The Littlest Slam

Grand Slams are an All-American fascination. Baseball and Denny's dish out a couple of heart-stopping varieties, and in sport hunting the expression conjures images of wild sheep and turkeys. And though his prey is on the small side and easily overlooked, the quail hunter has been know to pull an ear or two with tales of his own august feat. But just as it is with sheep and turkeys, only those who are seriously devoted to pursuing the little guys have made it into the club.

To qualify you have to take all six varieties of quail residing in the U.S., and they must be wild birds (pen-raised birds taken on a hunting preserve are fun, but they don't count). Since not one state holds all six species, a bit of traveling, lots of walking and plenty of luck are involved. I recently took a Grand Slam of quail with a Weatherby .410, and it was so fun I'm still smiling.

The bobwhite is the most widely distributed of the quail family. Most of its range is in the East and Midwest, but it can be found as far west as Oregon. Thirty-five states hold bobwhite seasons. But in order for the easterner to collect the other species, he'll have to head west, where quail spread from Mexico to Washington

A few states hold two species: You can hunt bobwhite and scaled quail in Colorado and Oklahoma, or mountain and valley quail in Washington. Utah has Gambel and valley quail.

A few other states have three species: bobwhite, Gambel and scaled in Texas; Gambel, valley and mountain in California; bobwhite, valley and mountain in Oregon; Gambel, scaled and Mearns in Arizona.

Only two states have four: Nevada is home to Gamble, mountain, scaled and valley quail; and New Mexico holds huntable populations of Bobwhite, Gambel, Mearns and scaled.

Bobwhite. What can I say about the bobwhite quail that others before me have not? This cocky little handful of brown feathers is my favorite, not because he is more handsome than the California quail, better to eat than the mountain quail, faster on his feet than the Gambel quail, harder to hit than the scaled quail or more difficult to find than the Mearns. Heavens no, he's none of the above.

Gentleman Bob is my favorite simply because I grew up hunting him in the Deep South with my father's English pointers and my very own .410-bore Iver Johnson, and I've become incurably addicted for life.

So how do I rate our most common quail against the other five members of his family? Since the Gambel and Mearns average a bit smaller and seem to fly ever so slightly faster, they may be a bit tougher for the average hunter to hit.

The mountain quail is found in some of the prettiest country I have left tracks in, and since it is larger, it seems more difficult to kill, but I find the valley quail more likely to make tracks when wounded than either it or the bobwhite.

The fact that the scaled quail would rather run than fly puts it lower in my rankings than the bobwhite. Everything considered, I'll have to rank Gentleman Bob in first place simply because he holds so nicely to the point of a good dog, something I'm convinced God put quail on this earth to do.