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re: Here's my plan - Bobwhite Quail Reintroduction
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:18 pm to eyepooted
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:18 pm to eyepooted
quote:
Are they letting go 1000 or even 5000 full grown birds that they feed from chicks to adults and drink water out of troughs and eat chicken scratch?
Probably more.
quote:
Yeah no wonder they don't survive.
They continue to feed with a spreader too.
I'm not saying that is the only way, but it seems to be a numbers game. The more you let go the better chance you have. Just don't get discouraged at a 99.5% non survivability rate.
In time, who knows. The best of the best, toughest, smartest few may make it. Until you hunt them that is...
2
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:46 pm to Clyde Tipton
I do appreciate your honest insight. That's better than none at all.
I know it will be an uphill battle and I don't have high expectations, shite I have very low expectations of the project.
I hope I can prove you wrong though and sit on the tailgate of a truck one evening and we can drink beer while the quail whistle.
I know it will be an uphill battle and I don't have high expectations, shite I have very low expectations of the project.
I hope I can prove you wrong though and sit on the tailgate of a truck one evening and we can drink beer while the quail whistle.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:48 pm to Clyde Tipton
quote:
They continue to feed with a spreader too.
I think this is a reason why those birds have no forage ability. I'm probably wrong though.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:51 pm to eyepooted
I turned loose two hundred in the ninties, and I can still here a whistle here and there. It works.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:52 pm to eyepooted
quote:
I hope I can prove you wrong though and sit on the tailgate of a truck one evening and we can drink beer while the quail whistle.
I'll bring the beer.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:53 pm to TigerDog83
quote:
Another problem is that formerly large undisturbed land blocks are now fractionalized.
I think you're backwards on this one. I believe there were more quail when there were more 40 acre farms instead of 2000 acre farms. They had protection and cover along the fence rows that are no longer available.
Another reason they are gone from the south now is because forest fires are too infrequent now. If I remember correctly, the entire southern US would burn on average of every 5 years before modern man got here and ended wildfires.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:58 pm to Churchill
quote:
turned loose two hundred in the ninties, and I can still here a whistle here and there. It works
So you're sayin there's a chance!
This post was edited on 1/23/14 at 2:59 pm
Posted on 1/23/14 at 2:59 pm to REB BEER
quote:
I think you're backwards on this one. I believe there were more quail when there were more 40 acre farms instead of 2000 acre farms. They had protection and cover along the fence rows that are no longer available.
this
Posted on 1/23/14 at 3:04 pm to TigerDeacon
Do prescribed burns and plant some things like Partridge Peas that can grow amongst those pines and lots of them.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 3:13 pm to REB BEER
The area I am planning for this is roughly 900 acres that is control burned every few years and is broken up into 100-150 acre areas by small streams and drainages.
Those streams and drainages are protected from logging thus, providing cover.
It is a really nice place.
Those streams and drainages are protected from logging thus, providing cover.
It is a really nice place.
This post was edited on 1/23/14 at 3:16 pm
Posted on 1/23/14 at 3:14 pm to eyepooted
Planting a few things may help, but the pioneer species that pop up after the burns usually are seed bearing plants like desmodium (beggar lice), rubus (blackberry), and such.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 3:17 pm to eyepooted
I know there are some native remnant quail where I come from down in Catahoula Parish. I'd see a few every year, and hear them even more regularly.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 3:25 pm to eyepooted
Sounds like a nice place. And you might get get several coveys on 900 acres. I can't recall the carrying capacity if bobwhites off the top of my head.
One more thing...if y'all do hunt them, don't ever shoot a covey down below 7-8 birds. They roost in a circle with their butts to one another and need that many to stay warm.
Also keep in mind that everything they eat is 18 inches to the ground or less. Keep that in mind when you're assessing your habitat.
One more thing...if y'all do hunt them, don't ever shoot a covey down below 7-8 birds. They roost in a circle with their butts to one another and need that many to stay warm.
Also keep in mind that everything they eat is 18 inches to the ground or less. Keep that in mind when you're assessing your habitat.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 3:47 pm to REB BEER
quote:
REB BEER
Thanks for the comments. I will take all of this into consideration.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 4:31 pm to eyepooted
First of all, I'm 100% behind this. Love your intensity.
Question, does the Surrogator allow you to release a few here and there? Or do all 125 of them have to get out in the same spot?
Question, does the Surrogator allow you to release a few here and there? Or do all 125 of them have to get out in the same spot?
Posted on 1/23/14 at 4:56 pm to TheGreat318
thanks.
Yes, I believe there is a divider in the surrogator so theoretically you could put the surrogator in the truck, release 10-20 birds at one location. Then drive to another 40 acres and release another set.
I think I'm going to try and release 125 birds to a 40 acres. If the mortality is 90% that means there would be 12 birds left to the acre. We'll see how it goes.
Yes, I believe there is a divider in the surrogator so theoretically you could put the surrogator in the truck, release 10-20 birds at one location. Then drive to another 40 acres and release another set.
I think I'm going to try and release 125 birds to a 40 acres. If the mortality is 90% that means there would be 12 birds left to the acre. We'll see how it goes.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 5:34 pm to eyepooted
Good luck to you, it sounds like you have the right kind of habitat. Especially since it has controlled burns every few years. I run into Bobwhite coveys sometimes in the Georgia state forest where I go hiking occasionally, and they are usually in or near areas that have been burned within 5 years. The state of Mississippi has a publication you should check out at:
Ecology and management of the Northern Bobwhite
Ecology and management of the Northern Bobwhite
Posted on 1/23/14 at 7:33 pm to Tigris
I read somewhere that some outfit in ga/SC catch wild birds(egg to chick stage)and then control then in the boxes. They are ready for release after several weeks. The quail that you buy wholesale are much different than the wild quail. I've also read not to release the tame ones on your land if you can help it. They are interbreeding with the native species. I'm with you on trying to have a wild population. We are in the process of planting Longleafs through the longleaf alliance. I hope it draws wild birds to the property but I doubt in any huntable numbers. It sounds like the folks with deep pockets and large plantations get first dibs on the captured wild birds. I hope they spread the wealth. Keep us posted on how it goes and I will do the same. My experiment is in central Alabama in the black belt region.
Posted on 1/23/14 at 8:41 pm to eyepooted
My grandpa used to raise them, and sold half of his and put the rest on his property. He told me it took about 5 years for a decent population of wild quail started forming
This was in western south Carolina, and he's dead, so I can't help you there. I think you need to burn your fields every so often to keep them
This was in western south Carolina, and he's dead, so I can't help you there. I think you need to burn your fields every so often to keep them
Posted on 1/23/14 at 9:22 pm to eyepooted
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