Covey headquarters areas, pics added 11/08/11

[jaytee]

Spent a few more hours today with the backpack sprayer and 3 gal. of RU mix spraying around some trees/brush that I intend to transform into covey headquarters areas in the next few weeks. Battled blackberry briars and greenbriar, thorns and other stickems but I got quite a bit sprayed. Still got about a good days worth of spraying left to do but I'll have to wait a bit till the incoming rain passes through. I'll post some pics as soon as I can get some taken. Just curious if anyone else out there is doing any habitat work?

 

[greatlawn]

I am planning next years food plots getting some old hay field mowed and cleaned up to disc next spring. I am also going to push back some tree lines to make some more headquarters. I did this year find a quail in one of my covey headquarters. We hadn't seen any quail in that spot in 20 years it was exciting. Waiting for Sat.

Good luck

 

[jaytee]

Good luck with your upcoming habitat work Greatlawn. I also seen my first covey and had my first comfirmed successful hatch this spring which was really great to see.

 

[oldandnew]

Great to hear. Like you I have feather edged about 1/2 mile this year and planted three covey headquarters to go along with the 5 I already had. I can't believe the improvement in quail numbers, after around the two year mark from begining. Jaytee, from what the MDC gives me for planting headquarters, it sounds like with greenbriar, Black Berries, et. al. you have a pretty good start. I found that fire to clear invasive cool season grasses to keep the understory as thin or even better bare, worked best. Timing of fire to get suppression can be hit or miss though, and needs to be a cool fire to minimize effect on the brush. I guess no one will ever accuse any of us for being financially driven, but doing what you can at least allows us to put a little back and feel good. keep up the fight.

 

[SDJIM]

The good fight

I guess no one will ever accuse any of us for being financially driven, but doing what you can at least allows us to put a little back and feel good. keep up the fight.

You are so right, I just got the bill for spraying my CRP---just under $3000. IS IT WORTH IT? I met a guy at the trap range this summer that has a service dog that works with disabled veterans and is also his hunting dog (yellow lab). He stopped by the farm and hunted Fri eve and Sat. Called me yesterday on the way east and told me " SATURDAY WAS THE BEST DAY OF PHEASANT HUNTING I'VE EVER HAD"

YA ITS WORTH IT

Got to do another project of about 40 acres and improve another 25 to increase winter cover---I don't intend to give up the fight--not ever :thumbsup:

 

[jaytee]

You are so right, I just got the bill for spraying my CRP---just under $3000. IS IT WORTH IT? I met a guy at the trap range this summer that has a service dog that works with disabled veterans and is also his hunting dog (yellow lab). He stopped by the farm and hunted Fri eve and Sat. Called me yesterday on the way east and told me " SATURDAY WAS THE BEST DAY OF PHEASANT HUNTING I'VE EVER HAD"

YA ITS WORTH IT

Got to do another project of about 40 acres and improve another 25 to increase winter cover---I don't intend to give up the fight--not ever :thumbsup:

Yessir, no one said it was gonna be easy..............or cheap!!! I'd hate to guess what I've spent over the years but I wouldn't have it any other way. This spring when I seen that first confirmed hatch of quail, the smile on my face was worth all the money that I'd spent so far, and then some. Keep up the good work everyone and sooner or later, we'll see a difference.:cheers::cheers:

 

[jaytee]

Here's a few pics of the areas that I'll be working on this winter. This area is across the creek and located in a small bottom area about 3 acres total in size. About an acre of it I rotate in food plot and the rest is just a fallow field area that I'll be killing the fescue out of. This area in the pic seperates the plot area from the rest of the field.

This is looking down the other side of the above pic. This area is aprox. 30 feet wide and runs nearly the length of the bottom, about a hundred yards or so.

This is from the opposite end of the bottom. This should make a real good shrub thicket as its already got some sumac and wild plum growing, I just need to go in and kill out the walnuts and supplement with different shrubs.

This is a different area of the farm, a hillside that I converted to NWSG 3 years ago. This particular area is fairly large, probably 3 thousand square feet and consist mostly of walnut saplings that I'll be cutting and killing and then planting in some different shrubs like wild plum, sumac, false indigo and other quail friendly shrubs.

Same area, different view. I sprayed this area 3 days ago and hopefully it'll start yellowing out here soon then once I see how good of a kill I got, I'll start dropping the trees.

This is the NWSG hillside thats located adjacent to the future shrub/headquarters area.

 

[oldandnew]

Looks like there ought to be quail, Jaytee! You got the table set, if we get some decent weather for nesting and brooding, there ought to be a jump in numbers. Like you I am battling the maturity of coverage as much as anything else.