Quail numbers could be on the rise this season

Photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation/ A quail hunter zeros in on a fast moving quail as the 2014-15 quail season opened Nov. 1. Hunters could see an increase in quail this season.

Nevada Daily Mail

Last Saturday, Nov. 1, started the 2014-15 quail season, much to the delight of many area hunters. After years of declining quail numbers, a glimmer of hope for the upcoming season should see a slight increase of the numbers of this popular game bird.

Larry Garner of Joplin, had his two pointers loaded in his truck just after daybreak and headed for the fields around Bushwhacker Lake.

Garner, 74, said he has slowed down a bit after hunting quail since he was 10 years old. He said, "I remember the good old days when it wasn't hard to find a couple coveys and getting a limit wasn't a big deal.

"Times have changed to the point you might walk a mile or two without flushing a single bobwhite. I had several places I hunted where I knew I could find birds. There was plenty of good habitat for quail and the hunting was very good, unlike today."

Garner did find a covey of quail after more than an hour, but he said, "I have lost some of my good shooting or else the birds are flying faster than I remember. But when your dog goes on point and the birds flush, its an experience you don't soon forget. That explosion when the birds take flight creates excitement like nothing else in hunting.

Photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation/ As quail numbers increase, more of the popular call of the bobwhite can be heard.

"I am glad to see some positive news about an increase in the numbers of quail, although it's ever so slight. We won't ever see the numbers like we did when I was a kid. It's encouraging seeing a positive, instead of seeing the quail numbers declining every season."

Garner, like many area quail hunters, discount the idea that turkeys have been a large factor in the decline of quail. It has been rumored that turkeys eat quail chicks and eggs, but researchers have not found a single chick or egg fragment while examining thousands of turkey stomachs. The lack of evidence is remarkable.

Recently, the Missouri Department of Conservation started a project in southwest Missouri to better understand bobwhite response to different management techniques. Managers of several conservation areas in Dade and Lawrence counties noted that quail on large, diverse grasslands initiated covey break up and nested several weeks earlier than coveys on nearby areas ---- managed using crop strips, nesting patches, and brushy hedge rows.

This information suggests that total production may be greater on the diverse grasslands ---- and led researchers on four conservation areas to band and apply radio transmitters to several dozen bobwhites to determine if this scenario holds true on other areas as well.

Habitat is the key to restoring quail numbers. Although, no other bird in the country has been more studied than the bobwhite. For all biologists who have learned about quail, knowledge cannot compensate for the loss of habitat.

Good habitat is the most important factor in quail production. Weed patches tend to attract insects needed by growing chicks, and produce seeds eaten in the fall and winter. In today's landscapes, weed patches are increasingly scarce.

November 10 was the date marked on quail hunters in my hometown when I was a youngster. That was opening day of the quail season and was for decades until the Conservation Department changed it to start on Nov. 1.

Back in the late '50s, my two hunting buddies and I could always be found hunting quail on Nov. 10, within walking distance of home. There was plenty of quail and rabbits to be found and although we all had single shot shotguns, we usually brought home a dozen or more birds. We never hunted with a dog back then. We worked through the tall weeds and briers searching for bobwhites.

Later we found out how valuable a good bird dog was worth, when I got my first pointer. I named him Jack, after a friend named Jack first showed me how much easier it was to find and retrieve birds with a dog. As a teenager hunting quail, it was always disappointing to hit a bird and not find it. Using a dog solved that problem.

One hunt that stands out was back in 1959. We were hunting some weedy patches near a Santa Fe railroad track when Jack pointed a covey of quail. It was a big covey with 20 or more birds. I dropped a pair of birds on the rise and then started picking up singles. We finished the day with a limit of quail after flushing three coveys.

Should you be looking for a place to hunt quail, you might try one of the Quail Management Areas. The Department of Conservation recently has ramped-up quail habitat efforts. In southwest Missouri, Quail Emphasis Areas include Bois D'Arc, Robert E Talbot Area in Lawrence County, Stockton Lake in Cedar, Polk and Dade Counties phone number 417-895-6880 and Shawnee Trail in Barton County, phone number 417-629-3423. For more information on these areas, call the numbers listed.

With the help of the MDC and organizations like Quail Unlimited, Quail Forever and the Upland Wildlife federation all working to stop the declining number of the bobwhite, the future of quail hunting is looking up.

Hunting quail is still good if and when you find prime quail habitat.