What did consecutive late-January days in southwestern Oklahoma of a high of 93 degrees, a high of 58 and a high of 33 with a low of 11 have in common?
A full limit of 10 quail per man for Chattanooga businessmen John Wise and Tripp Brown and two fellow hunters.
“They were very harsh conditions for hunting. We’re out there from daybreak to dark,” Wise recalled this week. “The real hot day was really hard on the dogs. But we did about the same every day.”
“Quail hunting was really good out there this year, one of the best years they’ve had,” said Brown, whose wife’s family has lived in and around Altus since the Homestead Act of 1862. “They had a six- or seven-year drought, but they’ve had a lot of rain the last two years and this year I’d say was a record for their quail population in the last 50 years.”
It was his and Wise’s third hunting trip to Altus, Okla., since early November, beginning with a quest for doves and teal. Just after New Year’s Day they had success with ducks and quail.