#2904567 - 08/12/12 01:47 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: FOX FIRE]
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timberjack86
12 Point
Registered: 06/20/11
Posts: 5611
Loc: Grundy county
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I was hunting this spring in bark camp barrens and there was quail everywhere. But I dont know how many will be left by fall. But they were whisteling and I could see them darting through the grass with my binos.
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#2905087 - 08/12/12 10:02 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: timberjack86]
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DntBrnDPig
8 Point
Registered: 04/12/05
Posts: 1592
Loc: Cleveland, TN
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I was working Bonnaroo, in Manchester Tennessee, a few years ago and had one waking me up every morning. It was music to my hears... the first day or two. But this dude would not stop. I wanted to go get my dog and take care of him.
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Any time you can get out to hunt, is a good day to hunt.
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#2905571 - 08/13/12 12:37 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: DntBrnDPig]
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tellico4x4
6 Point
Registered: 11/29/04
Posts: 631
Loc: Killen, AL
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We probably have 20-30 coveys on 3,500 acres, Just about every food plot now has a covey. For whatever reason, they have been on a steady increase at our place for the last 3 years. The population has increased enough that I even planted millet and other small seed for them this spring. I grew up bird hunting and it sure is nice to have them around again.
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#2905824 - 08/13/12 04:25 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: tellico4x4]
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catman529
spiderboy
16 Point
Registered: 11/10/10
Posts: 10898
Loc: Franklin TN
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I know a covey in my neighborhood that is on HOA property and I would love to hunt them but that's out of the question since it's almost impossible without a shotgun... I have heard the bob-white call many times this spring/summer while fishing or working on bank access to fishing holes down there by the field where the covey lives.
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A good day in the woods is best finished off with an ice cold Sun Drop.
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#2905961 - 08/13/12 06:39 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: catman529]
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Kimberman
10 Point
Registered: 10/30/05
Posts: 3135
Loc: Knoxville
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Feral cats
Hawks
Fire ants
Coyotes
Loss of land
All of that stuff hurts quail.
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So many smallmouth, so little time.
We cant count on our laws to stop irrational people, so why should we be punished for their irrational behavior.
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#2906018 - 08/13/12 07:28 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: Kimberman]
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Diehard Hunter
12 Point
Registered: 08/01/08
Posts: 5241
Loc: East Tennessee
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There is one critter that has come on like gangbusters since fur prices dropped......raccoons. Raccoon numbers have been on the rise since the 80s. As a matter of fact, it was hard to find a decent coon population prior to the 80s. Now they are everywhere.
If you combine the lost of nesting cover like broom sedge, the improved efficiency of harvest machinery, the increase in predators, and the clean fence row/field edge mentality of farmers, it is no wonder quail numbers are down. They have been punched, kicked, starved and stabbed. It is a wonder we have any left.
Edited by Diehard Hunter (08/13/12 07:30 PM)
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One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. Aldo Leopold
Don't argue with an idiot He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
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#2906124 - 08/13/12 08:27 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: Diehard Hunter]
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chimneyman
Spike
Registered: 06/30/11
Posts: 84
Loc: blount co
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It's true we have lost a lot of Habitat But where we still have good Habitat we don't have Birds One farm here in Blount Co owned by a long time Bird hunter (50 yrs plus) farmed with birds in mind leaving plenty of cover food etc has zero now where for years it had 6-8 coveys every year I guess i agree it;s probably a combination of several things i just wish i could let my Grandson walk into a covey flush behind a couple of good dogs
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#2907156 - 08/14/12 02:52 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: chimneyman]
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Wes Parrish
16 Point
Registered: 06/12/02
Posts: 16993
Loc: Knoxville-Dover-Union City, TN
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. . . . opinion is on why they no longer exist.
IMO, the single biggest reason is FESCUE.
Some would say this falls under "habitat loss", but it's also a major food loss since the fescue has displaced so many once native plants that quail had evolved to thrive both living among and feeding upon. Not only do quail have little to eat with the invasion of fescue, but it's not good cover for them either.
Now add everything else previously mentioned to FESCUE, and it all adds up to very few quail compared to the pre-fescue days.
Perhaps no other plant has done so much harm to Tennessee wildlife as fescue.
. . . But where we still have good Habitat we don't have Birds . . . .
I'd speculate the dominant grass in that otherwise good habitat is now fescue.
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#2907659 - 08/14/12 09:09 PM
Re: Quail
[Re: Wes Parrish]
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Headhunter
10 Point
Registered: 11/14/00
Posts: 3355
Loc: LaVergne, TN USA
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House cats are one of the main enemies of quail. When I was younger I shot house cats on sight in the woods.
I believe farming techniques has something to do with it.
No doubt fescue does not help. If there was a quail population now like when I was in my late teen's early twenties, I would hunt them and almost nothing else. My nickname in high school was bird dog if that tells you anything.
Edited by Headhunter (08/14/12 09:10 PM)
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#2907920 - 08/15/12 06:55 AM
Re: Quail
[Re: Headhunter]
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pressfit
8 Point
Registered: 12/28/09
Posts: 1828
Loc: Giles Co. Tn
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I used to trap a bunch back in the 80's... listen to a bird hunter and us trappers were scum of the earth.. little did they know what a service we were doing to keep their bird population up.. when the fur price fell the quail numbers did also.. I havent seen one in giles county in a long long time... I never met a varmint that didnt love a nice mess of fresh quail eggs..
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