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I spoke this week with a friend whose plantation he manages is near Tall Timbers. Three radio collared birds are on his place nesting having crossed over from TT. He won't start blocking until they are through nesting which would be soon. Apparently they are re-nesters as the earlier nests were most likely raided by snakes--pine, rat, etc. If it had been a cottonmouth, the hens would have been taken by the snake as well. Gil

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Claiming you have wild quail is good for business....keep releasing them and hope for the best. The wild quail is not extinct in the South they're just not in huntable numbers like they used to be.

With a good dog I have several spots that you could find a covey on maybe even two....years ago there was at times 8 or 10 coveys or more on these same 2 to 500 acre farms should a sportsman hunt them into extinction. A lot of farms we hunted we never hunted singles because there were so many coveys....unlike a dove shooter quail men were consevatives.

Like New England pheasants a few released birds will survive a season or maybe even two....but they seldom reproduce into huntable populations. Once the releasing stops the populations dwindle.

Nice to think you hunted something truly wild....fact is a lot of the younger generations in the South will never hunt a wild quail unless they go to Texas or somewhere in the midwest

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Originally Posted by GLS
I spoke this week with a friend whose plantation he manages is near Tall Timbers. Three radio collared birds are on his place nesting.....Apparently they are re-nesters as the earlier nests were most likely raided by snakes--pine, rat, etc. If it had been a cottonmouth, the hens would have been taken by the snake as well. Gil

Great report....sounds like a why did the chicken cross the road joke....quess you didn't know they will nest more than once a year.

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Predatory hawks can be controlled in quail habitat by trapping, it's just that to do so is illegal. What's reasonable in allowing trapping of mammalian predators, even the killing of stray cats on sight, and not allowing the control of avian and reptilian? People have a strange sense of priorities sometimes, it seems to me.


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Awhile back SC Wildlife Outdoors magazine reported research by SCDNR and Clemson that in some areas of SC, quail changed habitat preferences and were found in bottomland regions and swamps more so than on the hill where traditionally they were found. Food sources included acorn particles resulting from deer and squirrel activity.
Stan, this happened not to far from here:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/major-federal-wildlife-prosecution-south-carolina-plantation

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It is interesting how the view on some predators has changed now that they are able to so closely monitor nesting activity along with studies on predation on radio-collared birds. For example, Stoddard thought that field mice were nest predators and discussed such in his famous book. They've since learned that they're not problematic, and in fact are beneficial to quail by providing an alternative food source to avian predators. Many of the other assumed nest predators are actually not as bad as once thought, while others are worse.
Many of our area plantations now trap year-round using cell signals to let them know when a trap has been caught something. This can really save time when making the rounds to check traps. There's also a guy around here that comes in for 2 week intervals and traps the big stuff, such as bobcats and even coyotes. I've used him a few years but he's pretty expensive and I quickly realized that I was low on the priority list compared to the large plantations that use him religiously year after year. I wasn't able to get him, for example, until June and July, while others got him in long before nesting season. You also soon realize that without a full court press on predators, the impact can be marginal since what you take out can be replaced somewhat soon as the void is filled.
Managing habitat and keeping plenty of areas in place for bird safety seems to make a huge difference, especially as I continue to see a steady increase in my covey count, which has about doubled over the past 5 years.
The fall shuffle should begin in week or so. As you know, that's one of the best times to get a good determination of this year's birds. If you enjoy that sort of thing, the DNR is currently looking for volunteers to help with the morning counts on their public properties.

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Gil what does your reply have to do with anything Stan said.....what I'd like to see out of Stan is a list of poisons he is spraying on his crop fields.

Spring'a'madOOdle my view on predator control has never changed....they need killing just keep your mouth shut about it.

Ps...Georgia DNR biologists suck.

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Fire ants can't be helping. I'd worry about them a lot more than raptors. But some folks are born to be poachers.


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Originally Posted by spring
I. You also soon realize that without a full court press on predators, the impact can be marginal since what you take out can be replaced somewhat soon as the void is filled.
And sometimes that isn't enough. The book, Coyotes of the South, reported that game biologists conducted a study at the Savannah River Plant (known locally as the "bomb plant") wherein intervaginal transmitters were inserted into pregnant does so that biologists could home in quickly to the site of birth to determine fawn survival at birth. There were extensive losses due to coyotes as established by DNA analysis on the fawn remains. Over 500 coyotes were removed from the area of study. After the removal, the rate of fawn predation pretty much remained the same as other coyotes quickly moved into the area.
To lessen the impact of predation on quail, food plots have been deemphasized and periodic broadcasting of food trails are common on some plantations to spread out the birds to keep them from concentrating on food plots which also concentrated predators. Perhaps that is part of your of your management as well. Gil

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Originally Posted by GLS
Originally Posted by spring
I. You also soon realize that without a full court press on predators, the impact can be marginal since what you take out can be replaced somewhat soon as the void is filled.
And sometimes that isn't enough. The book, Coyotes of the South, reported that game biologists conducted a study at the Savannah River Plant (known locally as the "bomb plant") wherein intervaginal transmitters were inserted into pregnant does so that biologists could home in quickly to the site of birth to determine fawn survival at birth. There were extensive losses due to coyotes as established by DNA analysis on the fawn remains. Over 500 coyotes were removed from the area of study. After the removal, the rate of fawn predation pretty much remained the same as other coyotes quickly moved into the area.
To lessen the impact of predation on quail, food plots have been deemphasized and periodic broadcasting of food trails are common on some plantations to spread out the birds to keep them from concentrating on food plots which also concentrated predators. Perhaps that is part of your of your management as well. Gil


It's interesting how there has been a pretty significant sea-change in the opinion about the need for food plots on actively managed plantations. For the most part, they are now a thing of the past, with discing and year-round feeding taking their place. Discing is easier, cheaper, and more nutritious for quail as the weeds that come up harbor bugs, which are full of protein and great for both young and mature birds. Discing is also a way to reduce habitat after nesting is over and helps somewhat concentrate the birds. Ragweed, for example, is great habitat during the summer, but when fall arrives and it loses its foliage, it has little value. Discing it under, which also replants it for the next spring, can help move birds into other areas. Most of your large plantations are now reducing habitat by about 20% before the season, which is how they end up with something around 2 birds/acre.
FWIW, I eliminated food plots about 6 or 7 years ago (used to plant milo and occasionally some oat strips through the pines), and just redirected that effort into year-round feedings on 2-week intervals. Amazing the difference it has made in bird numbers.
You do still see some places planting pretty food plots for quail, but much of that is on commercial spots that are concerned with aesthetics.


Here are examples of what we don’t do anymore. I certainly can’t say that they didn’t have benefit, but whatever we may have gotten wasn’t worth the costs or anywhere nearly as effective as just running feed lines throughout the year.

[Linked Image from hosting.photobucket.com]

[Linked Image from hosting.photobucket.com]

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