Quail birds.....

[fro]

Stupid lil bumblebees are evawher' right now

[rrconductor]

Was talking with someone else about that the other day. Seems like they had a great hatch this year.

Is that retired Col. , bird dog trainer, still living out near Gable, he always had a few coveys of wild birds. Maybe they are repopulating.

[SCswampCAT]

I had a covey that I could almost feed from my hand. **Wild.. They hung out at a corral I had some cows in around the feed elevator. They'd get 5-6 feet from me and line up and I could toss sweet feed at em and they'd fight over it like chickens. Damndest thing I've ever seen. Of course it took em about a month or so to get comfortable being that close. This was Anderson Co. I've heard a lot there the last couple years and seen a few. We have a good population of quail on our land in McCormick Co.

** I assume they were wild. No one releases birds around there that I know of.

[Jscrapmetal]

Planted pines probably will kill them soon.

[swampshooter]

I was about to post about this,until I seen this post. We have even had them in the flower beds this year. Hopefully this is a good sign of future things to come.

[camotoon60]

Been seeing alot at my place in saluda county the past 3 years.

[loud1]

Yeah they're fun to see this time of year most will be dead by the winter though. Think they avg like an 80% mortality rate

[Calibogue]

Yeah they're fun to see this time of year most will be dead by the winter though. Think they avg like an 80% mortality rate

Yes, but it depends greatly on the quality of their backyard!

[britton40]

awesome!
With all the work you are doing, you deserve a strong population.

No kidding. Never had to stop and let quail cross the road before.

[Palmetto Bug]

....

** I assume they were wild. No one releases birds around there that I know of.

I'd wager they were indeed leftover pen raised birds. There are shooting preserves on either side of my property and I see a lot of leftovers. They are dumb as rocks and seem like a completely different species as a real quail.

Pen birds often don't know how to feed themselves. I've thrown crickets in the cage with grown pen birds and the birds hit the wire trying to escape from them. Once the females start laying, they instinctively get more interested in bugs and once they get brave and taste them they learn to gobble them up. The very newest hatchlings are born knowing what to do with a cricket. It's hilarious to see a little brown cotton ball with long little legs running around a brooder trying to keep away from its nest mates. Somehow they lose that instinct as they grow up eating crumbles.

I heard some bobwhites during turkey season in as place I can't ever remember hearing them.

[Strick9]

This makes me smile, just did some talks with 3 different Quail forever guys, they certainly aren't seeing the same thing on public lands on their bird counts. I would love it, if some vector we never figured out dissapeared and they bounced back.. Happy Happy

[nitro5x6's]

I have killed birds in lots of places. Lots. The only birds I have ever killed with regret are wild quail..

Having one brought to hand by a fine bird dog has always struck me with a slight moment of sadness..

That great philosopher James Buffett once wrote a story about it. "Everything wants to kill a quail, including me"

[nitro5x6's]

http://archive.esquire.com/issue/19920905

[Palmetto Bug]

That great philosopher James Buffett once wrote a story about it. "Everything wants to kill a quail, including me"

I heard someone once say, "Quail are the potato chips of the woods...everything eats them."

[nitro5x6's]

Different bird and habitat, but the California Quail we kill on my place in WA are only kept from extinction by the state limit of 10..

We put all of our cut branches, and limbs into the ditches which creates pretty good cover and hiding places for them.. If a man wanted to , killing a 100 in a morning would be an easy task..

[coonsqualler01]

Great news, rabbit hunted a tract in Chappells the last 2 years that reminded me of the good old days. 3-5 big coveys and we only hunt a small piece of it for a few hours. Warms me soul to hear Mr Bob sound off or flush. Pray they make a comeback, stranger things have happened.

[Palmetto Bug]

Won't it be ironic if the quail come back due to the pressure the coyotes put on rodents?

The only (anecdotal) thing I've seen since the prevalence of coyotes at my place is an increase in rabbit sightings.

[Calibogue]

As a side note I don't recall when I have seen as many rabbits as I'm seeing right now either!

[Glenn]

I have killed birds in lots of places. Lots. The only birds I have ever killed with regret are wild quail..

Having one brought to hand by a fine bird dog has always struck me with a slight moment of sadness..

That great philosopher James Buffett once wrote a story about it. "Everything wants to kill a quail, including me"

Wild quail was the first critter I ever took a shot at with the intent to kill. I was 6 or 7 I think. We were "bird men" and that's what we did. Growing up around the smell of dew soaked pointers, setters, musty waxed cotton, brier scratches and the smell of gunpowder hanging in the fog is something for which I wouldn't take a million bucks. During those times you hunted coveys only. Men who hunted singles back then did so in shame and were talked about, not highly mind you, in the barber shop in the same way we discuss ISIS today.

[marsh chicken]

Wild quail was the first critter I ever took a shot at with the intent to kill. I was 6 or 7 I think. We were "bird men" and that's what we did. Growing up around the smell of dew soaked pointers, setters, musty waxed cotton, brier scratches and the smell of gunpowder hanging in the fog is something for which I wouldn't take a million bucks. During those times you hunted coveys only. Men who hunted singles back then did so in shame and were talked about, not highly mind you, in the barber shop in the same way we discuss ISIS today.

A million bucks? Really?? I mean that could pay for at least half your kids weddings and college funds.