Episode #51 Desert Creek Deep Dive

We walk through a practical guide to Desert Creek Sportsman near Phoenix, from safe upland fields to rotating duck ponds, and why it’s ideal for dog work, mentoring, and building reliable hunts. We share personal plans, training insights, and concrete ways to shape a mixed-bag weekend.

• location west of Phoenix near Gila River
• cactus-free fields for safe dog work
• chukar and pheasant hunts with strong flying birds
• seasonal dove access with surrounding ag fields
• rotating waterfowl ponds and comfortable blinds
• on-site dog training with Tony Marquez
• membership and non-member options overview
• facilities for day use and coordinated overnight stays
• tips for planning mixed-bag weekends
• mentoring youth and leaders through reliable hunts
• contact details, hours, and booking pointers

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Transcript

Welcome, Trip Recap, Sedona Heat

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome to Enerzimmon of Queenham Then. We're going to two Pumpkin Kansas from all things Queenham Hunting and Emer Zimmer. We're dedicated to educating and inspiring the next generation of Queenham hunters. A big thanks to our supporters and Pumit Partners. Thanks for tuning in. Now let's dive into today's program.

Upcoming Hunt And Guests

What Desert Creek Sportsman Offers

Memberships, Location, And Use Cases

Website Features And Duck Hunting Temptation

Dog Training And Tony Marquez

Season Timing And Dogs As Family

Facilities, Overnight Options, And Trip Ideas

Chukar Overview And Access

Dove Flights And Regulations

Pheasant Fields And Custom Hunts

Quail Notes And Pin-Raised Questions

Waterfowl Ponds, Blinds, And Species

Planning A Camper-Duck-Pheasant Combo

How To Contact And Book Desert Creek

Sign-Off And Support Message

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Alright guys, welcome back to another episode of Arizona Quail today. I'm in the studio. Got my dogs laid up in the background. And uh yeah, I just got back from a camping trip this last weekend and had an awesome time up in the Sedona area. Little warm, a little warm. And uh had the dogs out running them in the mornings, took the e-bike, covered quite a good bit of good ground. It was really cool, really cool to see. So today on the podcast, I want to talk to you about Desert Creek Sportsman. I'm gonna be taking a trip out there pretty soon with some guys, and we're gonna go um do a little chucker and pheasant fun hunt. I got Jim Graham from Arsupial Gear coming, and then John Smithbaker, uh, the president of uh Fathers in the Field. So two, it's a president's hunt, is what it is. Well, Jim's Jim's the CEO or the business owner or sole proprietor, however, he's got that thing structured with marsupial, and uh then Jim, then you know Fathers in the Field is a nonprofit, but anyway, we're headed out to um do a little fun hunt and Desert Greek Sportsman. So I hope to have um Tony jump in as a guest sometime on the podcast, that'd be a lot of fun, and then uh but I'm just gonna if you haven't checked him out, I check him out. It's a great way to get some hunting in. We're a hunt club brought to you by hunters and for hunters. They do uh waterfowl to upland hunting, built upon a commitment to provide exceptional customer service and strive to give you the ultimate hunting experience. This means that we will ensure you have an awesome time and walk away with some good memories, quality time spent with family and friends. That's cool. So that's what they're doing. It's really pretty cool. Um, really like a lot of the stuff that they're doing. So uh we're gonna be out there tomorrow, and uh by the time you hear this podcast, it tomorrow is a different day. So I don't know. Um you'll have to just go to the website and see it. The heat is heating up. They've got a website, is I think you could just type in Desert Creek Sportsman's Club online, and uh Google will take you there or whoever you're using. Yeah, but they've got upland opportunities, uh, really pretty cool. Um, they do they do some from what it looks like, some dove, pheasant, uh well, the chucker and the pheasant are planted birds, and then the dove, they do a shootout there, and I've got a membership there. I haven't gone and hunted dove there, I should. And then quail season as well. They do um some hunting, I guess, around there. I'm not sure they do uh kennels, they uh do some all sorts of stuff. I think they do training and all that good stuff, so a lot of fun, anyway. It's really cool. Um so I'm gonna be out there tomorrow. Um, and we'll see how it goes. So they've got hundreds of acres of cactus-free, thorn-free fields to make it ideal terrain for hunting dogs. Uh natural desert fields consist of desert sage plants native to the area. Some of the fields have ponds which make it perfect for dogs to cool down. So, yeah, I would agree. It's pretty cool. It really is. Um, I think they're doing a lot of stuff. So they're located in Palo Verde, Arizona, just north of the Gila River, and uh they're ready to book up some hunts for Chucker, Pheasant, Dove, and Duck. Approximately they're 45 minutes west of Phoenix or 15 minutes west of Buckeye, and they offer multiple membership packages, non-member options, waterfowl hunting, upland hunting, and all that. So it's not cheap, um, but it's pretty great. So it's a lot of fun. Um, I've been doing their membership stuff, excuse me, for several years. And um I use it as an opportunity to take out guys that are investing into the lives of young boys through our Fathers in the Field program. Uh, andor the the business owners, you know, so um, or the ministry heads. So, like Fathers in the Field, John Smith Baker will be out there with him. Uh, I think it'll be probably his first time to do it. And if you haven't heard John Smith Baker's story, you can go back to one of the episodes and find John Smith Baker, Fathers in the Field, and pretty cool story. So, anyway, all that to say, good stuff. Yeah, so let's look at some of the more some of the some more details on their website. So if you want to check it out later, go for it. But on the website, you can get their you can get their waivers, they've got their contact information, they've got their pricing and their bookings, they've got reviews, they've got a photo gallery. So um, and it looks pretty cool. I mean, they've got other galleries gotta oh, I would love to do that. They've got some um mallards there. I gotta get in there and hunt some ducks. I haven't done that. I've been spoiled because I grew up in Arkansas hunting ducks, and oh man, I just don't know. So I haven't I haven't done it, but I I think I'm gonna do it. So I'm gonna have to talk to Tony about that. So yeah, but they've got some really cool photos, all sorts of cool things. They got all there's always some neat guys out there training dogs, working dogs, and so it's a little good little getaway for folks, and to keep dogs tuned up and have a great time and a guaranteed successful hunt. And as long as you can shoot those birds. So they've got um a little bit about their dog training. They so they do they do hunting uh dog training. Uh, does it and I I know Tony has got quite the story of doing dog training and all sorts of work. So it says on the website Desert Creek Sportsman's Club is also home of the Desert Creek Gun Dog Kennels, where we train and produce quality bird dogs in the Phoenix A Z area. We'll take your hunting experience to the next level, have your dog trained at a hunt club where you can also uh hunt, couldn't be more convenient. So, I mean, I I would agree there. And again, the these duck hunting things look awesome. So they've got uh, of course, they've got labs doing the retrieving, which is great. Um, really, really cool. I had plenty of labs growing up and then switched over to upland hunting from waterfowl to upland, and I miss it. But I think I can get my bird dog, my upland, my uh English pointer to to work for ducks. I really do. So that's kind of my goal. I'm gonna do that one day. And air air excuse me, Arizona's weather so mild that I think it'd be fine for a bird dog. Just put a little neoprene vest on him, he'd be fine. So Tony Marquez, uh, he is a professional dog trainer in AZ over 30 years, has developed a unique, effective system of gun dog training, proven time and again for many different breeds, including Labradors, Vishlas, Satters, Brittany's pointing dogs, uh Griffins, uh, and many, many more. Uh, with his bird dog training techniques, your sporting dog will be able to point until released, honor, or back another dog's point. Uh, retrieve, recall, return with a whistle, and learn basic obedience. So just so you know, I am not getting paid a penny to say any of this. I'm just telling you, this is a club I've used, and I and I do appreciate it, and they do a good job. Um, so it's it's been a great experience uh overall, and um, you know, just trying to share with you maybe something you would want to get into this next season. I like to use them at out off of quail season. Uh it's a little tough because they run during the cool season, which is right along with the hunting season. But here we go. I'm gonna be doing my last hunt with them in uh you know after quail season. So uh typically they'll run their operation, I believe October, somewhere in October to March, somewhere in March, early March, depending on how cool it is. So uh they say that we understand that your sporting dog does not carry. Um we understand that your sporting dog does not carry that label alone, but it's also a pet, a best friend, and most importantly, a family member. It's funny that they write that. Uh you know, 20 years ago you probably wouldn't say that, but today, man, everybody just loves their dog like it's like their buddy, you know. So and I saw I don't know if I some of you of you guys maybe on Instagram saw I put this little audio reel as trending. I thought it was kind of funny. But it was like, be good to your dog, basically, because your dog is a good friend to you for a season of your life, but from your dog's perspective, you're their best friend their whole life. That's you know, the dog like my my dog Zona, she's like she's seven, and she's already having all sorts of challenges with her shoulders and all that stuff, and maybe she'll live to 10, 12, I don't know. But I'm her best friend every day of her life. So uh it's funny. Um, we we really do. I heard somebody the other day talking about their dogs as one of their youngest, like they're like a kid. This is really funny. And this guy's like a marine, this guy's a pilot for like Delta Airlines. He's he's he's strong, dude, you know. And here he is talking. And funny, I always keep my bird dogs in my office. I'm a pastor over at North Valley, started the church some years ago. But and if you're in the Phoenix area, come visit us. We got a Thursday night service. Love to have you there so you can get it. You so if you're running around on the weekends, come on. But anyway, I keep my dogs in the office with me a couple days of the week. And this marine guy, he's like so tenderhearted. As soon as he sees my dog, he's aww. I was like, dude, uh, that is your kryptonite, like strong marine pilot to like turning around and like just uh being a little softy. That was really funny, really cool. Okay, so here's here's some other stuff. Let's look at um we'll we'll look around just a little bit more on the desert creek side, and then um we'll look at it. So other facility. I don't know if you really need to know about their facility a whole lot. I mean, I can click it and tell you what I can tell you. Um, you know, they've got like a little um shaded area out there, it's not like some resort or whatever. Um, it's basically a field with a little bit of shade. And so you need to bring all your own stuff out there. They do have a grill out there if you wanted to like make a lunch out of it, make a big deal out of it. So when you arrive, you just check in in location in a large parking lot, and they've got some fire pits. There is Romata picnic table. Uh, there's a few things out there, and uh barbecue grill, portable restroom, and so you know, if you want to stay a little bit longer, um, they they can accommodate trailers for overnight stays, so that's kind of cool. So, say you you want to stay like a day or two, well, you could, you know, work it out with the guys out there and just park your camper and then stay for a day or two. So it makes sense if you really want to hunt it up for a little while. That's kind of cool. I never thought about that. Maybe I'll do that. That'd be fun. Uh do a little AZ quail outing for a couple of days, invite you guys out and see what happens. That'd be kind of cool. I'd love to do that. So this time when I go out, I'll scout it out to see how much bouncing and bumping around I'd do with my airstream coming through there. So we'll see. Uh, if you're traveling and you'd like to a place to stay nearby, the hunting club, they're about 15 minutes from Buckeye, and they got there's a bunch of hotels, restaurants to choose from, as well as plenty of places to shop. And so they've actually got uh the days in Wyndham Buckeye um room uh on their website. So if you apparently, as I'm looking, it looks like you click there and they're ready to go. So you can book your stay there if you'd rather stay in a nice hotel. So yeah, I you know, I like it because I'll take kids out there, uh, I'll take my family. Um, like I said earlier, I'll take different leaders out there and just make sure we're having a good time. It's a guaranteed opportunity to get on birds, and so um I I I really enjoy doing that and getting a chucker. There, those chuckers are pretty good. So let's talk about chucker, and then we'll go through some of these other things as well. But chucker, there are chuckers in Arizona um that you could actually hunt them wild, but they're just not very plentiful, and so um, they're real remote areas. I got them up by the Kayabab and probably some other areas, but um, I have not hunted them. If you have, send me a message. I'd love to um, you know, share your story or whatever. Uh, but if yeah, if you want to satisfy that upland hunting addiction and get the adrenaline flowing, Desert Creek provides some world-class chucker hunting located in the beautiful lower Palo Verde, Arizona desert. And uh they are the closest Chucker Club to Phoenix and about 15 minutes by, as I mentioned, from Buckeye. Chuckers are a partridge and they're fast flying, quick-shooting upland species, making it the kind of a perfect uh bird for the upland enthusiast. Chuckers um are a covey bird, and and you can benefit from multiple flushes, which makes it exciting. So if you they'll sometimes cubby up a couple of them, and it's like that's pretty cool. So the cactus-free terrain is really nice to spread over hundreds of acres and very accessible for a quick getaway. So um Desert Creek, um, so you can bring your own hunting dogs as well. Um, they have guides and uh staff available for hire as well. So if you want, you know, somebody to help you out in the field, they can do that. Um, and it says their season runs from mid-October to April, possibly longer. But I'm gonna guess I'm gonna say March. So you'd have to check with them. Uh hunting license is not required. That's cool. So you you don't need that. Um, but yeah, that's what they've got on that uh page for Chucker. Let's look over at Dove. So I am giving you the deep dive on Desert Creek, is what I'm doing. Okay, let's see what we've got here. That's funny. I have this rock dove on the website. Uh I don't know what's that about. And then it shows over to like the morning dove. Okay, dove season is Arizona is the sign of the beginning. Yeah, it is. It's my favorite, it is a trigger for me. Like, as soon as dove season starts, everything starts to change. Football season is in. I'm gonna shoot a bunch of birds and have dove poppers ready for the first big football game that I want to watch. And uh it's the beginning of the hunting season, so I love it. It's the beginning of hunting seasons and the beginning of an obsession. Dove is the most common and plentiful game bird in Arizona, but finding a good place to hunt is often a big complaint among sportsmen. Desert Creek is a premier hunting location for private land and offer a safety, safe and quality shoot located 15 minutes west of Buckeye. So really cool. They are surrounded with farm fields and ponds as well as located adjacent to Gila River. The dove flight is incredible. All three species of dove can be found white wings, morning, and Eurasian. So maybe it was a Eurasian dove I was looking at. I don't know. It just looks weird. You guys will have to look at the website and check it out. I don't think so. It's like this interesting looking dove. Looks like a rock dove or something. Um you know, so yeah, all Arizona. So with this though, dove are they are wild game and fair chase. So all Arizona state and federal regulations apply. You have to get your hunt on the books for your next dev hunt and uh for Phoenix uh to hunt to hunt there. And so as far as pricing goes, I don't know if they're gonna show me their pricing for that. Let's see. Looks like it's loading. Uh gosh, it just goes back to this membership thing. I I don't know, you'll have to go and figure all that out yourself. So I'm not gonna do a deep dive on all the pricing, and some of it may have changed, so anyway, pretty cool. Looks like they've got a lot of information on the website to tell you about the uh pricing. So I'll just leave it at that. Uh let's go up to Pheasant and then we'll do quail too. I'll read to you about quail. And then maybe some waterfowl. So here we go. Yeah. So I mean Arizona does have, I think in the Colorado River drainage down in like Yuma area, somewhere along the border of Arizona, California. They've got some pheasant and maybe there's some more in other locations. Um, but I I think they open the season as real early and rattlesnakey and it just sounds terrible. And I think there's a lot of private land, so it just doesn't make it very attractive for me. So Desert Creek turns in. A good alternative. Really cool. They have seven large fields over several hundred acres, give you ultimate hunting experience. You can customize your hunt with thicker brush. All the fields are flat and easy for walking and uh with scattered birds throughout the area. Again, it's cactus-free and they they offer the ringneck pheasants, a great flushing bird, not to mention they're actually good to bring to the table as well. Arizona Pheasant uh season begins mid-October and ends around April. Uh Desert Creek Sportsmen's offer several membership options for pheasant hunts. Hunting license, again, are not required for this bird. Uh get in on the fun and book your hunt today. There you go. Alright, let's look over at the let's see what they're doing with quail season. Let's see. Yeah, let's see. Here we go. Well, they've got on the on the little image thing. Nice gambles male quail running around. They've got all sorts of quail. Gosh, they've got the bob, they've got the masked um quail on here. They've got merge quail. They've got bob white quail. Um I don't know how much okay, quail hunting is one of the many options Desert Creek Sportsman's wild quail counts in our area are down, but we do offer pin raised bob white quail. I haven't hunted pin raised bob white quail out there, so I don't know if I've just missed it or what, but I'm curious about that. I'm sure I'm sure they do if it's on their website, so you'd have to check with them. Um they have uh, you know, says uh they it just tells a little bit about their it says in an open uh uh area that they they have uh in their pins they talk about nesting and the site and privacies uh are not provided. Uh hens that do this may lay up to 80 eggs in a season, which can be taken for artificial incubation and chicks hand raise, otherwise hens with nesting cover that do make a nest on the ground will build 8 to 25 eggs and a clutch with I I don't know why they go into that. That's kind of interesting, but anyway, they tell you about they tell you about some quail stuff there. I guess it was just some some random kind of quail facts, which is cool, that's great. Um, but I can't tell you a whole lot about what they're doing with their quail season stuff, so anyway, you'll have to check in with them. I do not know. Let's jump over to the waterfowl and see what's going on there. So I I don't know. Back on the quail thing just for a minute. Uh I don't know if they are guiding. Um, it sounds like they did do some pin raise stuff. I'm not sure if they still are. You'll have to check with them. Um, and they may do some guiding. Uh, I'm not really sure. Can't really doesn't say that on the website. It sounds like they're just doing pin raised. So again, you'll have to check back with them. But again, I think if you're gonna go out there, in my opinion, the thing that you want to do that I can testify to is the Chucker and the Pheasant. He he gets some good chucker and pheasant. Um, at least when I've been out there, it's been pretty good. So duck seasonal. This is seasonal thing. Uh duck hunting seasonally. And gosh, there's a beautiful photo of looks like a bunch of widgets, some mallards. Oh gosh, it's just beautiful. I miss that. Oh man, oh man. If you've not duck hunted, it is pretty amazing. Duck hunting in Arizona? Question mark. Yes, absolutely. Desert Creek Sportsman's is the getaway for migrating waterfowl. I will say I do think they have an advantage there because they're located next to the Gila River and surrounded by farms, which makes it a perfect oasis for ducks to feed and rest before. Continuing their journey south. Uh, they are the closest duck hunting club in the Phoenix area, 15 minutes west of Buckeye. Uh, they have six ponds near there, um, stocked with decoys, custom duck blinds. Uh blinds are comfortable. You know what I'd do? I'd take my camper during that season and hunt some ducks, and then maybe like turn around and do like uh uh maybe like a pheasant hunt in the afternoon or something. Yeah, I think that's pretty cool. I'm gonna have to figure that out. That'll be fun. Okay, so six ponds stocked with decoys, custom duck blinds, blinds are comfortable, hold up to four adults. They welcome you to bring your hunting dogs as well. All Arizona duck hunts are self-guided with the option of being placed with another member and their dog. All their ponds are rotated, and none of them are over hunted. So that's good. So, what kind of ducks do they have in the area? This is interesting. Uh well, they say they see a large variety of waterfowl from green-winged teal. That would make sense. That's what I saw on the photo. Gadwalds, if you're not familiar with those, they look like mallards, but they're more of a gray duck. Uh, wigeons, um, and those are smaller birds, fast, and then canvas backs. Those are big, big birds. An occasional wood duck, but the majority of the ducks harvested are bum-bum mallards. Heck yeah, baby. I should be pulling out my duck home. Mm-hmm. I miss that. I'm gonna have to get out there and do some calling and get those birds. When you see mallards pitch in, man, it's something special. All right, please remember waterfowl are wild birds in fair chase. All Arizona State regulations apply. All right, this has got me going. I think I've just had an an epiphany. An epiphany that I should bring my camper out and because I don't like waking up at three o'clock in the morning, I wake up at like 4 30 and stay there, and then move out to the duck blind and be there before sunup. That sounds good.

unknown 29:19

That sounds good.

SPEAKER_01 29:21

Okay. Uh, here's a quote from Charles F. Waterman, author, hunter, angler. He says, There are no bad days in the duck blind. I would agree. I would agree. Okay. I'm excited about this. So anyway. The website I'm reading is a design by two guys and a panda web designs. So that's interesting. Anyway, copyright. Uh, Desert Creek Sportsman's Club, LLC. So yeah, check out their website. I just did a deep dive on their website, and I've told you some some ideas about getting out there, uh, their contact information. Uh, like I said, you can go to the just Google Desert Creek Sportsman's Club. I think their actual uh URL is DCS or DC Sportsman. DC Sportsman's Club. And then again, I would just go to the contact. They and then they have um, if you go to the contact thing, uh they say they'd love to hear from you. You can reach out to us. Um, it gives their address, their website, and hours of operation, Wednesday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. So I would do that. That's pretty cool. So a lot of fun. They've got their name, that you put your information in there, and then yeah. So whether you're a seasoned hunter or beginner, Desert Creek Sportsman Club has everything you need to do to get started. Give them a call. So number is 623-512-8496. They also have a number 602-292-1444. So I'll let you rewind and listen to that again if you want to just pull over, jot that down, and give them a call. 623-512-8496 or 602-292-1444. So I think, fellas, that's about it on the deep dive for Desert Creek Sportsman. Like I said, I'll be out there soon. So give you another field report later. So hope this finds you well. And remember, keep getting outside.

SPEAKER_00 31:55

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