Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Bobwhite quail

It so happened that a couple of quail flew across the road in front of me this morning, the first I have seen in a couple of years. I began bird hunting in the mid '60s with my Dad and hunted them until the mid '90s when around here the numbers fell off abruptly to the point where it wasn't worth the effort to hunt them; even if I had been able to find some, I couldn't in good conscience shoot any with the population down so much. I was between dogs at that time and couldn't see that there was enough of a population to train a pup on, much less hunt for.

Like some others have said, it was my passion. I made some fairly serious life decisions on the assumption that there'd always be birds and I'd always be a bird hunter. There has been an empty spot in my life for the last 25 plus years since I last hunted them. Most disappointing was the fact that I never got the chance to take my sons quail hunting. Had hoped/assumed that there would be a fourth generation quail hunter in our family, but it was not to be.

About a hundred years ago, my grandfather once shot 75 wild quail one day in the Piedmont of NC. Hard to believe how much things have changed.

We have found pen raised Quail to very poor hunting compared to wild birds, we have never imported birds here, but have hunted pen raised in Georgia and Florida, there is so much to producing Wild Quail it's hard to explain, but it all comes down to Food,Water,Cover, Predator Control,and large land area, and don't over harvest birds. on good rain years we get 3-4 hatch's on average years we get 2-3 hatch's on the very dry years we get 1 1/2 hatch's. we try to match our hunting to the # of Quail the Ranch produces. Rio7

Out west we have a decent population of Gambels quail, and some larger mountain quail. Mountain quail hunting is almost as fun as hunting chukar.

We have very few around here. I remember watching a couple feed around my feet while setup on turkeys one morning several years back. My 10yo finally got see some wild ones for the first time while deer hunting. Doubt his kids will ever see one. We used to always knock out a few while rabbit hunting also.

I had a great uncle that lived to hunt bobwhites in the Piedmont of NC He carried me a couple of times and it was nothing to run 6-8 coveys around town hauling his pointer and setter in the back of a station wagon. He once took me down to our family homeplace way out in the sticks and we could hunt and cross property lines at will all day long. On one memorable day I cut my finger to the bone peeling an apple with a Buck 110 and had some of that stuff to kill germs only meant for dogs put on my thumb that was like liquid fire, had a cold quail sandwich with white bread and mustard I'll never forget and honest to goodness after chasin' all these woods runnin' birds all day we walked into a covey in the open I guessed to be five times a normal sized covey of 8 birds. This was the end of quail hunting around here ca. 1976 It seems like a dream now as I don't remember the last bird I've seen or heard.

Outside my MAN Cave. Rio7

Had a covey of about 12 birds under a deer feeder last year on opening day.Saw them again Thanksgiving weekend and they were down to 8 birds.By the end of deer season only 3 remained.Everything in Texas eats quail.

I have purposely left the fencerows alone on my farms, even though it results in smaller fields that are hard to farm with today's large equipment, and reduced crop yields. They have been as they are now for my lifetime, 72 years, and the quail still disappeared. I agree that habitat is a large part of it, but there is more going on than just that. The turkeys here are not reproducing, as I've yet to see any young ones, and I've seen a bunch of hens.

How about those chemicals used for no-till farming? Ever since no-till became popular, I've seen fewer rabbits and zero quail in areas that used to have a heckuva lot of both.

Quail Porn, This morning out side my fence, lot'a screwing go'in on.

You would think that must have an impact. But, as someone pointed out to me, the chemicals used in the '50s and '60s were a lot more toxic than the ones used now, and there were plenty of birds back then. I used to hear that no till was actually going to be better for wildlife. I agree with JamesJr that habitat may be part of it, but there's something else going on.

I sure miss them. I get away to western Ky at least once a year to hunt them with a friend.

They are a rare sight here in the eastern part of the state anymore. This past spring however I heard this little gentleman whistling and my wife was able to get some really good shots of him. Made my week seeing him.

Like I said, it’s not habitat. Ninety years ago in my part of the world there was a house every forty acres and everything was planted in cotton and corn. Quail were about the only game besides rabbits and squirrels that were around back then. Sixty years ago the cotton and corn was gone but there were pastures everywhere and lots of quail. Forty to fifty years ago, clearcuts became the vogue and quail, like everything else, EXPLODED. You couldn’t walk fifty yards in some places without kicking up a covey or two.

Today, fewer cattle operations. More grown up fields. Still lots of clearcuts and pine plantations in various stages. Lots of unmowed road ditches and NO row crops of any kind. Aaaaand I haven’t even heard a quail in probably at least 15 years. It might be twenty, but I know it’s been fifteen.

Ky221, Great pictures, your wife is skilled photographer, i need to get a better camera mine sucks very little zoom. Rio7

Don't know that I've ever heard/seen one in my life in SWVA.

Have turkey galore.

I heard a grouse drumming a couple of weeks back.
I stopped in my tracks and had to process what I was hearing, first grouse I had heard in about 10 years.

We still have a few but not like when I was a kid
The 120 acres across the road had 10 covies with 15-20 each

Live on the west coast now, but I've not heard one in 20 years during my visits to Va or WVa.

Buddys father in law.....we hunted a thicket behind his house. Early morning, sun been up 15 mins.

KABOOM!

Bout dropped my bow out of the stand.

Texted my bud WTF?

Reply was " ol boy proly shot a cat, keeps shotgun by kitchen window ".

Yup, he got one.

Wild quail been there 40 plus yrs. Off limits.

Said if you see a cat or coon and dont pop it, dont come back.

10 yrs ago, getting ready to cross fence going back to Jeep......grass strip on one side, yard and house on other.....

Covey of at least 2 dozen blew up in front of me.

Scared the chit outta me LOL

Hunted my buds fam farm 2 counties over and had 6 bebop under my ladder stand, single file. Pheasant there too, hear them and turkeys at first light.

Pheasant and quail off limits.

Never see a cat. Just sayin. Folks up there protect.the birds.

Used to dove hunt northen F&W area and always heard quail in crp field next to sunflowers.
Last time up......didnt hear any 😔

I was watching 6-8 quail march single-file down my dirt road, Injun style. A mourning
dove flew down at the back of the line and marched awhile. It would fly ahead
some to a low-hanging limb. When they passed by, take it's place at the rear of the line again and repeat.
IDK sometimes.