doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com "For The Love Of Quail" - Video

GPB does a good job with shows of this sort. I remember seeing this particular show live a few weeks ago when it was aired and enjoying it. Kevin's always has some nice doubles in stock, many of the new ones out of my price range. (Now that I think of it, many of the used ones, too.)

My experience in Kansas is it is 50% habitat, (change in land use bigger fields less edge-mono culture corps) 30% predator population explosion, 20% disease/weather patterns. I say the last factors of disease and weather as that is what KDWP friends say, but I cannot be sure to what real degree they influence the decline.

Bird hunting populations have declined significantly in the last 15 years, though I am told by friends last fall was slightly improved (I missed last season-deployed)

Adam, thanks for the link. The quail problem in the south is like the one here for pheasants, used to be plentiful in the 70's and early 80's, now it is just a memory.

I remember hunting quail when I lived in northern New Jersey and my friend and I would travel to southern New Jersey for some quail hunting, always found some but that was in the late 60's and early 70's. A shame, both were great birds to hunt, but the quail was a more pleasant type of hunt.

I hope that Georgia can do something to bring them back. They have been trying here to bring back pheasants that they got from South Dakota. It has worked in one spot but will never be the same as it was. It is all about habitat.

Glad yall are enjoying it. In my opinion, habitat is the single biggest factor in declining quail numbers but it is certainly not all of the problem. Every aspect of the environment that affect quail have changed in a negative way. The farming is much cleaner now days with well-trimmed fences lines (and fewer of them altogether), more predators (less trapping and hunting for predators). There is less native bunch grass like wiregrass and broomsedge and more thick pasure grasses. The woods are rarely burned anymore. Plus there are fireants, hawks, house cats, parasites, droughts, etc. And to top it all off, with fewer hunters out there, there are less people interested in bringing them back.

The property next door to our lease manages for wild birds exclusively. They manage just like we do... burning 1/2 of the pineywoods each spring along with light supplemental feeding in the fall, winter, and early spring. Not exactly extensive management. They were finding 12-16 coveys a day this year... all wild birds. We would probably have similar numbers but we hunt our land way to hard (about 4-5 times a week) so we have to supplement with early release coveys.

Habitat loss/change is NOT the reason where I hunt and have hunted for 50 years in KS. Same ground, same farmers etc. Zero changes other than yearly weather influences, crop rotations, etc. They have bounced back remarkedly the last couple of years, however. And, at the same time pheasants have stayed very depressed. I dunno.

Thank you Adam for that little trip down memory lane. I hunted at Samara several times as a kid. My step-dad worked for Oldsmobile as a regional rep back then. He was often taking VIPs from Detroit hunting around south Georgia, especially at Samara. So we got to hunt there several times (I'm sure at a reduced rate) due to the business he brought them. Lots of fun and great memories there.

The work that Tall Timbers is doing out of Tallahassee to study quail and their habitat is first rate. It's worth supporting them if you're interested in quail. ---Matt

Ah, I neglected to yes, indeed, thank Adam for the video. A remarkable young(er) man.

And another thanks Adam. That was great. Brought back many childhood memories on my farm in North Carolina where it was nothing special to see 5 or 6 coveys on any given day hunting. Well, actually, a combination of my dad's farm (mine now) and my grandfather's farm which joined that of my dad. Those scenes of the pine / grassy areas, savannahs I think they called them, truly made the memories come back. Quail, my first hunting love, and now pheasant - simply because of the verrrryy few quail one can find to hunt now, especially here in New Mexico.

Thanks Adam.In my opinion Gentleman Bob deserves to be hunted with a side by side .Not an over under or repeater. Bobby

Quail in my area have declined significantly over the last decade. On my Uncle's farm I used to flush large bevys of over 40-50 birds just a decade ago. The habitat hasn't really changed, but a succession of hard Winters and a drop in fur prices are the most likely culprits. There's quite a few more raccoons, skunks, and possums now, resulting in high nest predation and fewer birds being recruited into the adult breeding population. The same factors have affected pheasant numbers, with the Winters probably being the major factor.

For those really interested in Quail management, I recommend Stoddard's seminal work, "The Bobwhite Quail, It's Habits, Preservation, and Increase". It's long out of print, I managed to find an old library copy around 20 years ago. It's fascinating, and well worth the money for any serious quail enthusiast.

Here's a reprint, pricy, although the least expensive I could find via a brief search.

http://www.abaa.org/book/738730272

Here's a downloadable form, I'm not sure if it's the complete book or not.

https://archive.org/details/bobwhitequailits00stod

Regards
Ken