[mobirdhunter]

Here in Missouri we once took 3 million quail a year. Now it's about 300K in a good year, but it should be noted that hunter numbers have taken a proportionate dive. Our Conservation Department has been working hard to both study quail and their needs and to supply those needs on as much land, both private and public, as possible.

When I was teaching a class on hunting and conservation, I required a "service learning" component for all of the students. One of our projects was to work with the Conservation Dept. to survey quail numbers both inside and outside of the Dept.'s designated quail focus areas. These focus areas were on private land where landowners worked with the Dept. to establish quail friendly farming practices. The results were very positive, and we saw (actually "heard" birds, since we were doing dawn covey call counts) significantly larger numbers of birds within the focus area, even during years of poor Spring breeding conditions (cold and rain).

The Dept. also just finished a three year study using, among other scientific means, radio telemetry to study population dynamics in differing cover types. A preliminary conclusion was that quail did better on grassland cover than the typical food plot/agricultural habitat. Part of what they learned was that there was diminished loss of birds to predators in the grassland covers since the travel patterns of predators did not correspond with nesting sites. It was an intriguing study.

If we could replace fescue with native warm season grasses in our cattle pastures, and stop bullldozing fence line cover, we could have decent quail hunting again. Limiting the use of neonicatoids on crops would also go a long way. Other grassland species would be aided by these practices. Even non-hunters like to help birds, a win-win situation if we can get the story out.

I'm guardedly positive about my upland bird hunting, but it sure would be nice if more folks cared. Many days I feel glad I'm not any younger when I think what the future might hold. However, I'm still planting trees even though I'll never sit in their shade, and I still try to help the next generation understand and appreciate our hunting heritage.