennacchietti talked to us about dog training.-In Feb we heard about the Gambels Quail relocation study by AZ G&F conducted by UofA grad student Cherie Nelson.  Quail are captured on golf courses and relocated to Altar Valley to study the viability to jump start populations after drought periods.  We also heard from Larisa Harding the relatively new AZ G&F Small Game Manager on wildlife management and R3 efforts through small game hunting.

Volunteer Needs:

Please consider volunteering as a chapter officer to continue to move the chapter forward.  We are in need of fresh candidates specifically to serve as treasurer, banquet chair and secretary.  We will vote for a new board later this spring.  Without additional help we will not be able to continue at our current level.
Karen Klima from AZ G&F is looking for someone to write a 700 word story on bird hunting with dogs for the G&F Wildlife Views Magazine.  The article is not due until early summer and you would get some help with editing.  This would be a great way to get some press for your best friend.

AZ Sportsman for Wildlife Conservation (AZSFWC):
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SAQF is part of AZSFWC.  You can sign up for their enews at http://azsfwc.org.  This allows us to better coordinate with other wildlife groups and better communicate with AZ G&F leadership.  We are part of over 10,000 AZ sportsman represented by this organization.
Please consider purchasing a AZSFWC license plate to support wildlife when you renew your current AZ plate through Service Arizona.  The fee for this license supports the conservation grants provided by AZSFWC.  Our Family Day has received AZSFWC grant support the last two years.

Arizona Outdoor Adventures Clay Shoot:
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AOA is conducting a fundraiser with a Sporting Clays Shoot Saturday 9 May at Ben Avery from 8AM – 1PM.  AOA is a great organization that works to get youth and young adults out of the city to learn about the outdoors.  More info on AOA is available at https://azoutdooradventures.org.

National Outdoor Women’s Weekend:

Our sister chapter in Phoenix, Valley of the Sun is hosting the National Outdoor Women’s Weekend (NOWW) March 6, 7 and 8, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona. This inaugural event is dedicated to the inclusion of women in the shooting and hunting sports and will feature classes, seminars, range time and opportunities for fun and recreation as well as a Saturday Evening Extravaganza. The event intends to bring women (and men) from across the country and Arizona to participate in a shooting and hunting seminar event that includes everything from firearm basics, personal development, shooting clay instruction on the Franchi Sporting Clay range to dog training and upland game bird hunting! The weekend commences on Friday March 6th with an opportunity to meet NOWW sponsors, volunteers, and other participants at the Buffalo Chip in Cave Creek. On Saturday & Sunday, participants will have the chance to shoot sporting clays and get hands-on coaching from pro shooter and Quail Forever life member Anna Van Nostrand of Anna V Outdoors. Franchi Shotgun Pro Staffers and Firearms Safety Instructors Tina Dokken and Simone Schara will introduce firearms and Upland Hunting. Noted dog trainer, author, and inventor of the Dokken Deadfowl Trainer, Tom Dokken, will discuss dog training and breeding. TV hunting star Tiffany Lakosky of The Crush with Lee and Tiffany will headline, along with Tina Dokken, the Saturday evening round table discussion and will also participate in seminars. Arizona Game & Fish Department staff members will discuss conservation and educate on species and habitat issues as well as conduct a seminar on how to cook wild game. The weekend will be highlighted by a Saturday Evening Extravaganza VIP Wine & Wild game happy hour followed by a catered dinner with raffles, gun auctions and a celebrity roundtable discussion with Q & A. Major Sponsors include Franchi, Savage Arms and the Sportsmen’s Business Alliance.  For more information and to register for this event at https://www.votsqf.com/banquet.html or at https://noww2020.org/. 

Chapter Website and Facebook: 

 If you see an error or have a recommendation for improvement, please let us know.  We are always looking for pictures, stories or articles to add.  We are working to add instagram to our social media offerings.  If you see something that would be worthwhile to cross post, please send it to Dave Brown (browndave27@gmail.com) or Kerry Newberry (newberry.kerry@gmail.com).

Future dates:

• 6-8 Mar Valley of the Sun National Outdoor Women’s Weekend
• 9 Mar Borderlands Volunteer Day
• 16 Mar Borderlands Volunteer Day
• 26 Mar Patagonia Wildlife Corridor Volunteer Day
• 4 Apr Borderlands Volunteer Day and AZ public lands day
• 8 Apr Borderlands Volunteer Day
• May 2020 Chapter Officer Election Cycle
• 1 Jul 2020 New Board in Place
• 7/8 Aug 2020 Western Region Meeting Missoula, MT
• 16 Oct 2020 Desert Quail Opens
• 19 Nov 2020 Chapter Meeting Sahuarita
• 4 Dec 2020 Mearns Opens
• 6 Dec 2020 QuailFest Sonoita
• 10 Dec 2020 Chapter Meeting Sonoita
• 21 Jan 2021 Chapter Meeting Sonoita
• 30 Jan 2021 SAQF Banquet
• 7 Feb 2021 Quail Closes
• 18 Feb 2021 Chapter Meeting Sahuarita
• 27 Feb 2021 Family Day Empire Ranch