New to quail- keeping a covey healthy?

B

berettadouble

Member
I grew up in NW Iowa where there just werent any quail. Ive bumped a coule coveys in the past by accident hunting farther south and shot a bird or two, but they were so few and far between I never considered going after them exclusively or figured I'd ever see them again. I was right.

This weekend I covered some new ground in southern Iowa and brought up two coveys in two attempts, and teh hook was set. Damn they are fun little birds. Both were healthy sized coveys of 2 dozen plus birds, and I took a total of 3 between the 2 coveys. I was thankful to have the AAs in the truck that day. I am definitely going to spend some time targeting them now while there are a few birds to be had- just can't trust Iowa winters.

My question is- I know there is a covey size "floor" where one shouldn't shoot any birds to keep it viable. I want to see the coveys return and don't want to overhunt any. What is your number?
 
Very good question. I'd like to see some informative replies as well.

2 years ago I could go out almost every day and harvest a bird or 2 from the forest without any worry of depletion. Last year we had the Rim Fire. It scorched 400 square miles of forest. They just let us in last month. I hear 2 years after a fire the habitat is great for quail. I haven't seen a bird in the burn zone yet in 3 trips. We have no intention of hunting that area this year but if they are going to repopulate they better get walking back. Of course the drought doesn't help matters. It may take awhile.
 
8 was the "drop dead" number I was exposed to in my youth. Recently, Prairie Drifter commented on the topic. I will not attempt to paraphrase what he said b/c I don't want to mislead anyone. Its great to know you're being considerate of the birds and other hunters by asking and trying to learn about these great birds.

I'm glad you've had the opportunity to experience the joy of quail hunting. When I get back from SD I'm taking another week of vacation, in which the majority of my time will be spent quail hunting. I wish a state would take bobwhite quail under their wing :)D) and make them a priority like SD does pheasants. I've come close to scheduling a hunt in TX or OK in hopes of finding better quail numbers, but haven't found anything I'm comfortable with yet.
 
My original response

Here is the response KB was talking about:

The honest answer to your question is, "it depends". Quail coveys intermingle and reorganize on almost a daily basis if coveys are in close enough proximity to do so. If that is the case, it doesn't matter over the long run how many you shoot out of a covey because they are genetically programed to seek a covey size of 13-15 birds. However, if you shoot them down to 10 continuously throughout the season, you can significantly reduce the local population until you are making the hunting harvest "additive mortality" where your take will ensure that the local population is reduced in the following year.

If coveys are farther apart, shooting the covey below any certain point will end up with a covey that is that small or smaller throughout the rest of the season. This could lead to a complete collapse of the local population.

If coveys reformulate toward the genetic goal throughout the season, there will come a point where it doesn't matter how large the covey is, any loss of members will result in the population decreasing in the coming year. The answer is that you can remove 40-60% of the population by whatever means (hunting, predation, accidents, disease, etc) without reducing the following year's population. There is no way to judge by covey size if you are nearing that point.

In the more immediate period, reducing a covey below 8-10 birds when the conditions require that they have sufficient numbers to retain heat through the overnight covey ring, will result in the possible total loss of the covey overnight. It is possible to start with a local population of 100 birds and never shoot a covey below 8 birds and still end the year with a local population of 8 birds ( as an example )! Good intentions don't make good statistics!
 
Some recent numbers I read indicate that the % of a population that can be harvested is lower in the south than the north because the northern populations tend to be more productive due to their more frequent boom and bust cycles. Don't know if any of this helps. If not, please redirect with another question.
 
How cold is too cold to bust a covey and have the birds survive through the night? At what time should you stop hunting in the afternoon to let the birds regroup. The majority of the covey seems to stay together on smaller covies. Is this common? The bigger covies I have seen this year have split off more. Sorry just some questions I have come across switching from pheasants to mostly quail. Thanks
 
How cold is too cold to bust a covey and have the birds survive through the night? At what time should you stop hunting in the afternoon to let the birds regroup. The majority of the covey seems to stay together on smaller covies. Is this common? The bigger covies I have seen this year have split off more. Sorry, just some questions I have come across switching from pheasants to mostly quail. Thanks
 
Unfortunately, I'm not sure there is one answer to that question. It is one of those "it depends" answers. There are so many variables: how many birds are in the covey, what is the cover they have available, what temperature is it going down to, is there moisture involved, did you give the covey enough time to regroup before dark, had they fed yet when you broke them up........... You have to use some good judgment based on what you see, the forecast, etc. It's best to leave the field at least an hour before sundown to give them time to regroup. If you know it is going to be severe, give them more time. If you know that the weather is going to be tough on them without your disturbance, hunt pheasants instead or watch the football game. It is a all-out shame to kill birds due to inconsiderate behavior where they will only be utilized by predators or wasted all together.
 
I agree not to be hard on the resource for no reason or one short hunt. But cold is a relative thing. The pattern i have found is weather related. Below 40 degrees and the birds (quail) are easy to find next to a food source in the early and late afternoon. Similar to pheasant. There are no pheasant in this area, but there are quail and I don't want to harm them in my ignorance. I know not to hunt them before a front with freezing rain or snow in the forecast, however growing up in WI, having lived in AK,Mt and SD for the hunting, cold is a relative non issue for me. The dog hunts better and so do I Around the freezing mark. Is it hard on the birds at these temps within a few degrees either way? This is my issue, not wanting to stress them yet they hold better and run less (better hunting) under less than balmy conditions. I know there are no hard and fast rules with mother nature, but it's not nice to fool mother nature. Just looking for a general guidline to follow, 20 degrees is a matter of degrees, and want the covies to stick around for selfish and unselfish reasons. Thanks for your time.
 
All good advice. We typically don't shoot in coveys where there are 10 birds or less and don't hunt past 2pm (4:30pm is sunset here in Indiana).

If it's warmer say in the 40-50s we might go later. If it's cold we do almost all our hunting early in the day.
 
I read a formal study on covey size last year, I spent some time online trying to find it but could not otherwise I would link it here. The study took quail and put them in climate controlled temperatures to see how long they would survive. I believe the temperature was 20 degrees F.

The study showed that a bird by himself lasted on average 8 hours. 2 birds lasted 12 hours, 3 birds lasted 16-18 hours. And so on and so on. As you got upwards of 8-10 birds the study said that the birds would last 24 hours but 1 or 2 would die.

The study concluded that the optimal covey size was no less than 11 birds. That was how many birds it took for none to die at that cold of a temperature.
Now assuming a warmer temp, I'm sure the birds would survive much longer.

I wish I had the study for everyone to read because it was really good... but I just can't find it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top