Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management West Texas Quail & Habitat..........

At the ranch in west Texas we had a tiny population of native Bobwhite quail. Haven't seen/heard them in a couple of years. Currently we are on the upswing side of the 7 years cycle for Blue quail, rabbits, prairie dogs, etal. The rains have been wonderful! At the peak last go around(1 season) we consistently had coveys of 50-100 birds. At the bottom at the bottom of the cycle....8-10 birds if you could find them.

Blue Quail On Game Cam Video
Disregard the date.

In the 1950's my grandmother had the ranch cleared and reseeded to improve the pastures for grazing. As I understand it they used two D9 dozers with ship chain and hooks to clear 50 yard wide strips of brush over 12 sq/miles. With the arid conditions the stripes are still clearly visible today. All that to say that it has been a boon for the Blue quail population. Yes I know its not the perfect patch work pattern that is best for quail but still it is very good.


The area in this photo devoid of stripes was aerial sprayed(pellets) ~ 11 years ago that did a very good job kind of resetting that area. The quail love it.

A number of years ago we tried to relocate some Bob's out there. My friend hatched, raised and got 200 flight trained but unfortunately it was a failed effort. Lots of research has been done since then on techniques that result in better survival.









Would like to try it again some day.


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Cool post. Interesting to see how different land use practices alter wildlife on the landscape.

When I bought my place about 8 yrs ago, I would see them quite abit. Then they seem to go away but this year so far, I hear them in the mornings so maybe they'll make a comeback. From what I've been reading, it should be a good year.

K31 Fescue has been heavily planted in Missouri for cattle grazing. It's thick growth has all but eliminated quail and rabbits here. On a bit of ironic twist, most of the K31 Fescue was infected with endophyte and it makes the cattle pretty sick when eating the grass in summer.

Add to the fescue, Serecia Lespedeza that also produces a toxin that kills competing plants, has seeds that remain viable for hundreds of years, makes anything eating it sick, and our deer are suffering as much as the quail and rabbits in some areas. Fortunately, since the state brought in the Serecia Lespedeza for erosion control along roads, the state offers some cost sharing to eradicate it. The Turkey Federation also has some help in many counties that has really improved all wildlife when followed here.

We are in the process of eliminating all the K31 from our property and replacing it with timothy, orchard, clover, etc as the endophytes really are that bad. If we get some quail back, that would be a bonus!

Nedoc, it's not just my area but most of Texas, Oklahoma, etc. In general, there have been very few changes of any substance.

I used to hunt quail every year down by Big Spring TX. Boy did we have some hunts! There used to be so many quail down there, we thought we'd all died and gone to heaven. Always went down there after our season closed in Missouri. The birds down there were hunted pretty hard. When they'd hear the jeep coming, they'd start running. Our dogs would go on point, and we would get out of the jeep and start running, right past the dogs.. We were always afraid it'd ruin our dogs for hunting in Missouri. Our birds held, and if the dogs would creep too much they'd bust the birds. Down in Big Spring, the dogs had to point and run to keep up with the birds. Eventually they'd all fly, and then the shooting would start.. Lots of the time, we would find another covey, before we got into the singles from the covey before. Those are some great memories.
I've got a picture on my desk, of my long departed setter, pointing a covey down there, and he still had a bird in his mouth from the last bunch.
If the quail get too thick down there, and are causing problems, give me a call. I'm a lot older now, with just one very old dog, but I'd still like to help..
Jeff

I love quail hunting, nothing like dogs on point and then training an English Pointer to retrieve, something EP don't like, they like the hunt much better. In my younger years I ran a 3,700 acre lease in west Texas bout 35 miles SE of Midland. The lease had both Bobs and Blues on the place. Each yr was different on the number of quail that took up residency there. Some years u would have a limit in a morning hunt and they very next yr you would not have a limit after a long day of hunting. Quail numbers change every year due to a lot of factors. Mother Nature Rules.

Tracy

I remember hearing Bob White's all the time here in East TX. That was 40 years ago though.

I read somewhere that this year's West TX quail numbers are better than they have been in years. I sure hope they make a solid return.

We call Blue Quail little greyhounds with feathers. They don't like to fly and the preferred method of escape is running through the bush(seem to fly only ~ 20% of the time). For their size they are a relatively tough bird as many will take a hit from #6 shot....hit the ground and take off running.

They are tough to hunt with a dog. If you can break up the main covey and hunt the singles or group away from the lead bird a dog has a better chance of a point.

We shot mostly bobwhites down around Big Spring, but the were some blues in there also. We would end up with a few every year. I'm sure we had a lot of points on them, but they'd be long gone by the time we got there. Running little devils.
Our Setters would cautiously creep on moving birds here in Missouri, they didn't want to bump birds. That didn't cut it in Texas. Had to put those rubber boots on them for sand burrs, and to run with those quail.
Great cover for hunting dead though. We didn't lose many birds.
What great memories. The weather is starting to cool off. Ha. Too bad the quail population in Missouri has declined so much. Hard to even train a dog anymore.

Wow, that is some flat ground in those photos! For a fellow raised among the hills and hollers, that might as well be another planet!

My friend and I got access to a place one day, maybe 30-40 miles S-Sw of Childress.

We were told there were tons of quail in there, we were welcome to try, but we wouldn't get a shot at them.

We knew we were better than that so we gave it a go.

The quail were all in a bunch of trees, Mesquite and I don't know what else, fairly tall for the area 15'-20', with some open ground underneath them.

Probably only about 3-400yds long.

Had to be several hundred quail there, it was amazing.

They would run, staying just out of gun range, and chasing them was slow work.
Then when they got to the other end they would break around to the edges and head back past us.

We messed around in there for several hours, chasing them back and forth, just getting glimpses of them as they ran behind trees, staying just far enough away.

We refused to let this group of birds win, we knew we could get them, and we could always see them.
We took a break, tried to come up with a strategy, maybe one guy to drive and another to shoot, whatever we could think of.

We finally gave up, they had beat us.

Land owner just laughed and said 'I told you so'.

Would have been a decent place to set up with a few more guys for a drive, but with just 2 people they had enough room to keep running around us.

It was a fun time though, 2 fat guys being run into the ground by a bunch of little birds.

Then there was the first time I ever went hunting, and as we drove onto the property, my buddy said 'those are quail on those trees'.
Nobody believed him at first, they had to be doves, but sure enough there were quail roosting in the tree.

Never seen that since.
Huddled below a tree after a snow, sure, but never in the tree.

And the time I couldn't hit a thing, not many birds and what we did kick up I couldn't hit.
Then one flushed right in front of me.
I was experienced enough to not shoot right away, let him get some distance then shot.
Watched that bird disintegrate in mid-air.
I walked over and picked it up just for grins, there was a head, part of a leg and some feathers left.
Guess I should have let him get a little more distance, maybe.

Haven't been down there to hunt in a number of years, I need to make it back down.

Drive 1000 miles down Quail hunt all day long and hog hunt all night for a few days and then drive back.

I do try and get a little more sleep in than I used to, maybe come in for lunch and a little nap.

I've found that 4 furry legs can outrun these 2 legs. I don't have to go look for the bird after it's shot either - they'll bring it back!

Matt, that sounds more like blues than bobs.