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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,317
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,317 |
Pivot sprinklers have about done in our pheasants, etc. There are no more ditch rows and many of the fence rows are gone. No cover, no birds.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 53,303
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 53,303 |
Our first broods from the scaled quail in the "yard coveys" are already so big that it's difficult to tell them from the adults. Looking forward to a lot of double clutching in both scalies and Gambels. Very large coveys of Gambels here, they seem to think the world of the berry rows. Don't know what's up with the Scaled,....just don't see as many around as I once did. GTC
Member, Clan of the Border Rats -- “Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”- Mark Twain
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 24,370
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 24,370 |
Pivot sprinklers have about done in our pheasants, etc. There are no more ditch rows and many of the fence rows are gone. No cover, no birds. Sad what pheasant hunting is here in SW Idaho compared to the 70's and 80's.
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Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 9,031
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 9,031 |
been hearing bob whites behind the house for 2 months. love it
FJB
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,875
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,875 |
Quail need 3 things food water and cover, if you don't have all 3 No, or very few Quail, Greg, the reason the Quail like your berry patch, food, water cover.Any place there's water you will have cover and bugs, pretty simple. rio7
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,571
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,571 |
A friend that I hunted a lot with,who became a US FWS biologist,called central MO. the "fescue desert" back in the late 70s. He said that all the fescue that was being planted in those days would do away with our quail.I think that he was right. Also in those days we had prairie chickens on the prairie ground but I haven't seen a chicken in years...less and less prairie all the time...really doubt if housecats caught very many chickens but skunks,possums,and coons will eat every egg they can find also there are a lot more hawks now than there were then.
molɔ̀ːn labé skýla
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 10,779
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 10,779 |
Pivot sprinklers have about done in our pheasants, etc. There are no more ditch rows and many of the fence rows are gone. No cover, no birds. Sad what pheasant hunting is here in SW Idaho compared to the 70's and 80's. Same story with Nebraska. Plenty of predators though.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,132
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,132 |
think this yr might be the first i hunt quail in probably 30 yrs. still haven't seen any blues.
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
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Joined: May 2003
Posts: 31,240
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 31,240 |
We have two mated pairs of Gambels quail in our neighborhood. I'd been seeing them skittering about as pairs all Spring, until a few days ago when all four showed up together with chicks. Little brown fuzzballs everywhere! Seemed like a hundred of them, but probably no more than two dozen.
We love watching them.
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474 |
think this yr might be the first i hunt quail in probably 30 yrs. still haven't seen any blues. Call me. LOL. Haven't shot a quail since the 80s IIRC either. I did find a few bluebonnet seeds, and need to make time to finish your 223 stuff, will box it at some point and send unless you are working in the area again let me know. Jeff
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,132
Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 47,132 |
sure thing Jeff. we have had huntable numbers every now and then over the yrs but i don't have a dog to find them when they go down in the brush. the yr before last though we dozed out some clearings so we could hunt birds.
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 53,303
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 53,303 |
Quail need 3 things food water and cover, if you don't have all 3 No, or very few Quail, Greg, the reason the Quail like your berry patch, food, water cover.Any place there's water you will have cover and bugs, pretty simple. rio7
. Been fine tuning the setup for years,....the young quail REALLY like young grasses ( been told it's a critical requirement.) I've been cover cropping oats, in with the chiles, and the precision with which the quail crop the young sprouts is micrometer grade. GTC
Member, Clan of the Border Rats -- “Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”- Mark Twain
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 57,474 |
Unfortunately it is proven that pet cats reduce the bird population drastically more than any other predator. Take care of them quietly and silently. Ive read that and since they are a cat, I don't doubt it, but our bird populations go down the most when the grey fox numbers go up. But we don't want a bazillion cats either so Carolyn traps em and I shoot em as needed. But still amazed our 2 wild barn cats must not affect the population that much. Wished we had quail again, but as long as fire ants are here, it won't happen to any extent.
We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 17,048
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 17,048 |
any p o s of cat more then 100 yards from a house goes lights out here, they are the skurg of the earth, anybody that pampers a cat is just as big a pussy as the damn cat!! get more song birds and quail than any hawk or owl ever could. Tree stand hunting deer one day a covey went thru chirping and beeping and picking in the grass. About 5 min. later a big black cat. I swear he was scent trailing them, but don't think cats can do that. Me and my longbow pinned him to the ground. He thrashed and struggled a bit then layed down and said, "Meow".
BAN THE RAINBOW FLAG! PERVERTS OFFEND ME!
"When is penguin season, daddy? I wanna go kill a penguin!" ---- 4 yr old Archerhuntress
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,875
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,875 |
Quail, Are like mother natures cheeseburgers, every predator type critter eats them, a Quail spends most of it's life on the ground, and nests close to the ground,coyotes get about 30% of the baby's and nests 18% of Quail are taken by other predators cats,snakes, hawks,owls,coons feral cats can be a real problem with your Quail. They need a cover of tall weeds or bunch grass to protect them from above, and bunch grass that they can run threw and hide in. only about 50% of the Quail crop each year makes it to hunting season then they are attacked by humans and dogs,{more predators} I have been studying and watching them for years trying to learn how to improve our Quail on the ranch, I could go on all day about what I have learned, but it would not take long for me to tell you what I know for sure. Rio7
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,063
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,063 |
I was raised feeding bird dogs and following my Dad around the Ga. small farms and woods, quail hunting.
We would hunt from just after daylight..enough time to let them fly off the roost and put down a little scent..til noon. Then go to a country store and get a can or two of sardines, thick slice of cheese, some saltines and a moon pie or honey bun and wash it all down with a Nehi or R.C. Then go back and hunt til sundown.
We did a whole lot of walking through some thick briers following some real good dogs.
Can't remember the last time I heard Bob White...call in the spring.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 29,837
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 29,837 |
Living in the west now and have dozens of California quail in the back yard every day. It probably does not hurt that Cookie puts out about 1/2 gal of cracked corn in the sagebrush behind the house. The little guys put a real priority on wing feathers and can fly within a couple days of hatching. I've not heard a single Bob White though during my last 3 or 4 visits to West Virginia, Virginia, or Maryland.
1Minute
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