quail

[cross_7]

i have very few bob whites this year but i seem you have an abundance of hawks.
any solutions..legal of course ?

 

[TexasBred]

I've seen more hawks than usual too it seems. But the quail were already few and far between around here. Fire ants must have done them in. Do you have good qual habitat in your area??

 

[cross_7]

I've seen more hawks than usual too it seems. But the quail were already few and far between around here. Fire ants must have done them in. Do you have good qual habitat in your area??

habitats pretty good, lovegrass, sand sage and shinnery, but the wild hogs have done some damage.
probably need to set up drinkers for them and work more on thinning out the hogs.
a friend of mine down at snyder tx said he was in his deer blind watching deer grazing wheat and a herd of hogs moved in and chased the deer off.
he had a helicoter fly his place and he said they shot over 150 hogs.

i still think the hawks have taken care of the quail.
i've sat and watched them several times swoop down, catch something and fly off with it, smaller that a rabbit.

 

[dun]

In MO the biggest quali predator is snakes, hawks fall way down on the list.
Have you changed any of the habitat recently, i.e. mowed places you haven;t in the past, herbicide in places you didn;t do before, clean up brushy areas, etc.?

 

[cross_7]

In MO the biggest quali predator is snakes, hawks fall way down on the list.
Have you changed any of the habitat recently, i.e. mowed places you haven;t in the past, herbicide in places you didn;t do before, clean up brushy areas, etc.?

i spot sprayed some shinnery in one pasture(remedy & 24-d) but thats all, nothing at all on the rest.
i don't have the news paper around but we have had about 12" of rain this year and most of it fell during june, july and august so the grass is tall and thick cover.
danged rattle snakes are thick but thats nothing new.
maybe the heavy summer rain hurt the little chicks, but i'm still watching the hawks.

 

[TexasBred]

Cross...I don't know too much about quail but did go to one meeting on them one time. Speaker said "grass" was a quails worst enemy. Too tall to see what lies ahead etc. Recommended plenty of places where they could be protected like under brush etc. Course I'm sure in your area you have plenty of that. And they snakes have been there forever as well. Maybe you could make a small area specifically for them and try to turn it into a small refuge and just observe. Make sure it has plenty of the weeds etc. that make the seeds they prefer. Now I know you have loads of time to mess with soemthing like this. :lol:

 

[cross_7]

Cross...I don't know too much about quail but did go to one meeting on them one time. Speaker said "grass" was a quails worst enemy. Too tall to see what lies ahead etc. Recommended plenty of places where they could be protected like under brush etc. Course I'm sure in your area you have plenty of that. And they snakes have been there forever as well. Maybe you could make a small area specifically for them and try to turn it into a small refuge and just observe. Make sure it has plenty of the weeds etc. that make the seeds they prefer. Now I know you have loads of time to mess with soemthing like this. :lol:

the shinnery is perfect cover for them.
they can run into the shinnery and you'll never seen them again and also the hawks can't swoop in and get them, but after a freeze and the leaves drop they are pretty exposed.
i think the hogs getting to the nest(maybe snakes too) and so many hawks have taken a toll.
gonna start with the hogs and rattle snakes are always on the top of the list, but i'm keeping an eye on the hawks too be sure.

 

[Jogeephus]

Wet summers are tough on the young. Best management I have found for quail is edge maximization and as much diversification of the understory as you can provide. If this is done they will have the cover to protect them from most predators except the egg eaters.

 

[jedstivers]

Skunks?

 

[Brute 23]

Hogs will go eat the eggs and destroy the nests.

 

[stocky]

We used to have quail everywhere. If you didn't get up 15 coveys in a day's hunt, it was considered a slow day. Now, there aren't enough quail to hunt. I haven't shot a quail in 3 years because I don't want to kill the seedstock. What is different?
No.1 Fescue, quail can't handle fescue
No. 2 Housecats and feral cats. They are everywhere and they destroy quail.
No. 3 Areas of best cover have been destroyed to build a house. People cry about killing an animal, but they will forever destroy a covey of quail to build a house.
No.3 Clean fence rows. People now spray and use metal posts and have the fence rows clean. Those were the best quail travel routes and resting areas. Same people will cry about killing an animal but they will clean their fence rows and destroy quail, rabbits and everything else that uses them.
No. 4 Snakes, people use to kill every snake and burn areas that held snakes, now snakes are everywhere and they love birds and nests.
No. 5 Varmints, Furs used to be worth money and people kept them trapped down. Now they are thick and they love birds and eggs.
No. 6 Hawks. People used to kill every hawk. Now, some people kill them, but most people do not. It is illegal to kill them, but you cannot have the quail if you have a field full of hawks flying around every day.
We also have alot of turkeys and some people say they find and eat the quail eggs and baby quail.
The main differences are changes in cover and increased numbers of predators.