Over my shoulder, I’m carrying a Browning over-and-under 2-gauge shotgun, walking a typical Western sagebrush draw with a dry creek bottom meandering through it. As I hunt alone with two dogs, it is not long before a trickle of water gets my attention. Because valley quail like woody cover, it just makes sense to investigate the water source.

A well-worn cattle trail with patches of cheatgrass strung along each side is an open invitation that leads to a spongy seep. A tangle of buffalo berry bushes, scrub chokecherry brush and other hardwoods squeeze the narrow draw. Wild blackberry vines climb, finger-like, along deep crevices up the hillside. I stop to listen for valley quail calling…