Quail

[Kell-inKY]

Been years, decades, since I've seen quail (not that I've been looking much). Was out mowing my weedy field I am going to turn into pasture and stirred up 2 covey, mostly juveniles. I was pleasantly surprised, I really like quail (eating) but haven't had it since hunting with my Dad some 30 years ago? I'm not much of a hunter, but it was just one of those moments you only get every so often, a complete surprise in a good way.

Would love to encourage them to come around but I realize mowing is the problem probably right? It had some really tall weeds due to it being a soybean field last year. Are they eating the volunteer soybeans left this year or what's going on?

Can I plant something to encourage them?, this field will have cattle in it as well. I have another field I am planting some winter grazing in, don't mind planting something for the summer either if that will draw them next year? Maybe some stuff for dove as well next year for the boys to shoot, might as well have a little fun instead of working all the time.

 

[M-5]

Quail need dense brush and over grown fence rows. I have a few around home and a couple coveys on the hunting lease. they never seem to grow to more than the 2 coveys. Biggest detriment imo is the pizzant and glyphosate because people want their fence rows pretty. but I don't really know for sure . there are plenty of commercial seeds to plant but imo native grasses and a good buffer zone is more beneficial.

 

[Bigfoot]

Interesting, you bring up quail. I have two coveys on me. Literally, the first I've seen since I was a kid. I observed two black buzzards destroying a turkey nest this spring. I bet, they would do the same to quail.

 

[fenceman]

We had good quail on our place when I was a kid. We've started to see a few as well. The fire Ant is the what got em along with the horny toad.

 

[BRYANT]

Does the horny toad eat the eggs or the chicks?
around here where I live I haven't seen a horny toad in years I can remember catching them when I was young but can't remember the last time I saw one.
I have heard people say them white cow birds are hurting the Quail also, don't know how true it is ??

 

[Brute 23]

By shredding it and "converting it to pasture" it will most likely destroy their habitat. Its hard to have good pasture and good quail habitat.

I thought the horny toads were good for quail because they eat the fire ants?

The road runners are will kill a quail quick. They also kill rattle snakes. Damned if you do... damned if you don't.

 

[SJB]

Yotes get their share as well as feral cats and Bobcats.

 

[john250]

The advice I've read is don't mow to the end of June. Which pretty much kills your chances at quality hay.
So, is your business cattle or quail? Do you have enough acres you can set some aside for quail? That would be ideal if you can market the hunting rights.

 

[fenceman]

Does the horny toad eat the eggs or the chicks?
around here where I live I haven't seen a horny toad in years I can remember catching them when I was young but can't remember the last time I saw one.
I have heard people say them white cow birds are hurting the Quail also, don't know how true it is ??

Sorry I wasn't clear. The fire ants got the horny toad. The horny toad feeds exclusively on the big and docile red ants. The fire ants kill of the red ants and there went the horny toad.

 

[Jogeephus]

Like M5 said, you do want some grown up fence rows but not necessarily 100%. What quail like is diversity. You can have quail and cattle but you need to keep in mind the little things that you don't think about. If you are spraying your fence row, spray a while then leave an unsprayed strip for a while and then spray again. If you go out of your way to remember to keep the habitat diverse and not manicured like a golf course you'll have quail. Do the same with mowing. Mow in thirds letting things grow at different levels between mowings.

Also, remember not to have too much of one habitat. Say a solid fence row of brambles and expect them to do well because what you will create is a feeding area for the predators because they will catch on to this fast and kill your birds. This is the same for food plots and feeders.

As to the soybeans, I doubt they are feeding much on this. Right now the majority of their diet is from bugging. Leave them some areas to feed on the insects. The food problem for quail occurs in the early spring. This is when some feed scattered randomly around will be helpful but by spring 85% of your birds will be dead so this is where hunting is helpful. It increases those who make it till spring's chances of survival.

If you will make a conscious effort to do some of these things you will be surprised to see what population you can build just with a little thinking.

 

[Kell-inKY]

Jogeephus and M5, that sounds like some good advice.

 

[M-5]

Im certainly not an expert but I will have to dig up the picture of me wrapped up as a baby in the floor board of the willys jeep bird hunting. We raised pointers and Hunted quail all my life until They disappeared in the late 80s, we didn't start deer hunting until the quail were gone. The landscape started changing back then as farmers were working to become more efficient and a lot more chemicals were being used. People would also let land lay fallow for a year or two as a normal rotation. There is a happy medium like Joe described. I think having diverse wildlife population is a sign that you are using good management practices .

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

A strip of brown top millet is good for the quail and doves. Just plant it and leave it till spring.

 

[Stocker Steve]

We have gone to longer MIG rest periods, and thus taller pasture, which has increased the bird numbers noticeably. Even so, you almost always see them next to willows clumps or a woodlot. Winter really limits population here so you either need very large cattail sloughs or thick shelter belts for them to have a chance.

 

[Commercialfarmer]

Numbers are nothing like they used to be around here either. I saw a single covey of 50 birds last year, didn't see another covey the entire winter that I remember. Used to scare up 2 to 3 coveys just walking to a deer stand.

I have a lot of self derived conspiracy theories. I can't help but think that the change in management around has hurt them some- lot more bermuda than there used to be and less bluestem. I used to really enjoy hunting a good bluestem pasture. Less weeds in general due to modern spraying. More predators- nobody kills hawks like they used to, there's an overload of coyotes. I can't help but think the release of all these smaller flighty birds didn't change the survivability of the old larger bob whites that would out run you more than stick and fly. Always wondered if a disease didn't play a roll as well. Either way, I'd like to just see it once more like the good old days.

 

[Bigfoot]

i believe predators, and the type of birds they released had more to do with it, than habitat. Coyotes came, and the quail disappeared. nobodies trying to kill hawk nowadays, including me.

 

[Jogeephus]

Either way, I'd like to just see it once more like the good old days.

When I quail hunted a lot I took a farm and devoted it to quail production. The farm was only 220 acres and was laid out well with small fields measuring no more than 16 acres scattered through it. I got with a game biologist who I though had a little common sense and she helped work out a plan to get the quail back. First thing I did was start a regular burning regime. Portions of the fields were planted in oats or rye for deer food plots and left to go to seed and stay untended through the summer months. Mowing and harrowing was done rotationally in thirds to maximize diversity. Whenever anything was done on the place the maximization of diversity was a key decision. No feeders were used and no "quail foods" were planted. Only native plants were managed but soil tests were made and areas were limed.

The most difficult thing was remembering to get out of the manicured farm mindset. This is harder than you might expect and seems to be ingrained in people's brains.

After three years of doing this the quail population had risen to one bird per acre. This resulted in two hour quail hunts where I'd jump three coveys which made for great hunting. This was in spite of the fact no deviation from the normal farming practices were done except sacrificing a few acres to the deer food plots that grew up and turned into nesting and bugging areas for the quail.

From this I found that diversity is the key and managing the land in a haphazard unorganized fashion is what the quail like but its harder to do than you might think because of the way we think things should look but persistence in haphazard management will pay off come quail season.

 

[J&D Cattle]

i believe predators, and the type of birds they released had more to do with it, than habitat. Coyotes came, and the quail disappeared. nobodies trying to kill hawk nowadays, including me.

Two hawks sitting a top of a cedar last night and I let them fly off. Years ago I would have dusted at least 1.

 

[Jogeephus]

Here is one predator people seldom think about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFhKwA2SbKc

 

[Commercialfarmer]

From this I found that diversity is the key and managing the land in a haphazard unorganized fashion is what the quail like but its harder to do than you might think because of the way we think things should look but persistence in haphazard management will pay off come quail season.

Jo, I believe what your laying down, and I think maybe you hit the nail on the head that it's a hard thing to get accomplished.

Saw a wheat field that was for sale lay fallow one year that was about 1/2 brush and 1/2 broke ground- irregular contoured. It had a number of birds in the early fall- well before season. I assumed that they were just attracted there to the grain vs a result of the conditions.

If I had designated deer plots, I'd go this route. We graze out or cut for grain all the broke ground as it is right now. I'll have to see if I can get creative enough to manage for both profitability and quail numbers.