Managing for rabbit/quail
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: NorthEast Arkansas river bottoms
Posts: 422
Managing for rabbit/quail
Hi, I from Northeast Arkansas and I have seen several rabbits and a few quail on my place. I like hunting both, but have never done much as far as conservation for these small game. Right now my place is 80% wooded with a small food plot and a lot of brush, briars and brushpiles. I know the rabbits love the brush and so do the quail, there is also a pond on my place as a water source.
What is something that I can plant on in my food plot that will attract and benfit quail and rabbits along with deer. Im thinking clover/chicory mix maybe. I planted some brassicas last fall in half of it and noticed rabbits in it early on but by winter I rarely seen them in it.
I am in the process of getting rid of a lot of the many, many coons and feral cats as I know these can wreck havoc on them along with coyotes.
And I am also doing a little prescribed burning in small areas all along my place as well as creating more brush piles.
Does anyone feed quail like a bird feed mix or should I just stick to plantings?
Any advice you give would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
What is something that I can plant on in my food plot that will attract and benfit quail and rabbits along with deer. Im thinking clover/chicory mix maybe. I planted some brassicas last fall in half of it and noticed rabbits in it early on but by winter I rarely seen them in it.
I am in the process of getting rid of a lot of the many, many coons and feral cats as I know these can wreck havoc on them along with coyotes.
And I am also doing a little prescribed burning in small areas all along my place as well as creating more brush piles.
Does anyone feed quail like a bird feed mix or should I just stick to plantings?
Any advice you give would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
#2
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Sand Springs, OK
Posts: 77
RE: Managing for rabbit/quail
I'm in the same boat that you are, except that this year will be the first that I put in a food plot. The feedback I've received is to do what you're doing. I've read several articles that indicate feeding does not at all help native quail populations. Native growth seems to be the best way to improve rabbit and quail habitat, and killing those coyotes and feral dogs and cats.
#5
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: NorthEast Arkansas river bottoms
Posts: 422
RE: Managing for rabbit/quail
Well, it seems Im on the right path. What kind of native grasses could I consider? It seems the rabbits are fairly strong but the quail Im afraid I won't have enough native grassland. Oh well, time will tell I guess.
#7
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 973
RE: Managing for rabbit/quail
Plant Switchgrass for excellent nesting cover and cover from predators. Also, rotate fallow strips of native vegeatation in 3 year cycle; one fresh disked for new growth, one in second year growth and one in third.Each Spring, you mow and disk the 3 year old strip. The new growth of Forbes (weeds) in the fresh earth and insect life in the year 2 and 3 strips will draw the quail to your property. Good luck!
#9
RE: Managing for rabbit/quail
add cover...i just recently did a research paper on constructing brush piles...pm me if you want links to the sources i used..alot of good reading. they are pretty good things to have and pretty simple to build...but theres a right way to do it...PM me if you want the links
#10
RE: Managing for rabbit/quail
after a couple PMs ill post the links...i wasnt gunna bother if there wasnt a demand..no sense in it if noone cared lol...but here they are..these top 3 are my favorite and where i got almost all my info..the rest are others ive found as well
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/Publicat...ion.cfm?ID=564
http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/brushpiles.pdf
http://www.in.nrcs.usda.gov/technica...e_Jobsheet.pdf
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/forest/pdf/www/www18.pdf
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/p...cottontail.pdf
http://birdwatching.com/tips/brushpile.html
there ya go guys......i am building a couple soon on a guys property for my project...thought it would be an easy enough project....
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/Publicat...ion.cfm?ID=564
http://fw.ky.gov/pdf/brushpiles.pdf
http://www.in.nrcs.usda.gov/technica...e_Jobsheet.pdf
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/forest/pdf/www/www18.pdf
http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/lib/p...cottontail.pdf
http://birdwatching.com/tips/brushpile.html
there ya go guys......i am building a couple soon on a guys property for my project...thought it would be an easy enough project....