Mr. green jeans experience while hunting.

[Bear44]

All of the game wardens I've met have been good folks. However, there was one that could have had better timing. Me and a buddy and made a long trip to get to a spot for ducks one morning. We drove 2 and a half hours, hiked about a mile and then had to cross some very difficult marsh that damned near took us under a couple of times. The temp was is the 20s and we were both sweating like pigs by the time we got to our spot on a small patch of firm ground about 50 yards into the marsh.

About 15 minutes after legal shooting time a GW called to us from the shore and told us to unload our weapons and come to him so he could check us. WTF!? The birds were flying, but it took us over half an hour to get to the shore again. We were done by the time we got back to shore and had no intention of going back out after that. Sure enough, the birds continued to fly for a while and all of them were out of range and a lot of them were flying over our little island. The worst part was that we were there to put a check-mark on our bucket lists. The birds were mostly Black Ducks. Neither of us had ever gotten one before. I still haven't.

 

[Lionheart]

All of the game wardens I've met have been good folks. However, there was one that could have had better timing. Me and a buddy and made a long trip to get to a spot for ducks one morning. We drove 2 and a half hours, hiked about a mile and then had to cross some very difficult marsh that damned near took us under a couple of times. The temp was is the 20s and we were both sweating like pigs by the time we got to our spot on a small patch of firm ground about 50 yards into the marsh.


About 15 minutes after legal shooting time a GW called to us from the shore and told us to unload our weapons and come to him so he could check us. WTF!? The birds were flying, but it took us over half an hour to get to the shore again. We were done by the time we got back to shore and had no intention of going back out after that. Sure enough, the birds continued to fly for a while and all of them were out of range and a lot of them were flying over our little island. The worst part was that we were there to put a check-mark on our bucket lists. The birds were mostly Black Ducks. Neither of us had ever gotten one before. I still haven't.

I think a proper response would have been...”you want check us then come on over...or you can check us when we are done.”

 

[Lionheart]

The primary reason the quail are gone has nothing to do with game regulations. It was a change in farming practices and invasion of the red ant.

Agreed. But the DNR didn’t help.

 

[Comanche]

gotta love when the bird hunters are in the woods during deer season and you’re nestled in a ground blind when bird hunters come shooting through the woods blasting shotguns and bird calls with shot pellets raining down on your head as they lose momentum.

 

[GeauxLSU]

Agreed. But the DNR didn’t help.

How? Heck it's the only game animal that has a special initiative and funds to encourage PRIVATE land owners to improve habitat for quail. What did they do to harm the quail population and what could/should they do to improve it?

 

[GeauxLSU]

The primary reason the quail are gone has nothing to do with game regulations. It was a change in farming practices and invasion of the red ant.

The red ant claim has been largely dismissed. While they can have some detrimental effect, it is considered inconsequential. Consider the number one place to quail hunt today, Texas. Talk about red ants!
It's all about habitat (not saying other issues should be ignored). I don't see it getting 'fixed' as wildlife acres in general are lost by approximately 6,000 acres every day in this country.
In fairly short order, THESE, will in fact, be "the good ole days".

 

[Lionheart]

I hunted quail almost every day during quail season back in the early 70’s...and then a couple of days a week into the 80’s.
I experienced the decline in the quail population first hand. I can tell you that in the late 60’s and early 70’s quail predators were pretty rare. Raccoons were hunted and trapped and a hawk was rarely seen...no coyotes.
Then as hawks began to appear more frequently and trapping/hunting of coons declined...the fire ant mounds began to appear.
We hunted the same ground, farmed the same way, and watched the quail population begin to disappear. We learned quickly to inspect the field before turning out the dogs...if we saw fire ant mounds then we moved on. Two identical fields, one with the mounds (no birds)....without the mounds...birds.
So the fancy biologists can say what they want...we lived it.
And the places we hunt now in Texas and/or Kansas now do not have fire ant mounds.

 

[BanjoJohn]

I was re-fencing a crop farm down in Macon County to run cattle, 7 or 8 years ago.
There were rabbits roaming around throughout the day and quail whistling throughout the day. Saw several coveys of young birds that hadn't been flying long.
All the old fence rows were 10'-20' wide loaded with those "go around briars". That's why there were rabbits and qual.

If I had to bet, I'd say that the rabbit and quail population down there has gone way down since the fence rows were cleared and crops no longer being planted.

Every predator in the woods loves rabbit or quail for supper. Ferrel cats don't help either.

The daily bag limit has not changed for quail, or rabbit, but you'd be hard pressed to limit out on either nowadays.

 

[Lionheart]

The quail limit is a joke...more evidence of how the DNR has focused on deer and turkey, not quail.

 

[GeauxLSU]

I hunted quail almost every day during quail season back in the early 70’s...and then a couple of days a week into the 80’s.
I experienced the decline in the quail population first hand. I can tell you that in the late 60’s and early 70’s quail predators were pretty rare. Raccoons were hunted and trapped and a hawk was rarely seen...no coyotes.
Then as hawks began to appear more frequently and trapping/hunting of coons declined...the fire ant mounds began to appear.
We hunted the same ground, farmed the same way, and watched the quail population begin to disappear. We learned quickly to inspect the field before turning out the dogs...if we saw fire ant mounds then we moved on. Two identical fields, one with the mounds (no birds)....without the mounds...birds.
So the fancy biologists can say what they want...we lived it.
And the places we hunt now in Texas and/or Kansas now do not have fire ant mounds.

I thought you said it was DNR?
I assume you know your anecdotal evidence is just that.
I used to hunt quail WITHOUT dogs when I was a kid. Didn't need them. Simply kick them up along fence rows and walk soybean fields. We've all lived through the decline (well, those of us with a fair amount of dryness behind the ears). It is true, there are exponentially more coyotes here now but if you think they are the problem, why has the turkey population INCREASED dramatically over the same period?
The exact same nest raiders that effect quail effect turkey. Or maybe red ants don't like turkey eggs/poults? Unless you control 100,000+ contiguous acres you are not going to be able to be immune from the effects of habitat loss on quail over multiple decades.
Perhaps the fact people now dump out corn by the millions of pounds has exploded the nest raider population? (Sorry, had to get that in.)
Habitat loss, pesticides (largely rectified) are/were far and away the major causes. Not only do I not see that changing, it will only get worse.
Considering the massive damage domestic cats (feral and otherwise) due to native bird populations, your angst would be better directed at pathetic pet owners than native raptors.
On a small positive note, I had heard them only a couple times before but never seen them. I saw my first wild quail on my property last year (owned it 10 years).