looking for info on quail emphasis areas in MO

N

nc bird man

New member
Hello all,

I am from North Carolina and am planning a couple of trips out west again for gamebirds. I have been hearing some scuttlebutt about the quail emphasis areas in MO. Does anybody know anything about them. First hand experience. Which are the best? How many covey's a day i might find with good dogs and good weather. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Tom
 
Quail hunting in Missouri is very hit and miss. I would probably pick a better state like Kansas or Oklahoma if you are driving that far. The past few years the hatches have been poor. I have a few areas that I have hunted the last few years and seen the covey's drop from 5-6 to 2-3. Thats in a day so lots of boot leather and very little feather.
 
Went Friday to a conservation area that only listed as Fair for quail and pheasant but found 2 nice coveys, no pheasant and we heard other hunters shooting quite a bit so we are convinced they were on a covey. Is it just luck for 2 guys and 2 young dogs to find that many birds on a large area or do you think that means there are good number of birds?
 
Depends on the area but most of them conservation area's don't hold many coveys for long. To much pressure and like you heard a lot of shooting they most likely will shoot the covey out. If the didn't that day they will as they keep coming back day after day pounding them until none are left. Quail numbers are way down in Missouri with out hunting pressure.
 
Went to Whiteside near St Louis area and found a covey of only 5 birds. Missed on them the first shoot and didnt go looking for them after that. Are there any other areas around the St Louis area I know Whetstone has quail might try that after the deer season.
 
keep on going west. thats what we will do, have been 4 times found 2 covies. i think our ca dept when they use the term quail emphasis it means there usesd to be birds and they could be found now that they are emphasis they have made things worse. they should just have left these areas the way they were back in the 80's.
 
They really like cockleburs too! don't seem to motivated to remove fescue and brome so thick you can't walk in it, or thin out some mature timber to create edge. Here a lot about feather edging, ( cutting the saplings about 3 foot up and letting them lay to create understory), but I have yet to see it on an emphasis area. To busy cash leasing it to the local farmers for more income, to add to 150 Million +, they already get. Now if you want to shoot an Elk get back to us in about 5 years. If you want upland game go to Kansas, or Nebraska, that's what we all do! Replies from the MDC is welcome and encouraged!
 
HAHA! The elk thing still boggles my mind and also the fact that pheasant is a native species to Missouri NOT Kansas yet I need to drive 4 hours to find a dang rooster.
 
Don't know if I would drive that many miles to hunt quail in Missouri. Isn't Georgia known for better quail hunting. Kansas may be a better choice.
 
Hey fellow hunters,

I see 3 or more of you live within 10 miles of me and even hunt the same public areas. I have a new 4 month old Brittany and would like to run him with an older dog. We have been out a few times and he is full of energy and didn't once slow me down. He wants to stay close! Whetstone and Logan seem to have a few good hunting spots but a group is needed to cover the amount of land that needs to be covered.

Respond and maybe we can get a group out and run the dogs.

jimmy_lowery@hotmail.com
 
As to the original post -- there are very few quail in Missouri and your time and efforts are better served driving. I've burned a lot of boot leather in this state looking for quail and the only real justification that I have for doing so is that I typically do so when Kansas isn't open.

BTW, has anyone esle noticed that this post has received over 1100 views? Makes you think twice about posting your successes, especially in this state.
 
Since elk are browsers, maybe the new arrivals will open up succesional cover, and encourage quail, before they expand and eat my rosebushes.
 
I do not think you have to worry about people hunting a spot out. I have been on several pieces of private and public ground and normally never even here a shot.

zeepo
 
The jokes on us! The only thing more endangered than Missouri quail, are Missouri quail hunters! Wonder if more Missouri upland hunters buy Kansas permits than buy Missouri permits?
 
oldandnew said:
Katrout, Quail native to Missouri also, but we might be stocking them soon too!
Click to expand...


O&N,

Re-read the post. It doesn't mention quail, only pheasant, hence the joke.

Sadly, I have to disagree with the idea that the joke is on us regarding the number of quail hunters. I've been to these conservation areas on opening day/weekend and have seen more than my fair share of hunters. When you hear shots, you hear them often and only a few minutes apart. Meaning that hunters are shooting out a covey.

I think that there was a post on here the other day about a guy getting up a covey of five birds and firing anyway. He missed, but it illustrates the mentality. People go hunting to kill birds and I understand that, but there needs to be some sense of conservation. A four-bird covey is not going to see spring if they are shot down in the first two weeks of November.

However, this is not the biggest problem. This mentality of killing because I am hunting also shows the lack of restraint and willingness to conserve, a conservation selfishness if you will.

I buy a Kansas license and I buy a Missouri license and I live in Missouri. Missouri's quail emphasis areas are, primarily, a joke. When there has been over 20 years of management on some of these places and there is still fescue and brome, come one, give me a break.
 
I have mentioned the same thing about fescue and brome on wildlife areas on other posts. The opening day of the season is the time to see over crowding on wildlife areas, but the numbers show that since 1985 the number of quail hunters has dropped from 120,000 to 20,000, habitat declined comparisonly, so the few left are concentrated on the wildlife areas. It still sucks though! Since Bilby is the ONLY wildlife area which is sustaining pheasants, it gets pounded, Be nice if they would take there millions in sales tax, and buy us another one or two. Going to Kansas Saturday, going to NW Missouri on Sunday.
 
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