Did some dirt road driving in one of the best Rolling Plains areas for bob white quail. I seen and heard nothing over the course of 3 weeks. Conditions this spring looked to be perfect, so I am hoping they are just not traveling much due to food availability. I am really hoping there is not a parasite or infection keeping numbers low. Anyone seeing quail?
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I’m hoping for a come back. We finally had birds for 3 years, we hunted 1 weekend of each of those years and then last year there weren’t enough to work a pup much less hunt. Weather could not be blamed. -
Very solid crop Webb Co.
but those fragile glass ornaments can disappear overnightComment
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I heard quail calling within Lubbock city limits this week and have seen birds all over the cap this spring. Unless you had a hatch hailed out, which is possible, I bet they are out there. Great nesting conditions all overComment
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Tons of newly flight ready birds in the panhandle. They were calling all around me today.Comment
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Last month In throckmorton there were lots more than last year. All paired. Never saw a chick. Heard them all day long
No great bumper crop but promising. Just takes 1-2 perfect storm years for them to explode..... and 2 bad months for them to plummet.
Born looking for a place to go dieComment
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Originally posted by Low Fence View Post... slightly above average
You’ve seen it hunt able, not flush with birds like it was.Comment
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Myself a little Nw of Roby. I did confirm a hailstorm.Originally posted by bboswell View PostComment
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I’m expecting a better year than last year with all the great spring rains. 2 and 3 years ago were awesome. Last year wasn’t even enough to hunt!Comment
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I have still found pretty slim pickings for birds this year. Lots of miles few flushes. This is not a better year for quail where i hunt. I was hoping my initial scouting was wrong.Comment
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My buddies have been putting up 10 coveys a am in hebbronville. They put up 60 coveys in 3 days last week. Im going a few days after Christmas to join em to hunt for a few days.Comment
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Here is an excellent article on what has happened and what is happening the the rolling plains quail population. At least from one study.
My dad hunted quail and field trialed, and I was raised hunting quail. By my memory when I started hunting with him, which was when I could keep up, we had lots of good hunts on relatives land in Van Zandt and Kaufman counties. In the mid to late 60's, quail got hard to find in our part of east Texas. ( I bet their are very few properties with huntable populations in Van Zandt Co. today) On our first hunt out to Breckinridge, we found more birds than we knew what to do with. These were the days when you went up and knocked on landowners doors, and I don't remember ever being denied permission to hunt. Of course we were paying, $5 to $10 a day per gun, and they were all glad to get a little money. Every pond held ducks, mostly pintails, and I would always bring home a few.
As we hunted through the years, we hunted through good and not as good years, and the cyclic nature of quail numbers was apparent even to me as a young teenager. We hunted on and off through the years and went after it harder in the mid 90's, until dad's arthritis made it too hard for him, and land got too expensive to lease for our small group.
I see studies questioning lower quail hunter numbers, and it's my opinion that it is mostly due to costs. High lease prices, and the cost of keeping dogs is what pushed me and the others of my group out. I have seen a couple of good bird dogs go through their life with out seeing a banner quail year.
To me, hunting quail with my father, brother, and friends, definitely was the good old days.
Another good link
Last edited by double bogey; 12-22-2019, 09:00 PM.Comment
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