Quail Hunt: It is a beautiful stimulating hunt, which requires preparation and enthusiasm; the quail knows a thousand and one tricks to escape the attention of the hunter and exhaust any "hound".
Small and tasty fowl, the quail is not equally appreciated in every corner of Italy. Especially in the south, in the months following the opening of the hunt and therefore between September and October, there are hunters who are literally crazy for this kind of hunting and who prefer to carry it out in the company of their trusty hunting dog, because let's face it, the quail. it may be small but it is a highly intelligent and shrewd savage who, in order to escape from man, puts in place a surprising malice.
Just to have some additional information on the habits of the quail, it is good to remember that normally the migration of the wild begins in spring, since the beginning of March: it is no coincidence that once the spring hunting was among the most appreciated and popular species when it came to quail.
The charm of this particularly stimulating kind of hunting is renewed today in autumn, but the hunter tastes it since the end of May, when he can admire the first arrivals of quail on the Italian territory.
Among the most popular nesting locations in southern Italy are the Aspromonte and Silla plateaus which are abandoned every year just before the summer storms, roughly during the opening of the hunt. The quail hunter knows well that one of the elements that just cannot underestimate is that of the wind: according to the hunting areas, the wind that brings good news for the capture of quail changes, and for this reason the element must be kept under control and around this is It is possible to organize rich hunting days.
The habitat is also an element not to be underestimated: normally quails like to stop in areas rich in stubble, or made particularly intricate by the presence of spontaneous grasses: all this to escape the eye of the hunter. These areas in fact guarantee safety and shelter to the quails that combine the useful with the pleasure. It is not uncommon for hunters to choose to wean their dogs during quail hunting: the presence of this bird is constant and the quail is an excellent school for any four-legged friend. This kind of practice allows in fact to develop the sense of smell by refining it, but also to give greater shape to the dog that after the months of closure of the hunt may have become more lazy.
Quail hunting: The quail is a wild doc, which brings out the best of the dog's hunting skills, if they are present, this is obvious.
What matters is that the animal has a certain resistance to heat: especially if the quail is hunted in the south, September and even October are quite hot months, and the meadows of wheat and stubble resemble, during the long days of hunting. , in well heated ovens.
It is also important to remember that, although quail hunting is an excellent school for your own hunting dog which resumes with the seasonal activity, it is good that this is not totally fasting in movement: the quail we have already said is a shrewd creature, capable of tired the most prepared hound and we know it, a tired dog, exactly like the hunter, he is not very lucid.
When the dog is tired, the quail will have no difficulty in escaping it: it usually crouches behind the stubble and ferns, freezing itself well hidden; not infrequently he prefers to fly away, with a sprawling flight that gives the dog the feeling that it is an injured bird to be chased: the race will needless to say is useless and tiring for our dear four-legged friend.
So it is important to try your hand at this stimulating hunt only after having subjected the dog and of course also the hunter to adequate preparation: going for quails is not something for everyone and do not believe those who tell the opposite.