Wild Quail Hunting is Back!

The number one thing you need to understand when it comes to managing for wild quail is that there is four major needs in terms of habitat. FOOD WATER AND COVER!

NESTING and Brooding Cover

Feeding- Food plots, Small Grains

Loafing and Travel Hedge Rows that link up to the above cover types

Lastly The ROOSTING Cover of thickets, Clear Cuts or Seccisonal Cover that allows over head as well as a Bramble not easily penatrated by Mamamalian Predators.

"If Habitat cannot support game in spite of predators,its simply is not good habitat." ALDO LEOPOLD

When you are 6 inch tale and only 16 oz, you would rather walk than fly and tall grass is a jungle and block walk is a NYC mile. Then you now are feeling the world of a wild quail.

You need to localize there movements and create cover blocks that allow quail to move 100ft from two or more cover types easily. If you have the right cover type then you can see a Covey per 25 acres. With creating buffers from a habitat type to a edge by planting forbes, Warm Season Grasses.

There is good programs from the farm bill program that are avaiable to most agriculture lands that have row crop history. This goverment cost share will help you with the planting and the cost of the seeds that are very expensive. Or you may have the native seed bank there you just need to have the land lay Idle for a year to see what will come back. Check with you local County NRCS office and find out about the help that is our there.

The property that you own, you want more quail?

1. Timber Stand Improvement- Thining and Chipping the Understory.

2. Forestry Management- Estabilsh Fire lanes and open Dirt strips allowed to get three years growth between burns

3. Growing season Burning- { May to Sept} YES This is a hot time of the year, Yes this will produce alot of heat!

4 .  QVM- Herbicide during the Growing season to controll hardwood and softwoods

5. Creating Open Grassland Habitat where 15 to 40% of the property has NWSG- Native Warm Season Grass.

6. Daylighting Roads 30ft or even 60 ft- DO NOT MOW DURING BROODING SEASON PLEASE!

7. Planting Pines, CHOICE Long Leaf, year one FIRE CONTROL.

8. Map your property with a professional ARC VIEW PROGRAM and have it updated every three years.

9. Feed during the preseason and or off season, 1.8 of a mile per 100 acres, about 60ft spreading every 2 weeks.  That will be 5.7 bushels per mile or 250 lbs per 5200 ft

10.  Hunter Management: No late afternoon hunting! Stop at 1 hour before sunset.  NO AUTO LOADERS only Two shots per covey!

IT will never end the management of your land so enjoy it and realize that your practising wildlife managment to create a future for wildlife.