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Thread: South Carolina Bobwhite Funding Partnership Event & Auction

  1. #1
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    Default South Carolina Bobwhite Funding Partnership Event & Auction

    South Carolina Bobwhite Funding Partnership Event & Auction

    If you're a quail hunter, there is some exciting stuff about to go down at McBee WMA with regards to quail management.
    The property boasts one of the highest per acre bobwhite densities on WMA lands in SC and that is about to get even better!

    October 24 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

    In 2017, Tall Timbers and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources signed a Memorandum of Agreement to form the SC Bobwhite Funding Partnership. The purpose of this partnership is to raise funds from corporate and private sources and use them for bobwhite work across the Carolinas. Please join us for an evening reception and auction. The proceeds from this event help fund the South Carolina Bobwhite Initiative, as well as Tall Timbers’ Carolina Regional Quail Project’s efforts in South Carolina.

    https://talltimbers.org/event/south-...event-auction/
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  2. #2
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    My cousin is a tech there and says it’s incredible.

    I sure hope to get to hunt it just once.
    Be proactive about improving public waterfowl habitat in South Carolina. It's not going to happen by itself, and our help is needed. We have the potential to winter thousands of waterfowl on public grounds if we fight for it.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by BOGSTER View Post
    My cousin is a tech there and says it’s incredible.

    I sure hope to get to hunt it just once.
    It's going to get even better.... It's the only SC WMA lottery quail hunt.... That says a lot!
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  4. #4
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    Thanks
    Quote Originally Posted by Chessbay View Post
    Literally translated to, "I smell like Scotch and Kodiak".
    "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees"- Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

  5. #5
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    I hate to be Debbie Downer but did they have some sort of breakthrough? How is this time around any different than the DNR, QU, etc. initiatives in the past?

    The Webb Center used to offer lottery drawing hunts but they couldn't maintain huntable populations even on their showcase WMA site.

    I think the only real solution to SC quail is a drastic change in farming and forestry fundamentals and even some sort of change in the human population. For instance, perhaps if industrial hemp proved feasible to replace loblolly pine plantations for pulp/paper production and wood producers and consumers began to favor longleaf for lumber. We no longer have the patchwork of small farms with abundant fence rows and fallow fields where quail used to thrive and that situation isn't going to reverse. Quail hunters don't make up a big or powerful enough voting block or fundraising source to get or deserve the amount of public funds it would take to bring back quail to substantial numbers. And then, even if it were possible to recreate the numbers of quail there were in the past, it would be hard to manage the number of new hunters that would be pursuing them, especially in a public hunting scenario. Back in the olden days, there simply was a lot more huntable land and relatively fewer people raising birds dogs and chasing them. SC was much more sparsely populated. Quail hunters usually had the run of many farms around their county to make for a day of bird hunting. It may be possible to build better populations in very rural areas but it will remain a pursuit of a relatively elite few with private land access and the time and money to manage for quail instead of deer and turkeys. I hope I'm wrong but I've become very jaded in my outlook for quail to ever make a real comeback in SC.

  6. #6
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    Don't think anyone is claiming to be the saving grace for a statewide rebound of bobwhites here!
    There are focus areas for the efforts moving forward that are driven by surrounding WMA lands that historically boasted bobwhite populations.
    What kind of breakthrough are you speaking of?
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  7. #7
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    The demise of quail has been discussed for years and no consensus has ever been agreed on even as to what the major causes were. Avian predators, coyotes, turkeys, fire ants, farming practices, pesticide chemicals and even nematodes have all been suspected or blamed. Re-establishing quail has been frustratingly failure-prone. I was wondering if there was some breakthrough on the cause and cure.

  8. #8
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    Thanks Cali. My buddy and I might come.
    Private Land Rubberhead # 1

  9. #9
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    I see quail all the time. Most frequently of recent in Edgefield, McCormick, Saluda, Newberry, and Laurens counties. Multiple coveys of birds on multiple different tracts. All wild
    Quote Originally Posted by Chessbay View Post
    Literally translated to, "I smell like Scotch and Kodiak".
    "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees"- Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Palmetto Bug View Post
    The demise of quail has been discussed for years and no consensus has ever been agreed on even as to what the major causes were. Avian predators, coyotes, turkeys, fire ants, farming practices, pesticide chemicals and even nematodes have all been suspected or blamed. Re-establishing quail has been frustratingly failure-prone. I was wondering if there was some breakthrough on the cause and cure.
    Yes, I guess there has been breakthroughs.
    You should consider following Tall Timber and their research that goes well beyond bobwhites.
    There are plenty of private landowners managing very healthy populations of wild quail in SC these days and much if not all of that can be attributed to TT research.
    Really, the goal is for landowners small and large alike to see the results on a public WMA and understand "I can do that too!"
    The rural areas around places like McBee, possibly establish cooperative management efforts so you see landscape results like QDM cooperatives have done elsewhere.
    Fire, fire, and fire.....Possibly the most overlooked caveat so many are missing is brood field management.
    Just food for thought....glad some of you have interest in joining in for the event.
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  11. #11
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    I may try to attend, love some wild quail hunting.
    I am looking for an excuse to buy a trained dog. We had some
    fine ones when I was growing up.
    Last edited by ecu1984; 09-04-2019 at 07:31 PM.

  12. #12
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    I plan to be there! While we aren’t doing much if anything for the quail where I’m at now other than fire. I think we could very easily and cost effectively have some birds, given the management practices of surrounding areas/plantations. I love these quail discussions because there is no one right answer. In my opinion quail are thee most site specific game species there is. And I realize I’m contradicting myself in one post. But for me/us...we are working with maybe 300ac of what I would call bird woods. However we are surrounded by 1000 ac places that are planting brood fields and supplementing feed. So in that instance I would include our 300ac into the land surrounding us. But if you were to go 5 miles in any direction and start managing for quail your day to day activities would probably be slightly different.


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    Conservation means the wise use of the earth and its resources for the lasting good of men. -Gifford Pinchot

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  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Quackhead22 View Post
    I plan to be there! While we aren’t doing much if anything for the quail where I’m at now other than fire. I think we could very easily and cost effectively have some birds, given the management practices of surrounding areas/plantations. I love these quail discussions because there is no one right answer. In my opinion quail are thee most site specific game species there is. And I realize I’m contradicting myself in one post. But for me/us...we are working with maybe 300ac of what I would call bird woods. However we are surrounded by 1000 ac places that are planting brood fields and supplementing feed. So in that instance I would include our 300ac into the land surrounding us. But if you were to go 5 miles in any direction and start managing for quail your day to day activities would probably be slightly different.


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    And that is what this effort is all about!
    \"I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself. A small bird will drop dead frozen from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.\" <br />D.H. LAWRENCE

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by smitch320 View Post
    I see quail all the time. Most frequently of recent in Edgefield, McCormick, Saluda, Newberry, and Laurens counties. Multiple coveys of birds on multiple different tracts. All wild
    This gentleman has obviously been drinking. There are no quail in these counties. I repeat no quail. Focus all your efforts looking to the lowcountry. That is all. Carry on
    Freedom nor slavery favor any particular race or people

  15. #15
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    We have hunted McBee WMA twice in the past 10 years through the draw. It takes about 5 years to get drawn. We have found birds both trips. One thing that is unique to McBee compared to most other public WMA property and a lot of private in SC is the quality of brood habitat. As mentioned above, this is vital. Most people focus on “food” and predator control when discussing quail. Quality brood habitat is largely absent. SCDNR can have more places as good and better than McBee if they choose to commit to it.

    If you do happen to get drawn to hunt McBee, take all the dog power you can get. One of the technicians down there told me their most successful group was three guys that had a trailer full of dogs they rotated every hour. This will allow you to hunt hard all day long. Two dogs will work and you should find birds.

    As TWIGG pointed out above, the Piedmont is an area of the state without wild quail. Nothing to see here, move along.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by TWIGG View Post
    This gentleman has obviously been drinking. There are no quail in these counties. I repeat no quail. Focus all your efforts looking to the lowcountry. That is all. Carry on
    Private tracts of course. I don’t venture on gubment lands
    Quote Originally Posted by Chessbay View Post
    Literally translated to, "I smell like Scotch and Kodiak".
    "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees"- Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

  17. #17
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    I have listened to three different coveys in three different parts of the state in the past month.
    Quote Originally Posted by walt4dun View Post
    Monsters... Be damned if I'd ever be taken alive by the likes of faggot musslims.
    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    I am an equal opportunity hater.

  18. #18
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    I was shocked to here them sounding off the other morning in the deer stand. Definitely made my day.


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  19. #19
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    As I sat in the dove field yesterday, I heard a few and smiled.

    I'm ready for this fall.

    I'll see if I can make it in October.

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