Has anyone here had luck quail hunting kn the area? 1st season lookin for maybe a general direction to start, im willing to put in thr time and leg work. Thanks
the wild birds here have been decimated by habitat loss and all kinds of new nest predators. if you really wanna get out there and work the dog you might and I mean might jump a pair. Unless you have some times to a private plantation. Best advice I can give you is get a dozen or so pen birds and shoot them that day
If you have a very good dog or dogs you may find a covey, but I would not count on it.
I have owned my hunting property(171 acres) for over 15 years and have seen 2 coveys in that entire time.
Hunting, fishing, and poker are my sports. Work when necessary.
I’ve owned my property 20 years. When we bought it, it had several large coveys and we would see them every day. Also had many rabbits. Now we seldom see a quail, or a rabbit, just coyotes:angry:
Not much of a wild quail population left anymore. Even the big plantations are shooting pen raised birds for the most part.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
Saw about two dozen last year because t haven’t been in the woods much or seen them this year. We cut down a bunch of timber so they may be there now. I’ve heard they are tasty but never had quail before. Unless I see 200 I probably never will. Cool birds though, you can get quite close to them and struggle to see them.
First, Most, Biggest
Larry
I have a cool video clip from a game camera. First clip shows a rabbit hopping along. The second shows a bobcat with the rabbit in its mouth. That was about a month ago.
Hunting, fishing, and poker are my sports. Work when necessary.
I always thought the fire ants were the main cause of the decline in wild birds. I saw my first covy in 4 years last week I must have wached them for 30 min. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed seeing them. Either way it’s a shame the birgs are gone.
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Intensely managed,wild quail are possible,and you won’t see any trees.Redtail Hawks will follow an entire covey until the last one is destroyed.Yes coyotes,ants,and feral house cats have helped ruin the population,but hawks are the number one predator.
That’s why a few got in Federal hot water when they were setting leg traps atop poles that were attractive to birds of prey. That group was intensely managing quail.
i heard about them boys down south doing that poly… i love hearing and seeing these birds and as much time as i spend in the woods either rarely happen. I heard one whistling in the swamp this year. thats as close as I have gotten. sure do miss them
quote:
Redtail Hawks will follow an entire covey until the last one is destroyed.Yes coyotes,ants,and feral house cats have helped ruin the population,but hawks are the number one predator.
I never thought about that, but we have a lot of redtail hawks. And fire ants.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
quote:
Originally posted by poly ballIntensely managed,wild quail are possible,and you won’t see any trees.Redtail Hawks will follow an entire covey until the last one is destroyed.Yes coyotes,ants,and feral house cats have helped ruin the population,but hawks are the number one predator.
That’s why a few got in Federal hot water when they were setting leg traps atop poles that were attractive to birds of prey. That group was intensely managing quail.
Thing about red tail hawks, they have always been around in numbers. Even 30-40 years ago when we had a few nice coveys of quail scattered all over the lowcountry.
I’d say ferrel cats, fire ants and loss of habitat. No one burns off timber land anymore due to smoke “liability”. Quail don’t do well in dense forest.
As to leg traps, how do you get hawks to land in them? 
quote:Not too sure about your burning theory,this was taken from an Auburn U study.I would venture to say there are more hawks now,than 30-40 yrs/ago.
Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by poly ballIntensely managed,wild quail are possible,and you won’t see any trees.Redtail Hawks will follow an entire covey until the last one is destroyed.Yes coyotes,ants,and feral house cats have helped ruin the population,but hawks are the number one predator.
That’s why a few got in Federal hot water when they were setting leg traps atop poles that were attractive to birds of prey. That group was intensely managing quail.
Thing about red tail hawks, they have always been around in numbers. Even 30-40 years ago when we had a few nice coveys of quail scattered all over the lowcountry.
I’d say ferrel cats, fire ants and loss of habitat. No one burns off timber land anymore due to smoke “liability”. Quail don’t do well in dense forest.
As to leg traps, how do you get hawks to land in them?
Two peaks also occur in avian predation. The first occurs in April and is associated with several events. This is the time of year when the woods are burned, so available cover is minimal, and also is the time of the northern hawk migration. Combine this with increased movements due to covey break-up, as well as displaying and calling by males, and the result is high avian predation on quail. The second peak of avian predation occurs in December and directly coincides with the southerly hawk migration.
quote:
Originally posted by poly ballquote:Not too sure about your burning theory,this was taken from an Auburn U study.I would venture to say there are more hawks now,than 30-40 yrs/ago.
Originally posted by Fred67quote:
Originally posted by poly ballIntensely managed,wild quail are possible,and you won’t see any trees.Redtail Hawks will follow an entire covey until the last one is destroyed.Yes coyotes,ants,and feral house cats have helped ruin the population,but hawks are the number one predator.
That’s why a few got in Federal hot water when they were setting leg traps atop poles that were attractive to birds of prey. That group was intensely managing quail.
Thing about red tail hawks, they have always been around in numbers. Even 30-40 years ago when we had a few nice coveys of quail scattered all over the lowcountry.
I’d say ferrel cats, fire ants and loss of habitat. No one burns off timber land anymore due to smoke “liability”. Quail don’t do well in dense forest.
As to leg traps, how do you get hawks to land in them?
Two peaks also occur in avian predation. The first occurs in April and is associated with several events. This is the time of year when the woods are burned, so available cover is minimal, and also is the time of the northern hawk migration. Combine this with increased movements due to covey break-up, as well as displaying and calling by males, and the result is high avian predation on quail. The second peak of avian predation