Quail Etiquette

Tbear

Tbear

UPH Master
Heading to MO to hunt some quail in December. What kind of rules do you follow ie how many birds do you leave in a covey? Never done it we dont have any in MN. Thanks for the help. The guy im going with is born and bread quail hunter but I thought I should know a little before I go. :cheers:
 
I was "brought up" being told by my dad and uncle to not shoot a covey below 10birds....I guess I don't know the real answer, but when they made this "rule" there was a covey of birds in my area every 50yrds it seemed, so they were able to live by this pretty easily.

I know I still cringe to this day, if we get a covey to 9.

Had an old farmer call my hunting partner a few days ago, and told him he had 2 coveys on his farm and he wanted us to shoot some of them. The old farmer said that this makes them more "urgent" at reproducing offspring in the Spring. Never heard that one before......but we are planning to respect his wishes! :cheers:
 
I would say not to shoot them under 10 to a covey also...also not to keep chasing the same covey day after day. Another suggestion is to limit yourself to below the state bag limit....don't hunt after 3 or 3:30pm to let birds covey up unharrassed....when the get split too late in the day sometimes they don't get to re covey up and when it's cold or wet that is very bad and also leaves them much more vulnerable to predators... if you hunt with pointing dogs...only shoot pointed birds...lots of guys I've seen shoot wild flushes ...other that that...go have fun....lol
 
rascal said:
I would say not to shoot them under 10 to a covey also...also not to keep chasing the same covey day after day. Another suggestion is to limit yourself to below the state bag limit....don't hunt after 3 or 3:30pm to let birds covey up unharrassed....when the get split too late in the day sometimes they don't get to re covey up and when it's cold or wet that is very bad and also leaves them much more vulnerable to predators... if you hunt with pointing dogs...only shoot pointed birds...lots of guys I've seen shoot wild flushes ...other that that...go have fun....lol
Click to expand...

I like these, I live by them except maybe the "wild flush" rule since I run flushers myself. I think not hunting them after a certain time is a very good rule that some may not think about, I like to give them time to leave the roost on especially cold mornings also.:cheers:
 
I am sure someone smarter than us have done some studies on quail covey size as it relates to survival, but I have not seen it. so I can't really say. If a covey of 9 got up I would shoot (chances are there would still be 9 in the covey when I was done). I think the afternoon rule is a very good one. I also don't like getting into quail when it's really cold. I think that can be very hard on the birds.
 
I've read that 8 is the minimum number for a covey to over winter. On public land you can assume the next guy doesn't know or care about that so leaving a covey alone at 10 may be a good idea, even small covies are hard to accurately count on a rise though. I've passed on 4 mountain quail covies that I estimated at 8-10 birds this year, hard to do after a long, steep hike but I felt good about it. Small covies will join up with other covies when the weather gets bad though so its hard to say. Do what feels right to you.:cheers:
 
Biggest question is are you hunting public land or private land? If the former -- I'd wait to see how many birds are in the covey before pulling the trigger. I've moved some healthy coveys of quail in Missouri on public ground -- but I've moved some 4 bird coveys as well. If the latter -- do you know it has several coveys close to each other (w/in 1/4 mile)? Also, is it a place that gets a decent amount of pressure? If yes to the first and no to the second, then I'd say shoot on every covey rise -- if you are moving a lot of birds in a small area, shoot pointed singles, but no more than 3 per covey.

Cut it short an hour before dark or so if it is going to be really cold is a good rule.
 
KATroutman13 said:
Biggest question is are you hunting public land or private land? If the former -- I'd wait to see how many birds are in the covey before pulling the trigger. I've moved some healthy coveys of quail in Missouri on public ground -- but I've moved some 4 bird coveys as well. If the latter -- do you know it has several coveys close to each other (w/in 1/4 mile)? Also, is it a place that gets a decent amount of pressure? If yes to the first and no to the second, then I'd say shoot on every covey rise -- if you are moving a lot of birds in a small area, shoot pointed singles, but no more than 3 per covey.

Cut it short an hour before dark or so if it is going to be really cold is a good rule.
Click to expand...

Thanks that helps a lot! We have some private ground and will also be hunting some public. Hoping to still find a few roosters as well.
 
If there are other coveys in the area, decimated coveys will sometimes group up to better survive the cold. Other than that, I always figured 7 to 8 are good to get through an Oklahoma winter.
 
akp said:
If there are other coveys in the area, decimated coveys will sometimes group up to better survive the cold. Other than that, I always figured 7 to 8 are good to get through an Oklahoma winter.
Click to expand...

If he's hunting north of 36 highway (and he must be considering he's hoping to run into roosters) the one thing we have to worry about in the winters is ice/snow that stays deep and on the ground for a week or two.

Growing up in SEK, going to school in SW MO and then moving up to Kansas City one thing that was noticeably different was the weather.
 
How do you know how many birds are in a covey?Do you count and then when you get to ten mount the gun and shoot number 11? I think these are some interesting guidelines, but unless you never shoot on the covey rise how would you ever know there are 8 or 11 or 10 or 12 birds in a covey? To answer the question, I would ask your buddy "Hey do you have a unwritten rule you follow about how, when, how many, etc birds to shoot in a day?" Then wow him with the knowledge you acquired here!
 
Grampa's number was 8 in east central KS. Grampa, and a lady he hunted with regularly, NEVER shot on the covey rise. They'd let me fire away, then they'd announce how many birds were in the covey and decide if they were chasing the singles. We were always on private land then and there were plenty of quail, so it wasn't often the decision was made not to pursue.

The lady took us to her deceased husband's land regularly with her Setters. She'd take 2 birds, which was what she used for a meal, then she'd wish us luck and head back home. On a side note, she seldom fired more than the 2 shells that were in her O/U to get her 2 birds in any given day, even when she was in her 70's:)
 
goldenboy said:
How do you know how many birds are in a covey?Do you count and then when you get to ten mount the gun and shoot number 11? I think these are some interesting guidelines, but unless you never shoot on the covey rise how would you ever know there are 8 or 11 or 10 or 12 birds in a covey? To answer the question, I would ask your buddy "Hey do you have a unwritten rule you follow about how, when, how many, etc birds to shoot in a day?" Then wow him with the knowledge you acquired here!
Click to expand...

After you've hunted quail for a while you get a feel for gauging the amount of quail in a covey. Remember quail rise as a covey with maybe a handful of stragglers. A small covey doesn't make nearly the rackit that a good covey does while rising.
 
goldenboy said:
How do you know how many birds are in a covey?Do you count and then when you get to ten mount the gun and shoot number 11? I think these are some interesting guidelines, but unless you never shoot on the covey rise how would you ever know there are 8 or 11 or 10 or 12 birds in a covey? To answer the question, I would ask your buddy "Hey do you have a unwritten rule you follow about how, when, how many, etc birds to shoot in a day?" Then wow him with the knowledge you acquired here!
Click to expand...

When 5 go forward, 5 go right, 5 go left, and 5 go behind you and you are standing there without firing a shot, you know....:)
 
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!
 
Great points Troy, thank you.
 
If you travel to Missouri to hunt quail, go ahead and shoot birds on the covey rise. If you do not think there are ten birds left after shooting, let your dog enjoy the singles without shooting.

If you come home with three or four birds, you should celebrate. I have not shot a limit of quail since 2003.

Try not to shoot hens. Probably have less pressure in north central (away from KC and St.Louis.
 
The problem with written communication is that it is often only 1 way. I hope that what I said above is understood. So much depends upon how large a population is, how big the habitat is and how well it is connected to nearby habitat, how much pressure the population is going to receive, what part of the season it is, and what the weather post hunt is going to be. Additional points might be something as simple as how late in the day it is. For sure, the more marginal the habitat is and the smaller the population is, the more impact your harvest will be. In west Texas in good years, shooting a covey down below 8 in good weather won't matter because that splinter left over will recombine with a neighboring covey promptly and survive until the next encounter. If you're in a brushy waterway in a sea of corn in western Nebraska, the story may well be quite different.
 
Good stuff guys I really appreciate the help on this subject. Looking forward to getting out on my first quail hunt. We are going just below the Iowa border. From My house just south of Mpls its only a 5hr drive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top