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Missouri’s annual quail season will be closing three days from now on Jan. 15, and by most accounts, it has been a pretty mediocre season.
Enthused by summer and early fall accounts of an apparent increase in quail sightings, area hunters were hoping for a much better season than the last several when they walked miles and found very few birds. But although quail numbers may have increased in some areas, there was still a dearth of the sporty little birds in much of north Missouri, and limit bags didn’t happen very often.
Missouri’s quail population started declining more than 20 years ago, and despite concentrated efforts by the Conservation Department, organizations like Quail Forever and Quail Unlimited, and many landowners who missed hearing cheerful “Bob White” whistles on their farms, they still haven’t been able to come back to anywhere near the numbers enjoyed back in the ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s.
Two primary reasons for the decline in quail numbers, not just in Missouri but throughout almost all of the southeast region where quail hunting was once the number one outdoor recreation for thousands of hunters, have been defined as habitat changes and lack of nesting success due to cold, wet spring weather. Predators, especially those like raccoons and opossums who rob nests of quail eggs as fast as they are laid, also rightfully get their share of the blame for the lack of baby quail.
Some areas where quail restoration efforts have been intense have shown improvement in their quail numbers, but by and large quail are still in short supply in the Show-Me state. Many long time quail hunters have pretty much given up on ever seeing quail in the numbers that they used to, and have switched to duck and deer hunting, not replaced their bird dogs as they age, and pretty much don’t quail hunt any more to.
Dick Thompson of Trenton is a long-time quail hunter, and hunts mostly from Trenton north to the Iowa line. He told me that this year he went quail hunting 8 times, and only found quail once. He still loves quail hunting, but his dog is getting older and may not be replaced when he can no longer hunt. Veteran quail hunter and dog trainer Jay Shearer of Breckenridge isn’t giving up quail hunting, but after enjoying many years of great dog work and limit bags of quail, he’s also found locating coveys a lot more difficult. He estimates that quail populations in the locations he hunts around Breckenridge may be up around 15 percent, but are nowhere near what they were 30 years ago. In 20 trips this season with a pretty good young dog, he’s managed to bring home just 40 quail, quite a comedown from his “limit in an afternoon” days.
Missouri’s annual quail season will be closing three days from now on Jan. 15, and by most accounts, it has been a pretty mediocre season.
Enthused by summer and early fall accounts of an apparent increase in quail sightings, area hunters were hoping for a much better season than the last several when they walked miles and found very few birds. But although quail numbers may have increased in some areas, there was still a dearth of the sporty little birds in much of north Missouri, and limit bags didn’t happen very often.
Missouri’s quail population started declining more than 20 years ago, and despite concentrated efforts by the Conservation Department, organizations like Quail Forever and Quail Unlimited, and many landowners who missed hearing cheerful “Bob White” whistles on their farms, they still haven’t been able to come back to anywhere near the numbers enjoyed back in the ’60s, ’70s and early ’80s.
Two primary reasons for the decline in quail numbers, not just in Missouri but throughout almost all of the southeast region where quail hunting was once the number one outdoor recreation for thousands of hunters, have been defined as habitat changes and lack of nesting success due to cold, wet spring weather. Predators, especially those like raccoons and opossums who rob nests of quail eggs as fast as they are laid, also rightfully get their share of the blame for the lack of baby quail.
Some areas where quail restoration efforts have been intense have shown improvement in their quail numbers, but by and large quail are still in short supply in the Show-Me state. Many long time quail hunters have pretty much given up on ever seeing quail in the numbers that they used to, and have switched to duck and deer hunting, not replaced their bird dogs as they age, and pretty much don’t quail hunt any more to.
Dick Thompson of Trenton is a long-time quail hunter, and hunts mostly from Trenton north to the Iowa line. He told me that this year he went quail hunting 8 times, and only found quail once. He still loves quail hunting, but his dog is getting older and may not be replaced when he can no longer hunt. Veteran quail hunter and dog trainer Jay Shearer of Breckenridge isn’t giving up quail hunting, but after enjoying many years of great dog work and limit bags of quail, he’s also found locating coveys a lot more difficult. He estimates that quail populations in the locations he hunts around Breckenridge may be up around 15 percent, but are nowhere near what they were 30 years ago. In 20 trips this season with a pretty good young dog, he’s managed to bring home just 40 quail, quite a comedown from his “limit in an afternoon” days.
