This past weeks 2-3 day ice and snow event here on the Rolling Plains was a tough way to get a little moisture, but it was worth it..... Officially in the USDA's SEVERE Drought map area, the Bird hunting conditions have really been pretty poor all season. The first moisture of any kind since September really perked up the Quail hunting quality. Yesterday afternoon providing the most satisfying outing of the season thus far. Dogs felt invigorated, scenting conditions easily the best of the season, and birds were out feeding.
Put the dogs down at 3:30 and picked them up at 5:45. 10 coveys pointed and all the rises shot, 2 more coveys put up a bit "prematurely" by a trainee addition to the aging dog string. Birds were in great body shape and coveys all above 12 birds ( substantial for this late in the season). Held to my self imposed "limit" of one bird per covey for this season, I managed to put 10 in the bag with the same number of shells (something I don't do as often as I once did) 7 juveniles and 3 adult birds which just about matches my season long bag of 72.6% juveniles. Another perfect afternoon shaping up and we are going to hit the ground in just about half an hour , hoping for more of the same. Sometimes all this effort seems to be really worth it.....
That sounds like a great afternoon. Amazing how a bit of moisture can so positively impact things. I hunted for about an hour this morning and had fun; it's always a treat to get out. Found 4 coveys, though one of those I bumped as the wind was wrong for when the dogs went by. Here's the last covey of the morning (wish this site would allow Vimeo):
Paul; My experience in West TX, and my opinion, is we have enough for seed next year IF everything is right for us (I spent January out there). Glad you had a good hunt. As scarce as they were where I am I was afraid to kill our seed birds, but the birds I found were healthy and vigorous. Most covey were 10-12 birds, a few 8-10 and a few 14-16, but no 25 bird coveys and not a huntable population of quail, imho. I only saw 1 covey of blue quail in a month. Sounds like you had a few more birds than us, but no over abundance. Drought….go away! Very few hawks, scant road runners, but lots of Coyotes. Cotton tails and Jack rabbits were scarce too, but saw a very few. Take care.
I love good bird dog work like yours displayed. We have stopped hunting quail on my farms entirely for the last three years. Friend ran his dogs on all four farms in the middle of January just to give them a bit of work. Found three coveys over four farms. 20years ago I had 12-14 coveys on those same farms. State game mismanagement service introduced turkeys on to my land and my birds crashed. Might just be a coincidence like Bic lighters and lung cancer but I never have had good turkey numbers and good quail numbers. So I gave up managing for quail after 20 plus years and enough money to buy a 32' Grady White boat, to let nature take its course. Some years we are up to six or more coveys and this year we are down. Sad to me, I miss the call of a Bob calling all friends.
“About a quarter century ago I shared a quail field near Albany, Georgia, with an aging quail plantation owner who, like me, also enjoyed hunting big game across the American West and beyond. As we walked toward a brace of his pointers that froze simultaneously at the scent of yet another covey of bobwhite quail, the man whose name I have long since forgotten, advised, “You can hunt all over the world for all manner of game…but, in the end, you’ll always come home to bobwhite quail over pointing dogs.” His inference was that when a man’s horizon nears, hunting bobwhite quail blurs the line between heaven and Earth.”
I experienced a bit of that a few years ago when a bunch of us over at 16ga were ordering new knives with “game bird of choice” engraved on them. I’d ordered one with another bird on it but the longer I dwelt on it the more Gentleman Bob and his call haunted my quiet. I changed my selection.
I am rather familiar with the Rolling Plains Quail Research ranch. it is located @20 miles from where I sit at my ranch office typing this. The idea/concept for the project was "Hatched" here on my ranch following a great Bird Hunting day. I hope the idea carries on after my time, we dedicated quail guys are an aging group. The work aimed at maximizing wild quail populations on my ranch are my largest single discretionary expenditure annually.
Sunday afternoon provided a fine follow up to the previous day's outing. Scenting conditions remained favorable and we pointed 7 coveys in two hours with 2 additional coveys sent skyward by my wayward student Pointer . These numbers run constant with my season long average of @ 3.3 coveys/hr. Hunting conditions (weather) have been a limiting factor in my outings.... warmest December ever recorded in our weather history......
Buzz, I am confident that I have sufficient birds to sustain my shooting habits. Pre season surveys backed up the reports from my "cowboy crew" bird census, confirmed a pretty decent hatch and some subsequent late summer nesting success as well. I do ( and have for many years) harvest at a rate higher than that now prescribed by various researchers. Oh well if I am the cad that shoots the last wild Bobwhite, so be it. I can always rationalize it by saying, Hell, No one saved me any Passenger Pigeons. Yours in Good Sport.....
Just curious, as I live in a "no quail or dove hunting State- but grew up reading about both game birds in stories by Nash Buckingham, Havilah Babcock and Robert Ruark, among others cut from that "Tattered Coat Cloth"-- "We Only shoot cockbirds (burds) in Dixie- is it true that Southern Gentlemen only: (shoot for the outgoing, from a covey, the "edge" birds, and never into the covey? And once a large covey is scattered, and you are working your dawgs on the "scatters"-- you only shoot the cockbird, and if only a single henbird flushes, you let it fly off unscathed?? RWTF
We don't see Passenger Pigeons up Nawth now, but my area farms (dairy and beef cattle) have a shitload of barn pigeons. They can be tricky targets with the wind behind them, and some altitude under their wings-- love to shoot them.. RWTF
Shooting into the covey, (called “Browning” in the UK) is frowned upon. Doesn’t matter if it’s Grey partridge or quail, flock shooting is a no-no. It’s ineffective, generates wounded birds, and shows you aren’t focusing.
Taking the edge birds, when shooting a rise as a pair of gunners, keeps you from doubling the same bird. Left guy takes left, etc. It gives you something to focus on. You can see hen or cock if you are focused on a single bird.
The fellow doing the flushing is at a disadvantage on the rise, so we alternate the flushing work.
Quail season ended here yesterday. Time to rest the dogs, cleanup a bit, and get ready for the shooting season.
Being conscious of shooting roosters is often done when shooting wild birds, but not everyone can spot them easily as the explosion and confusion of a covey rise is often so sudden and fast that picking out a male vs a female is much easier said than done. There are some tactics a few people use, such as shooting the higher flying birds, but it's still tough. A key component of managing for wild quail, aside from the obvious habitat issues for nesting, safety, and feeding, is winter survival and not over harvesting (10% or less based upon a fall covey count). Much of the research shows that birds that make it to February will survive winter, and additional harvest then may be additive, as comparted to compensatory, in annual mortality. High winter survival enhances spring nesting, which enhances summer broods, which sets the table for more birds in the fall. We are right now in the middle of anticipating spring nesting season, so being conscious of anything that may enhance that is very important, and two of those issues are survival and having more hens. That's where the issue comes in about ideally taking more roosters. As mentioned, though, it's easier said than done. By the way, after a covey rise, we don't hunt singles. Killing birds is about our lowest objective.
Well Mr. Fox, your questions are well covered by the gentlemen who responded above.......I will simply add anecdotical information as to how my hunting style has evolved......I don't actively hunt "singles" following a covey rise. There are however situations where previously flushed single birds will be pointed by the dogs while in pursuit of the next covey. My call on shooting that flush is dependent on the dog(s) involved. More directly whether it offers a training opportunity for an unfinished prospect. I find such occasions opportune for ingraining the Dog-Bird-Gun triad in the mind of an impressionable dog. The connection of the point, the flush , the shot and hopefully the downed bird for the dog to mouth/carry and receive praise for the success he/she has contributed to helps make a country dog come around quicker. In that same vein I frequently look at a covey rise with intent of picking a target bird that is in the easy peripheral view of the dog I want to school on. Hopefully to carry out the same procedure as outlined above. An interesting take on the process of concentrating on shooting cocks over hens was first shown to me by its originator, Dr. Dale Rollins. His game of "Quail Snooker" is to encourage shooting roosters over hens. Usually causing one to "lose' the match after taking the third hen of a shooters outing. It will make you look a little closer. Since I generally gun alone (by preference) I am given a good deal more flexibility in my gunning choices. Not the least of which is a higher shooting percentage since the gunner does not have to make a "safety check" of his companion gunner's location before picking a target. If I have a good view of the dogs on the ground, knowing my horse ( or vehicle ) is behind me, and the shooting field is anything 5-6 feet or higher off the ground. Makes for a higher kill percentage. Conditions look favorable for this afternoon, and i intend to put in a couple of late afternoon hours behind a rested dog pack. Hopefully the birds will cooperate and some will fall into the scent cone of my loyal canine pals. Yours in good Sport
Quail hunting is indeed a remarkable experience and It doesn't matter how often you do it, the rush you get is simply a thrill. I flushed a covey late this afternoon that my dogs pointed while we were riding around. I didn't have a gun, but finding the birds and seeing that explosion was again simply so cool.
Mr. Zap, That is indeed some excitement......don't quit too quick to "heal up".... the older you get , the more precious those outings become.....don't pass up any opportunity......you are a long time dead..... I keep pushing it as hard as I can.....
Mr. Zap, That is indeed some excitement......don't quit too quick to "heal up".... the older you get , the more precious those outings become.....don't pass up any opportunity......you are a long time dead.....
"Browning"?? you say==Humhabit, - did our Limey pals across the pond chose the great gun genius John Moses Browning's surname to tag a practice that is not only unsafe, but unsportsmanlike at best-- Why not after their own gun makers--?? "If a Sportsman true you'd be, listen then carefully to me- etc. "" doesn't jibe in my books on the ethics of shotgunning- Ray P. Holland, Paul A. Curtis, T. Nash Buckingham, Robert C. Ruark-maybe they could change their terminology for that sorry practice to, let's say- "Cheney-ing" or at least name it after Havilah Babcock's legendary (in his own mind) quail shot, "Slim Boggins"-- and then again, maybe not. // RWTF--
Mel, Thanks for the update and it gives us some hope for the future of quail hunting. I will attempt to develop our mountain farm into better quail habitat in a few years when my kids are off at college. I know quail can live on the property because we have regularly had coveys around up until about 2009. I remember the day of the last covey rise well...it was Thanksgiving 2009 and my dog went on point. In the ensuing explosion, two birds fell to my to my gun. I missed all of the follow up attempts, but it was a memorable moment and I would like to experience it again. Out of curiosity, what are the weapons of choice on the Texas plains these days, all 28ga SxS? And in what configuration, English sidelocks, boxlocks, etc.? I presume 12ga are banned. I think I will need to appropriately arm myself so that I can be ready when my quail population "takes root" !!!
If near death, and needing heart stimulation, I would like them to play the sound of a covey flushing. It always makes my heart beat faster and brings a smile to my face. It might not save me but at least I’ll go with that smile. The cutting edge things I tried to bring back birds is almost funny now. Predator control and cover ended up being my most beneficial inputs. Extra feed plots showed almost no improvement in results. Maybe Bob is not that picky of an eater. In great years we got two successful nestlings. In poor years we left them be in season and tried again. I’m glad some others are being much better than I was in getting results.
Indeed it does, and may I also add to that list of long-time stories that never pale in their ability to tug at our heartstrings- "Tennessee" by Havilah Babcock and "Same Knife, Different Boy" By Robert C. Ruark, and "Fathers and Sons" by Ernest Hemingway. RWTF
Owen, I hope you are indeed able to bring Mr. Bob back to your North Carolina hills..... I have several friends my age or near about there , that are north Carolina quail hunters....now forced to seek birds for their dogs in Texas and Kansas mostly......All tell a tale of growing up hunting Bobwhite with parents and grandparents on family holdings.... i wish you luck and success in your worthy endeavor. I have a little easier time of it out here, still LARGE blocks of rangeland and mixed dryland farming mixed in infrequently. Grazing management, burning, ( which I practice devoutly) and then we are just at the mercy of rainfall in this semi-arid land. I use cattle as a means to an end, a management tool designed to keep the balance between grasses and forbs needed to maximize quail production out here.
Regarding your question about the chosen arms of Texas Quail hunters, I am going to have to think hard. I say this because I am always drawn to a fine gun when I encounter one, but they are not that common in the hands of the hunters I encounter out here. There are quite a few 28's carried , in the form of Best, or near best SxS, not very often. Few encounters with SxS gunners at all really. Majority of the guys I run across in the store or café have pretty modern, choke tubed O/U's, of Italian or Japanese origin. One fellow who enjoys seeing his name in print owns a property an hour or so away from me, plays with Fine guns, his choices generally leave me unimpressed. He champions an Italian maker whose products are made more for show than shooting in my experience. (Several qualified BEST gun gunsmiths agree with my analysis.) The only truly BEST guns I still own are 3 SxS's all by a noted Italian Maker. I enjoy them , and I shoot them some, but I generally find myself carrying a 20 bore Browning O/U. I have several.... They just get it done for me in the quail fields. I came by this thru pretty damn extensive field use.....and at this stage in life, and for quite a few years, I can shoot ANY gun of my choosing. One Browning I most frequently use is pretty non descript basic gun , modified in some manner to suit me , and I guess time proves me right......As Dr. Dale Rollins noted in the podcast he finally got me to do after years of asking, he mentions my fairly detailed record keeping regarding my quail hunts...... those records show that I have killed over 13,000 wild quail with that one gun......
Being conscious of shooting roosters is often done when shooting wild birds, but not everyone can spot them easily as the explosion and confusion of a covey rise is often so sudden and fast that picking out a male vs a female is much easier said than done. There are some tactics a few people use, such as shooting the higher flying birds, but it's still tough. A key component of managing for wild quail, aside from the obvious habitat issues for nesting, safety, and feeding, is winter survival and not over harvesting (10% or less based upon a fall covey count). Much of the research shows that birds that make it to February will survive winter, and additional harvest then may be additive, as comparted to compensatory, in annual mortality. High winter survival enhances spring nesting, which enhances summer broods, which sets the table for more birds in the fall. We are right now in the middle of anticipating spring nesting season, so being conscious of anything that may enhance that is very important, and two of those issues are survival and having more hens. That's where the issue comes in about ideally taking more roosters. As mentioned, though, it's easier said than done. By the way, after a covey rise, we don't hunt singles. Killing birds is about our lowest objective.
A buddy's late dad when he was a teenager worked as a quail guide in Emmanuel County just before WWII. There was a local resort that quail hunters from the north would frequent. He made more money as a quail guide than his father made working in a sawmill. According to his son, his dad always had six pointers. Two older ones, two mid aged, and two puppies. His dad had the knack of spotting roosters on a coveyrise and shooting only them. All throughout his quail days when he hunted with his son, his gun of choice was an Ithaca M37 in 16 ga. To keep track of the number of coveyrises, Mr. Helton would give Jerry a box of matches. For every coveyrise, Jerry would remove a match from the box and keep it in a shirt pocket. There was no confusion or exaggeration as to number of coveys seen when the shirt pocket matches were counted. Of course, Jerry was charged with bird cleaning after the hunt. The son could not get away with skinning birds. His dad insisted that every last one be plucked. Gil
An attorney acquaintance of mine tells of hunting quail around Athens, GA when he was in law school there. He stopped by a country store one day and met an older fellow there who owned some dogs, and they began to hunt together. Walter soon noticed what a deadly quail shot the elder fellow was and one day asked him how it was that he never seemed to miss, and always shot roosters. He said the fellow paused bit then answered "Well, I don't know. I just don't shoot until I see the bird's eye clearly". At age 70 my eyesight is still good enough that I can often see the rings, and the rotation, of a clay bird thrown off the traps, but I've never mastered focusing my vision on a flushing quail's eye to that extent.
That focusing on a bird's head is a great wing shooting asset, whether it is naturally acquired, or in some manner "learned". I have been conscious of it since my earliest boyhood shooting forays......The looking for the white cheeks on a Cock bird is just a refined extension of that task. I do concede, I find it much easier to do on bright sunlight days when I an not facing a glare or shadow. It is also something do a lot more when the pointing dog is a fully broke and trained veteran companion...... I freely admit to simply trying to get a bird or more down regardless of gender when shooting over a canine student in training I have never put too much stock in the idea that the gunning of cocks only really has much impact on a populations in the grand scheme of things. More of a feel good thing to my way of thinking. But everyone to his own. I have noticed that the avian predators that I compete with for harvest rights on my property are not very selective in picking their prey. Today looks promising for another outing with my girls....
The problem with only trying to shoot cock birds is that during a hurried covey rise, as you quickly try to zero in on a single bird to shoot due to brush, trees, the direction flown, and such, by the time you focus on the target, that split second evaluation of the rooster/hen issue can easily cause you to pull off a bird and ultimately miss all opportunities if you are really trying to avoid shooting the gals. I've done that plenty of times, especially when not shooting a bird at all is perfectly fine with me, and that's more likely to be the case when hunting the birds on my place as compared to elsewhere. When hunting on some of the larger plantations that have substantial bird populations, the effort by hunters and guests to be highly selective on the sex of the birds is definitely reduced. Even then, however, there's that bit of pride that comes when the bird you pop is a rooster. One of my college roommates has a nice property outside of Athens and having more than a covey or two on his place has been a huge challenge; pretty sure he passes on killing any of them as a result. He's thrilled to be coming down this weekend to hunt with me on my place. With my mindset starting to focus on the coming nesting season, we won't be on anywhere near a killing rampage, but the weather conditions should be ideal for some great times following around some dogs.
Regarding the chat about about picking out cock birds, here's a flush from this afternoon. Any of you think you could've done it? . I don't think I could have....
Wow, that flush did indeed happen in a hurry, I couldn't tell the distance from the guns (camera) to the birds , but that was going to require an "instinct" shot to connect, sex of the target a VERY distant consideration...... We had an hour an 45 minutes on the ground for the hard running trainee, less for the veterans on the buggy..... Had 5 coveys pointed , that I got to, a bird from each.... only shooting opportunity over the new dog produced a wing tipped bird that took a nice cripple catch by a Setter with hundreds of those chases under her collar. Starting on Saturday , and for the remainder of the season , I will only shoot over points by my trainee.... the others know the drill all too well.....I am approaching a harvest ratio of a bird per 10 acres of property..... that's about my cut off point for a semi marginal year.
Mr. CZ, I didn't reference the grouse harvest ratio ( I really was not aware of It) don't have a lot of familiarity with Grouse. Occasional trips North in the past with some VERY dedicated grouse hunters.... I always came away with the feeling that Ruffed Grouse Hunting " Read better than it Hunted" but that was just my take.
The harvest number I took was just my management plan for this property, specific to this year. In boom years , most recently the 2016-17 season, my harvest exceeded a bird for 4 acres season long tally. I do shoot this property heavier than the recommendations that Kleberg and Rolling Plains Quail Ranch personnel advocate in Texas..... I know those guys, and respect their opinions..... So far my plans have worked out well for me at the higher rate.
Ruffed grouse hunting is it’s own thing. It can be crazy hard, or very easy.
The pair density number comes up when habitat is talked about. Essentially, a brood for every 20 acres. Higher, can have great shooting, lower, miserable armed hiking.
It’s nice to think that good bobwhite habitat, well managed, is much more productive than that. AND, is expected to be.
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. I don't think I could have....