Hopeful news from 2012 quail reports

[poopgiggle]

From http://www.americanhunter.org/blogs/2012-quail-report/ :

Oklahoma
The summer of 2011 was hot and dry in Oklahoma, but “carryover from last year’s winter seems to be positive for Oklahoma,” says Doug Schoeling, Upland Game Biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, “We did not have any major cold snaps and there were generally favorable weather conditions which should lead to an increase in numbers, but not a boom.”
It was just 12 years ago that Oklahoma harvested over 1,000,000 bobwhites, so new acres added in western Oklahoma and the mild early season will hopefully help boost numbers back to historical highs. The state remains in drought conditions though, so hopefully August rains give the Oklahoma bobs a chance to recuperate before hunting season.
Oklahoma State University is working with radio collared quail on two WMAs in the state and reported quail broods on the ground. In addition, weather stations on both of those WMAs are monitoring smaller scale weather conditions and microclimate effects on quail.

So...good news? Maybe?

 

[dennishoddy]

From http://www.americanh...2-quail-report/ :

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So...good news? Maybe?

Great report for the quail population in general.

What happens is that the ODW enlists folks like rural bus drivers, Game Wardens, etc to drive certain routes every day for about a month. They look for the birds, and take notes.

There are two quail reports every year. This is the first.

Sometimes the second is different from the first due to weather conditions.

Its a long story that I could get into for pages of information, but here is the bottom line:

Quail are prolific breeders, and can do multiple hatches every year. In years past it was not uncommon to drive down roads and flush a couple of coveys per mile.

Now, its a few birds per multiple miles.

So, what has changed? At this point in time, nobody knows.

There have been in the past, and currently there are tests with radio collared quail to try and determine why the quail population nation wide is going into a steep decline.
I subscribe to the study, and so far, there is nothing concrete that anybody can put a finger on.

I guess, all we can hope for is a better population this year, and hunt it as we may.
Don't know about anybody else, but if I flush a covey with less than 6 birds, I'll not take a shot. Thats breeding population.