We inadvertantly bumped three coveys on the first day of pheasant season in Kansas last month, but we were hunting in the western zone. Why does that matter? 'Cause you can't hunt quail in the western portion of the state until the second weekend of upland bird season. And let me tell you, it's hard to supress the instinct to pull the trigger when you step into a covey of Bobs in November. But you're right. Compared to 15-20 years ago, bobwhite numbers seem way down.

Kansas Parks and Wildlife says the quail numbers should be "slightly improved" over last year in my old hunting ground (southcentral Kansas) due to wet weather limiting the extend of pasture burning (and cover killing) during the spring. I've talked to a few friends back home who say the quail numbers are about what they were last year (in other words, none of them have taken their daily limit yet).

Since moving down here to Texas a few years ago, most of my bird hunting is done amid mesquite trees and switchgrass. Texas Parks and Wildlife released their quail forecast earlier this fall and are pretty optimistic about the bird numbers, especially in the South Texas Plains:

"It is the exception, not the rule, to have cool-wet spring and summer weather conditions in this semi-arid region of the state. It is extremely rare to have two consecutive years of such weather. But that is exactly what has happened in south Texas. In what can only be described as the proper alignment of the stars, this upcoming bobwhite season will likely be the best seen in over a decade."

In the Rolling Plains region of the state where I primarily hunt (which didn't get as much rain as the guys down south), TPWD says I should expect an "above average" season. I haven't hunted south Texas in several years (due to distance and cost), but I'm giving serious consideration to changing that this year.