Pheasant and Quail Habitat Project

H

Hunt1up

New member
Hello All,

I am new to the forum, looks like a great forum though.

I am currently working on a half quarter of CRP for pheasant and quail habitat. I have cut down a few cedar trees that were in the adjacent cattle pasture and was wondering if anyone thinks putting a few piles of them through out the CRP would be good cover for the quail?

I also will be putting in some food plots and a few shrub rows. Any suggestions what i should plant?

Thanks

Hunt1up
 
I would have to hunt it a couple years atleast to make a sound decision:D I think what you are planning do will work fine. I'm sure the nice people on here will help you.:)
 
Last edited:
Hunt1up said:
Hello All,

I am new to the forum, looks like a great forum though.

I am currently working on a half quarter of CRP for pheasant and quail habitat. I have cut down a few cedar trees that were in the adjacent cattle pasture and was wondering if anyone thinks putting a few piles of them through out the CRP would be good cover for the quail?

I also will be putting in some food plots and a few shrub rows. Any suggestions what i should plant?

Thanks

Hunt1up
Click to expand...

Hunt,

Welcome to the forum. It would help to have more info about this project. The more you provide the better the response. Do you own it? What are objectives? area located in? Do you have FSA clearance to install cover changes? Etc.

Lots of good knowledge on this forum but they will need answers to these questions to respond.
 
I should have gave more info on the property in my original post.

My grandparents actually own the property but i can do whatever i want as far as habitat improvements go.

It is located in south central nebraska and while i stated it was CRP i should have mentioned it is no longer in the program so i dont believe i will need FSA clearance.

My objectives are to enhance the habitat for birds year round. Right now there is a good number of pheasants and quail but i figure positive improvements couldnt hurt.

As far as the surronding area there is a creek running the length of the property on one side and a dryland field which alternates between corn and wheat on the other. the two other sides are cattle pasture.

Thanks for any input
 
Hunt1up, sound like you are good to go then. Being that I am a whole state north of your position I don't want to give you any tips that would no jive with the regional natives, etc. I don't know quail habitat either. But for pheasants some plums/cedars in 5 row belts or blocks would be better and some sorghum food plots would helps the birds and add value to your CRP area.

Some guys with better local and quail knowledge will probably chime in here too.
 
Welcome to UPH Hunt1up, Hope you come back often.........Bob
 
Hunt, don't plant cedars in southcentral Nebraska, they tend to wander. There are several things you can do to greatly increase your bird production and attraction. For quail, you will need some low growing woody cover. For both species you will need brood-rearing cover. For pheasants, food plots will keep them on site throughout the winter. The design is important. Use the food plots in an orientation that they can also be used for fire breaks. You will need to burn the grass. Check with Pheasants Forever for a forb mix and plant it in strips in your CRP. If it is terraced, plant it in terrace channels so it can get adequate moisture. Your food plots can be the PF mix, milo, wheat, Egyptian wheat, forage sorghum (Ellis, Atlas, Hegari, African Millet), or other millets ( German, Proso). Planting a brood-rearing strip with the outside thirds alfalfa and the middle third Maximillian Sunflower will give broods overhead cover when avian predators come over. Make sure that all of your food plots and brood strips dead end into the remaining grass so that when you hunt, the birds won't just run out the end and flush wild. Also remember that crooked is usually better than straight.
 
Drifter, thanks those are some great tips. I think i will definetly try to implement some of those suggestions this spring. The only other thing i am going to have to work on is keeping tresspassers out. i have put up gates on every drive but had a few fences cut last year and had tracks driving through the CRP. It would be ideal if i lived closer to the property but as it is i am 30 miles away from it.
 
If you have a deer population on site, you will probably want to go with the wheat, Egyptian wheat, or millet instead of the milo/forage sorghum. If you make significant food plots, set up a rotation where you move several food types around ( none of the all eggs in 1 basket ). Evaluate your grass by laying down in it to see how bad the thatch is and if there are openings at ground level where chicks can move about under the canopy. Another cheap way to make brood habitat is to just run the disk over some of the grass in Oct/Nov (best) or at least before the end of February and let the weeds grow. From your description, brood-rearing habitat is what you lack. Also adding the winter food will "pull in" birds from the neighbors and hold them through the cold months.
 
As far as habitat goes for quail the best thing to do is soil disturbance. I attended a seminar they said that the best thing to do is disc and get some bare ground. Brush piles should be 1500 sqft loose enough to see the dirt. I hope this helps.
 
I would try and talk to a local NRCS department. They should be able to tell you a lot of good strategies about your neck of the woods. I would definitely talk to one of those guys. They are usually very helpful and can give you some great information.
 
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