Tough times for quail hunters, but some birds available PDF Print E-mail

Instead of thick forests, northern bobwhite quail prefer tall grass prairies, open pine savannahs and brushy rangelands where they eat seeds, small fruits, insects and green plants. Quail can’t survive in monoculture croplands, but thrive at the brushy edges of fields where they can find plenty of weeds, grass clumps, briers or woody thickets.

 
During the past 40 years, the wild quail population in the southeastern United States fell about four percent per year. This amounted to about a 70-percent drop in population since the mid-1960s. In many places, hunters can no longer find wild quail so they release pen-raised birds to supplement their hunting. However, pen-raised birds typically don’t survive long enough to reproduce.
 
“Quail populations have been declining in much of North American since the early 1900s due to a variety of reasons,” said Wes Burger, a quail expert and professor of wildlife ecology in the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at Mississippi State University. “From the mid-1900s through today, agricultural lands that once supported quail no longer do because of the intensification of agricultural practices.”
 
During the 20th century, agricultural practices changed throughout the nation. Small family farms separated by hedgerows or other transitional areas disappeared as giant agricultural corporations bought up small plots and joined them together. To maximize profits, they plowed and planted every inch of available ground, leaving little cover for quail.
 
Florida quail suffered through the same agricultural transition, but in the Sunshine State, more wild property turns into shopping malls, condos and housing developments each year to accommodate the booming human population. Sportsmen without their own property struggle to find a good place to let the dogs out. Still, about 48,000 bird hunters bag about 200,000 birds each year, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 
 
“Florida has traditionally been a good state for quail hunting, but the population has been declining slightly,” said Charles L. McKelvy, the Florida small game program coordinator. “It’s still a good state to hunt quail in — relative to other southern states. However, finding properties with moderate quail densities that are open to the public is becoming increasingly difficult. The population continues to decline because of habitat loss due to development, lack of or infrequent use of prescribed fire, conversion of native range to improved pasture and increasing intensity of management on many agricultural, grazing, sod farming or forestry properties.”
 
The ongoing drought might actually help quail Florida populations. Drought makes ground more open and seeds easier to find. Dry conditions also lead to forest fires. Fire and the regeneration of plants create excellent habitat. Quail thrive in areas periodically ravaged and renewed by forest fires.
 
“In the southeastern coastal plain, quail numbers are significantly lower than they were historically because we’ve largely eliminated fire from the landscape,” Berger said. “Bobwhite numbers are inextricably tied to early sucessional plants, those plant communities that occur due to some type of disturbance. The irony is that quail are dependent upon bare earth right at ground level. Grasses that form dense cover on the ground are bad for quail. Native grasses that are scattered and clumpy create some cover, but they are relatively open at ground level to allow the birds to run around. That’s ideal cover.”
 
With few people trapping furbearers, increasing numbers of predators also bite into quail populations. Top quail predators include foxes, bobcats and raptors. Fire ants also take a toll across the South. Skunks and raccoons destroy nests and eat eggs. Predators and other factors destroy between 55 to 70 percent of all bobwhite nests. In about 25 percent of those cases, the adult bird also dies. Only about 50 percent of the chicks survive their first three weeks. Sometimes a female must lay three egg clutches just to ensure that some survive. 
 
Ironically, one much maligned predator truly helps quail populations. Coyotes actually eat few quail. They do eat many feral cats, one of the most vicious predators of small birds. Coyotes also chase foxes away from quail habitat.
 
“Quail are a very prolific species because they are so vulnerable to predators,” Burger said. “As a species, they are adapted to predation. For the most part, coyotes are not very efficient predators of quail. Foxes are very efficient predators of quail.”
 
With Florida quail facing so many difficulties, the odds for a banner season in 2008-09 look slim. However, the state began some projects to increase or enhance wild quail habitat. In December 2007, the commission approved a new strategic plan to restore bobwhite populations. The plan includes establishing partnerships with landowners, other state and federal agencies and private groups to find, restore and protect suitable quail habitat across the state.
 
“Cooperative partnerships with Department of Environmental Protection and Division of Forestry have been formalized in conjunction with Tall Timbers Research Station through a project called the Uplands Ecosystem Restoration Project,” McKelvy explained. “The primary emphasis of this project is to step up the active land management including roller chopping, timber harvest and prescribed burning on lands the state already owns. At present, 72,000 acres across the state are involved in this project.”
 
Where quail find excellent habitat, they reproduce in good numbers, despite predators or other factors. To enhance quail habitat, many landowners thin forests and plant shrubs. Sometimes, people plant native foods for quail, such as grains or legumes like partridge peas. Controlled burning clears away thick or dead vegetation and allows successional plants to grow. With proper management, quail numbers quickly rebound in good habitat.
 
“Today, it takes intensive management to make and preserve quail habitat,” Burger said. “Quail respond well to proper management. When people create the right environment on a sufficiently large scale, quail quickly find it and colonize it. Places intensively managed probably have more quail now than they ever did.”
Once they find good habitat, quail don’t move very far from where they hatched. In high quality habitat, they may only use six to seven acres in their lifetime. In poor habitat, they may use 100 to 300 acres. Sportsmen who jump quail one day should find them fairly close to that spot throughout the season.
 
The Florida quail season runs from Nov. 8, 2008, through March 1, 2009, although public hunting areas usually offer different seasons. The 79,013-acre Fred C. Babcock-Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area about five miles from Punta Gorda offers some of the best quail habitat in the state. Hunters looking for other public places to walk their dogs might also consider the Triple N Ranch WMA, Bull Creek WMA, Three Lakes WMA and the Avon Park Air Force Range.
 
Established in 1941, Babcock-Webb WMA remains one of the last large undeveloped tracts of pine flatwoods in southwest Florida. Situated in the middle of developments, citrus groves and pastureland, the management area sits close to the southern edge of the northern bobwhite quail range. In the 1970s, the estimated quail population hit about 34,000 birds in the WMA, but declined in recent years. Since the 1990s, the annual harvest averaged about 2,000 birds.
 
“I would rate the Babcock-Webb WMA as the best in the state,” McKelvy said. “Although densities are down like most of the Southeast, management on this area does target bobwhites and habitat conditions are well suited for working a brace of well-trained dogs. The habitat is comprised of dry prairie and south Florida flatwoods, including scattered south Florida slash pine, saw palmetto and various grasses, forbs and legumes. Depressional wetlands and marsh are also scattered across most of these landscapes.”
The state offers quota permits for hunts on four zones of Babcock-Webb WMA. Sportsmen may also obtain daily “soft quota” permits to help even out hunting pressure. For more information on hunting Babcock-Webb WMA, see myfwc.com/hunting/wma/2008-09/Southwest/Webb.pdf.
 
Acquired by the state in the 1990s, the Triple N Ranch WMA contains 15,391 acres near Holopaw in Osceola County. The habitat consists mainly of pine and palmetto flatwoods with scattered wet and dry prairies. It also contains some cypress and oak hammocks and scrub. Quail season generally runs from late November through mid-January.
 
Also near Holopaw, Bull Creek WMA contains 23,646 acres in Osceola County that allows quail hunting in later winter. East of Lake Kissimmee, Three Lakes WMA offers another 52,976 acres of public hunting in Osceola County. In both, the habitat mostly consists of longleaf or slash pines and palmetto flatwoods with cypress and mixed hardwoods scattered through wetter areas. Adjacent to Three Lakes WMA, the 8,859-acre Prairie Lakes Unit offers quail hunting through much of December.
 
The largest WMA in southwest Florida, Avon Park Air Force Range covers about 106,000 acres of Polk and Highlands Counties. The military allows the public to use 82,000 acres for hunting. The habitat mostly consists of mixed pine, prairies, marshes, hammocks and scrub. Range authorities burn about 20,000 to 40,000 acres per year on two- or three-year cycles to enhance wildlife habitat. For more information, call 863-452-4119 or visit www.avonparkafr.com.