My daddy was a quail hunter, and always had a good bird dog. I remember as a kid him coming home with birds, and I would watch him dress them. He would always check their crop to see what they were feeding on. Back in that time frame, and 1950's and 60's, it was weed seeds, lespedeza, and buckberries. The farms of that time period weren't farmed fencerow to fencerow like they are today. There were always fields that were grown up, and let to lay fallow for the year, giving quail feed and places to roost. The predator population was also kept in control because a lot more people hunted them back then.
Today, there are very few places around here where quail have the habitat needed in order to survive, and nobody hunts the predators that much. I believe that hawks catch more quail than any other predator, and since they have been protected, the quail have suffered.
