quail, first covey I have seen in 20+ years

dodge man · Sep 5, 2020

Pheasant have gone missing in my area also. We have lived outside of town for 23 years and I have only seen one.

ovrszd · Sep 5, 2020

dodge man said:
Pheasant have gone missing in my area also. We have lived outside of town for 23 years and I have only seen one.

Missouri introduced Pheasants in the 70s. We are too far South. They couldn't populate. They need grit from Glacier drift. 30 miles North of me they are abundant. We think we are smarter than Mother Nature. Heheheh....

lman · Sep 5, 2020

I saw these last summer near Medaryville. Probably about 5 miles from Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area. I haven't seen any in Marshall County in years.

bullbreaker · Sep 5, 2020

We still have lots of them here in Collier County sw Fla .

beowulf · Sep 5, 2020

We still have quail but not as many as a few years ago. It seems the population dropped after I moved a huge pile of tree debris- they used to run in and out of that. What we have had more of now is rabbits - about a dozen every day in the yard - fairly tame and they pretty much ignore us as we come and go. But now they are also thinning out but it seems that happens every year. Quail are fun to watch - they always post a sentry on some higher point - at least that is what we have observed. Also get a great kick out of the baby quail - like a dozen or so little waddling thumbs following the momma.

jmc · Sep 5, 2020

Great news.

I grew up about 10 mile NW of Ft Wayne, IN. Before the late 70's, (pre-deer, when people used to rabbit hunt) you would see as many quail coveys as rabbits. Very common to hear them too. Someone said the blizzards about then wiped them out. Haven't heard a quail in southern Indiana for the 30 years I've lived down here.

lilranch2001 · Sep 5, 2020

Yea, I had almost forgotten all about quail until I scared these guys up last evening.

The row of blue spruce I scared them out of is along a bean field, and the other side has an old driveway that I rounduped earlier this summer, so Im not sure what has drawn them to this location, maybe the weed seeds in the driveway?

gsganzer · Sep 5, 2020

two_bit_score said:
Here is a place in Centerville, Texas with very good bacon wrapped grilled quail.

Woody's Smokehouse - Order Online

Every time I drive to Houston I stop at Woody's and buy some of those for the freezer.

deserteagle71 · Sep 5, 2020

Huge coveys of quail all around northern Nevada. I and my neighbors all have them living in and around our places.

Looking out my kitchen window...they were all out on the lawn but a hawk swooped by and they ran toward the house:

During the winter months:

Cute little buggers:

When the snow gets deep I throw "chicken scratch" down on my deck. The quail feast and sometimes the cottontails join them!

jaxs · Sep 5, 2020

lilranch2001 said:
Yea, I had almost forgotten all about quail until I scared these guys up last evening.

The row of blue spruce I scared them out of is along a bean field, and the other side has an old driveway that I rounduped earlier this summer, so Im not sure what has drawn them to this location, maybe the weed seeds in the driveway?

Let's hope that covey indicate's the return of quail to your area but here's a possability. After our quail disappeared,I built "call back traps"so that I could still injoy my pointers. Recalling problem and solution I had years ago with house cats killing baby chicks,I used the idea for my quail. The cats were reaching through net wire on top of and around tractor and catching chicks when i allowed them to range. I installed electric charged wire around tractor. No more cats at tractor tormenting chicks. I let chicks out and sat down to sip a brew and watch them. They chased a grasshopper around the shop to where a couple of cats were napping. The cats acted like a pack of pit bulls were running in their direction when they saw those chicks. I reasoned that any preditor that visited my traps wouldn't return and probably react to free ranging quail same as cats did to those chickens so I installed solar units at traps. Never saw sign of digging around traps so it worked. Call backs require work but I reccomend them for people wanting quail on their place. If and when they are set free,they stand a better chance of survival than pen raised and who know's,might even reproduce in the wild.