Quail Hunting?

[PapaBear]

Anybody quail hunted without dogs? Any tips or suggestions on what to look for as far as cover. Do I just drive around and look for coveys or should I get out and walk. Any tips and techniques to make the hunt successful would be greatly appreciated. Going this weekend to try it out and maybe get on an axis or some hogs will post pics if the opportunity for pics presents itself.

[Killer]

If your hunting a place with feeders check them out. Also any water sources. I would walk that way you will be ready to shoot when they come up.

[PapaBear]

Place is on the llano in kimble county and there are feeders

[huntingfanatic]

We used to have pretty good success putting milo out on the edges of the roads then walking the brush along the roads the next morning

[Drycreek3189]

We used to have pretty good success putting milo out on the edges of the roads then walking the brush along the roads the next morning

Cracked corn/milo on the roads today and walk the roads tomorrow. Or, if you have senderos, glass 'em for birds, then just walk 'em up. Good luck !

[HoustonHunter94]

I haven't lately but used to it was just walk around a lot and hope you flush some up, scare the **** out of you and then try to compose yourself quick enough for a shot at the slowest one and hope you could hit it.

[westtexducks]

I haven't lately but used to it was just walk around a lot and hope you flush some up, scare the **** out of you and then try to compose yourself quick enough for a shot at the slowest one and hope you could hit it.

Yep, we would drive around the property until we saw a covey run across the road and had a basic idea of where they stayed, once spotted jump out of the truck and haul butt after them until they jumped.

This was chasing the scaled or blue quail in west texas, also seen some nice jeep rigs where they have seats on the front and they just haul after them in the truck and shoot from it, much like the rigs in the movie Hatari.

[cosmiccowboy]

What are these quail you speak of? *sigh* I haven't seen dependable shooting numbers of quail since the 90's. Man, you never know what yuo got till it's gone. I remember in the 60's and 70's it was nothing to bust 50-100 covey a day on an average day.

[BBBGP]

Cracked corn/milo on the roads today and walk the roads tomorrow. Or, if you have senderos, glass 'em for birds, then just walk 'em up. Good luck !

Fill your road feeder with milo and cracked corn. Hit as many roads as you can and feed as much as possible. If you have strips, go heavy on the strips. Give it a couple hours and ride and glass till you see the birds.

Good luck, you will learn why people pay so much $$ and put up with so much bs from a good quail dog.

[BBBGP]

What are these quail you speak of? *sigh* I haven't seen dependable shooting numbers of quail since the 90's. Man, you never know what yuo got till it's gone. I remember in the 60's and 70's it was nothing to bust 50-100 covey a day on an average day.

There still some places that are holding quail. But it isn't what it use to be. It cost more to keep um around and you will be hard pressed to beat a 20 covey day.

That little bird is awesome but expensive.

[bulltx50]

As a biologist for over 25 years the numbers have steadily declined. So many reasons; but some of the biggest reasons are the smaller parcels of land. Large ranches are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Fire ants and of course predators. Also what is great habitat for whitetails; not as good for quail. Native grasses replaced with heavy grazing hays etc..... Like BBBGP said, there is nothing like hunting quail. Good luck.

[cosmiccowboy]

Yep, we would drive around the property until we saw a covey run across the road and had a basic idea of where they stayed, once spotted jump out of the truck and haul butt after them until they jumped.

This was chasing the scaled or blue quail in west texas, also seen some nice jeep rigs where they have seats on the front and they just haul after them in the truck and shoot from it, much like the rigs in the movie Hatari.

I will share CosmicCowboy's secret of "We are definitely all having fried quail for dinner tonight" for you guys with the impossible task of chasing blues in the thick brush country. Drive all your roads that have quail. Every 200-300 yards stop and put a 1# coffee can of corn in a pile right in the center of the road. Do this 15-20 times at least. Then retrace your route. The quail will hear you coming and you will see them running back into the brush just before you get into shooting range. Don't shoot, don't brake, don't even slow down. Do this on your whole route...circle back to the beginning. When you see the quail scatter don't brake, don't slow down, and keep going. About 150 yards past the corn pile have one shooter do a rolling dismount and slide off into the brush...sneak back and by that time the whole covey will be back around that little corn pile with their butts up in the air eating inside your shot pattern. and take your skillet shot. Repeat. Enjoy with mashed potatos and cream gravy.

[doghouse]

Are the blue Quail going the same way as the Bobwhite? Just curious.

[30-30]

As a biologist for over 25 years the numbers have steadily declined. So many reasons; but some of the biggest reasons are the smaller parcels of land. Large ranches are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Fire ants and of course predators. Also what is great habitat for whitetails; not as good for quail. Native grasses replaced with heavy grazing hays etc..... Like BBBGP said, there is nothing like hunting quail. Good luck.

+1 Land use is tending more toward less diversity and edge habitat. Crop fields are getting bigger, farming is more efficient (less grain spillage), fence rows are being kept clear of brush, and exotic grasses that can't support quail are taking an irreversible hold on rangelands. This scale of development not only eats up land, but isolates patches of good quail habitat. No matter how good your habitat is, you will eventually have a bad year and your quail population won't rebound without access to strong populations nearby. Predation, parasites, disease, and a host of other factors have played a role in the decline, but changing land usage is most likely the big one. It's also the most difficult to reverse.

We won't again see the numbers of bobwhites in Texas that we did 40 years ago. However, there are a lot of people that remember the good days of quail hunting and want to support research into slowing the decline. I'm starting a master's project at A&M that will investigate quail numbers, diets, and nesting success on areas both treated and untreated for invasive fire ants. Will report back!

[westtexducks]

Are the blue Quail going the same way as the Bobwhite? Just curious.

Yes and no on our property. We had a ton of em in the 90s on into the early 2000s but the numbers have been really bad the past 8 years or so, had to much rain when katrina hit and that suppossedly killed off a bunch of em and then we have had this prolonged drought that has worked them over. But that said past 2 years the numbers have started to rebound, have 2 huge coveys at one location and have several starting to pop up around the house. So I would say they are rebounding but not at levels they once were quite yet.