We leave in the morning to go chase blues and gambels down in west Texas. This will be our first experience with the runners, so I was wondering if anyone had any advice to share. Thanks in advance!

We hunted them (blues) four 4-5 years straight, the place we hunted had great cover, wasn't much different than hunting late season Bobs, they always held pretty good. Of course sometimes if you were in a more open / shorter grass area, they would run but usually just until they hit cover. If the cover isn't great & you have birds running on you alot, try to bust the covey, the singles usually hold real well. Also, they are usually very vocal, if you don't know what they sound like, go online & listen to the sound of a blue Quail, sometimes they will lead you right to them. Be safe, have fun & take lots of pictures!

Take your running shoes and shoot them on the ground as soon as you see them.

Drive around with a shotgun hanging out the window. Unplug gun and use skeet choke and use #8 shot.

Blues run a bit more than gambels. My experience has been gambles are found at a higher elevation than blues. Gambels covey in much larger groups and you'll need to break them up a couple of times before you can get good dog work. Both species are a blast when working singles.

I find grass is the key for both birds to keep them from running

Stay with them to third flush, they will usually hold good the third time they fly.

Gotta break the covey up on the blues or they will run and run and run. Where I hunted bobs in oklahoma today, Dash met his first covey of blues by surprise and got owned. As did I on my shooting them. Hope you do better.

We have about half blues and half bobs here in Gaines COunty now. Early 80's was primarily blues. It was said earlier that if you can get them busted into the grass they will stick. THis is true. Once in heavy grass the blues will act just like bobs. If they are in open country, better get your track shoes on. If your dog is not use to hunting moving or running birds they may have a hard time with them. IF you are hunting around CRP getting them into the grass is not a problem. HOWEVER, if you are hunting open country then most likely it wont be a lot of grass to get them busted into. Blues tend to like open ground. And they can run a LONG way. Once you get into range they normally fly, then run some more. Good luck.

Bust them up and they will hold better. If there is little cover its a track meet. Will drive the dogs crazy.

Well, we just got back from our hunt lastnight. While we never got into the gambels, the blues were a ton of fun to chase around. So much fun in fact that we're already looking for another place to lease out for another weekend hunt. Definitely took some getting used to, but they are a blast once you get them broke up! I've never been so tired or beat up from chasing birds, but we loved every minute of it!

I miss the he** out of chasing those west TX runner. Have fun and happy hunting

jrg