I am amazed by the lack of birds on the MDC quail emphasis areas as compared to private ground, in the same general area, with supposedly inferior habitat. Is it that the management plan of the areas are flawed, or is it that it's so good the birds are nearly impossible to locate, due to the availability of escape cover, extreme pressure burning the birds off the area, or some combination of all of the above? Some of these large areas, 3000+ acres, I find it hard to believe the birds are relocating miles away due to pressure, more likely they adapt to using deep cover, abandoned badger holes, or brushpiles to evade hunters deep in the middle of some wooly patch. Personally, I have worked these area both during the season and pre/post season,and universally found fewer birds per effort than on either private ground, or shockingly on MDC non-focus areas. Almost never see hunters either. Your thoughts?
MDC quail focus areas vs. private ground
- Thread starter oldandnew
- Start date
only a pointer
Banned
emphasis areas
we must have been thinking the same thing i got to thinking why would the mdc need to put in quail em areas i said to myself cause there isnt any quail dummy. I personally think what birds are on the mdc are staying in the woody part, the timber that hunters avoid i just dnt know for sure? old when i go to an area im very methodical meaning i just dont plow in the high pecentage areas like around the crop edges i do hunt those but i take a small section of a section and cover it all every little spot of course this is by myself i hunt hard to find birds cause i have a new dog and birds are what makes a bird dog so nedless to say i dnt have much of a brd dog yet lol. but this is mo like you said. heres a question for you i remember my dad telling me when i was younger we were bird huntin and he said dang kid thats and old bobwhite i said ya i know a quail so what lol he said no kid this is an old school bobwhite he exlained to me how much bigger they were. I bet theres not many on this forum that know the diff on here lol do you ever see any anymore ??
we must have been thinking the same thing i got to thinking why would the mdc need to put in quail em areas i said to myself cause there isnt any quail dummy. I personally think what birds are on the mdc are staying in the woody part, the timber that hunters avoid i just dnt know for sure? old when i go to an area im very methodical meaning i just dont plow in the high pecentage areas like around the crop edges i do hunt those but i take a small section of a section and cover it all every little spot of course this is by myself i hunt hard to find birds cause i have a new dog and birds are what makes a bird dog so nedless to say i dnt have much of a brd dog yet lol. but this is mo like you said. heres a question for you i remember my dad telling me when i was younger we were bird huntin and he said dang kid thats and old bobwhite i said ya i know a quail so what lol he said no kid this is an old school bobwhite he exlained to me how much bigger they were. I bet theres not many on this forum that know the diff on here lol do you ever see any anymore ??
All birds i have found on emphasis areas have been in the stuff that makes me think my Garmin was a great investment. You know, the stuff where you cant see the dog pas 15 yards and you dont even bother swingin the gun because the thorns will probably just put your eye out with any sudden movement. haha. is it just me and my mediocre dogs or are you guys finding less birds this year?
Last time I saw an old fashioned yellow legged quail covey was a piece of ground just south of Clinton,Mo. before Deepwater. Had a farm we hunted for years, those birds held on till the corp bought the land and closed the dam for Truman, flooding those birds out of habitat that had sustained them for years. That was about 1974, I'm sad to say. Those birds averaged about 12 ounces to some second year birds almost a pound, these scrawnies now might be 6 ounces, maybe 8. We hunted those birds sparingly, like a fine wine. We were the only ones who hunted them, and there wasn't a crop field for miles. Always full of ragweed, and white oak acorns, how they got those acorns down in the crop, whole was amazing. Had yellow fat, all larded up, like a chicken. In 1967 we shot 4,000,000 birds in Missouri, with 180,000 quail hunters, in 2009 we shot about 200,000 birds and had 16,000-17,000 quail hunters. There are probably 200,000 MDC employees, one for every harvested bird in the state. We now shoot more deer than quail. Iowa shot more deer than pheasants last year. it's sick.
That's exactly what I would expect. I think they get pounded, so they adapt by exposing themselves only briefly before digging back into the hell hole, putting out limited scent, with several avenues of escape. Pheasants get credit for wily behavior, quail are quick to adapt to pressure as well.
I have a spot that was always good for two coveys every time we go. My buddy and i are very picky about dogwork and shooting. I ran dogs there after the snows were over from last year and still found those birds. Went there the other day and could not find a bird. Hunted the area hard, found lots of woodcock. Im sure they are gone now, but no quail. I was very dissapointed by this. This was my go to place when working a pup or just wanted a so called sure thing. Im hoping they will be there when weather turns to snow as i found it a little late last year.