need help on quail restocking
 

you know how the NWTF will release birds into the wild ? well , i need to find out some imfo. on getting quail released on some land i know of, it's perfect habitat, but there's hardly any quail there...predators being my only concern....i know where , i just need them donated.....please, any imfo. y'all can give me will be a blessing.....thanks in advance

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

I don't know too much on restocking birds but predators aren't too much of a problem. Start hunting them.
It's the sort of thing where a cooperative hunt is more fun than solo. Have one person call while the other shoots. One armed with a rifle, the other with a buckshot loaded shotgun.

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

Restocking quail is not worth the effort. You will be fighting predators (hawks, owls, cats, coyotes, neighbors dogs), lack of habitat, insect spray, weed spray, fertilizer. I have done field trialing for years and the best way to have quail around is to either buy them or raise them yourself and release them the day you hunt them. If you release them a few days before you hunt them, you will not find them. They will be gone.

This is the very reason I am now an elk hunter. I have farms in Kansas and there is very little quail hunting in Kansas. Some places you will have good hatches and good habitat and the huntingmay begood during some seasons. When I go out now and hunt quail I will only see a few and maybe shoot only one or two. This is where I used to shot 16 per day.

I also belong to a quail unlimited club here in Arkansas and we have tried to plant quail. But they will not last more than a few days. You have to put them down within an hour before you hunt or they will be gone.

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

huntnma, Elk2901 is correct. I have quail feeders out around
the farm, but all the critters use them. The best way is to plant
a millet mix in different areas of the property and try to bring
them in.

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

huntnma,

Maybe I can help you some. I'll have to disagree with Elk2901 and Rebel Hog, quail can be stocked, but it will take some work.

First, if you own some land, and at this very moment I can'tremember if there is a minimum you have to own, but contact the local Farm Services Agency (FSA) (USDA)in your county. There is a government program going on right now, where they will pay you a certain amount to put some of your land in the quail program. I know, because I work for these folks. Now don't get me wrong, I don't get tied up to much in the regs., I'm the one that goes out and measures the land you put in the program (I'm in Georgia) and I mark the boundaries for you.. The way it works (don't hold me to this, my regs. or outside in my truck), you can put a minimum of 30 feet out from the edge of the field to I believe l50 feet maximum perimeter around a field in this program and they will pay you to do it. The money is not much, and it's based on so much per acre, here again, contact your FSA office.

Now from what I've seen done here in Ga. You can build what they call , call back boxes, whereas you have a bobwhite in the top, which is screened (usually made with hardware cloth), you put the other birds in the bottom, they can go out to feed and the bobwhite will call them back. I have also seen just a single bobwhite in a small cage hung or nailed up on the trunk of a tree or post, place these around your property and they will keep wild birds and birds you stock coming back. It's best to buy flight birds, because they are weather conditioned.

As for instructions on building call back boxes, I believe you can contact either, your local county extension office (and get free information)or Quail Unlimited and they can provide info.

Sure you are going to have predation problems, that's natural, but you need the land and cover on the land for the birds to feed in and hide in. Not only raccoons, hawks, owls, armadillos, etc. but fire ants will kill the chicks, as well as egrets (we call them cow birds). You just have to keep restocking till they can sustain themselves.

If you can get neighboring land owners to participate, the better. It takes some effort, but it can be done.

I won't argue with Elk2901 about Kansas, but I have several friends that go to Kansas every year to quail hunt. They hunt on Walk-On land and kill piles of quail each year, this land is mostly under the CRP (which is looked after by the local FSA office and state offices) program and private land owners put their land in this program to benefit the landowner and the quail. Then the hunters benefit, it's a win win situation.

I'm not an authority on it, but I work with this program and it does work.

Hope this helps.

Dog1

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

dog1, in Fl. you have to have a permit to have call boxes
or quail in captivity in any way or form.
I have been on 40 acres over 40yrs and I have hadcall boxes
and have had been around quail over 50yrs.
Most of the quail I had on my property are gone cause of the
coyotes, bobcats and foxes they have attracted to the area.

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

I live in NE Arkansas and the guail are almost gone. I have tried to restock the birds on my farm but because of coons and wild house cats it's hard to keep them. A old cat will set in the fence rows and if they just get one a day it does not take long to get the chicks. Another reason is the improved pastures that are for beef production. Because people will not wear fur there is a lot of coons now.

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

Actually, it will work but there is a method to the madness and you will need to check on the legality of doing this in your area.
Raise or buypen raised quail and capture wild quail. Release one (1) wild quail with 5 or 6 of the pen raised when they become mature. Do not use more than 1 wild quail per covey or the wild ones will leave the pen raised.
The wild quail will show the others what to do in the wild, survival etc. You will need to find out how legal it is to capture wild quail before you do it but it can be done. Releasing pen raised only is simply feeding the predators.
Also, you will need to hammer your predators by any means necessary. Bobcats, coyotes and dont forget domestic raised cats as well, they are hell on wild birds. Good luck.

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

i live here in ohio we hammer the predaters hard we dont have the quail we once had but we do have some good coveys on public land in southern ohio the biggest problem they have around here is cover and cats i hope the dnrs new quail program takes hold

RE: need help on quail restocking
 

I'm going to ditto a whole mess of what "dog1" had to say in his post. It can work andwill if you put in the effort. It is not as simple as just releasing a bunch of birds and hoping for the best. These birds are not wild and need help to get started if you want to see them make it in the wild.

The others here are not all together wrong however. Survival rates can be very low even with the best release programs. A lot of this can be avoided if you do a few things right. I hope someof this information will be helpfull. I am not an expert, but come hunting with us sometime andI' probably make abeliever out of you too.

Mistake number one. Folks release mature, flight ready quail into the wild. At first this seems like a good idea. Strong healthy birds should have the best chance. Birds used in released bird hunts are normally 16+ weeks old. At 16 weeks a quail is mature and about as ready as it will ever be. It's also too old to change it's ways and it's eating habits are already pretty well established. Ever wonder why we don't hunt pen raised birds in the rain? Feed eaten by pen raised quail, no matter how good they are,in the pens does not supply the oils that are needed to give these birds the feathers that the wild birds produce. Without that needed oil in the skin and feathers, these little birds are like sponges when it's wet. Morning dew can even slow them down.If they can't get off the ground, they can't get away from thatfoxor bobcat or other critter. Make sense?

Here's how to do it right in my very humble opinion. First. Use young birds, 8-10 weeks old. Have quail boxed the day before in boxes of 25 and let these birds all spend the night together in the boxes. That night place zip lock baggies of ice in the freezer and lay them flat. This is going to make a flat square of ice to be used in the release. The next morning release 24, 8-10 week old birds in properly designed covey houses with feeder and waterer insidein well covered, low trafficareas. The release is handled by tearing open one corner of the box. Place the box on the ground and place flat square of ice in front of the whole to form an ice door. Place1live call back quail "male" from the same box of 25on a tree about 15ft from the covey house about 10-15ft high. I use a large coffee can nailed to the tree with a wire pirchon the front with wire mesh around it and a smaller can inside for his hiding place.

Here's how it works. And it does work!! A couple of hour after you have leftthe area the ice melts. The young quail trickle out of the box into the covey house. The first thing they see is the feeder and waterer that they are already familiar with from captivity. It has been a couple hours since you put them down. Your gone,and so is your scent!! There is nothing there to scare the quail away from this area. After a while they will begin to wander out of the house and into the area nearby. When they leave sigh the call back bird will begin his job. He will call back to these birds when he wants a reply. This will keep them nearby until they become accustomed to there new surrounding and there new home. Over a short time they will begin eating theinsectsand seeds they need to begin producing the stuff they need to survive. Go back late that evening and slowly walk in to pick up the box. TAke it easy on them and don't scare them away or rush in. They will stick around and a good number will make it.

After a couple of weeks take the call back quail ofthe tree and release him as well. Leave the food and water in the area for about a month. After this time you can take up the food, but leave the water. Most of the birds will stay within about a 300 yard radius of the covey house for as long as you want to keep it there or until they begin to pair off in the summer.

Done this way and at this age these little birds will turn wild and your survival rate should increase substantially. If it is not working it is not the method. Take a good look at what you are releasing, where, and when. Then start thinking like a quail.

All of this is again just my humble opinion. I am no expert and don't claim to be. I have been blessed.

Tim