Many land owners think that not hunting quail will help with increasing the population.
Many others think that hunting has no impact on the population, that they will live around one year anyway.

Is the correct answer some where in the middle? What are some of your theories on managing the quail population?

I don't even carry a gun anymore but that's just me. I would rather have some birds to work at the end of the season. You can shoot them down on one pasture during the season. It might not have any effect on the populations several years from now.

We take a few each year, but don't do a all out quail hunt.
Mother nature plays more of a role than me on the wild quail I have access to.
On the years when there is less cover, I can just watch the hawks circling and easily find a covey.

Depending on the population of birds on the property you are hunting it is probably fine. I wouldn't shoot the covey down to less than 9 or 10 birds. And I would not shoot any if I was moving less than a covey an hour on average. We also have a game on our lease where we only shoot cockbirds, so if you cannot tell it is a [censored] you do not shoot. This usually results in less than 1 bird a covey rise being killed. We also don't shoot singles.

This...

I've never heard of just shooting the males. That sounds impossible to me hunting the traditional way. Using a scope and a rim fire I can see.

Its not impossible, but it does take focus. It is not as hard as you might think to spot the white mask of the Bob against the grey/brown winter landscape. It is challenging, and we do not kill a lot of birds because of it. We have several people in their early 70's on our lease and their old eyes can see them so its definitely doable. Focusing that intently on the birds head will actually improve your shooting, you are more focused on the target and not as focused on the gun barrel. If you do shoot a hen its $20 into the pot, end of the year he who shoots the least hens gets it.

I'm impressed. I like the idea and the consequences for shooting a hen.

Roosters are not hard to spot on a flush. Takes some self control though.

My feeling after hunting several public land areas across 4 or 5 states, some heavily managed for quail hab itat and research. Then having dialog with the biologists that manage those areas responding to me "I would prefer the season be closed here" to "why on earth would you not shoot your limit here when that is what we manage for you to do and we have the birds for it". For the instances of both extremes, after the hunt, I agreed with each biologist for the respective areas they managed. I don't think there is a correct blanket answer and is dependent on each property related to the area bird population, habitat, management plan, recent weather history, hunting pressure, ease of access, etc.

Realize the number of birds in a covey is important for generating body heat on cold nights. It is important for predator defense. If the numbers are already low and thus more susceptible to predators, just breaking up the coveys repeatedly puts individual birds pushed away from the covey at greater risk to depredation. The birds still need to pair up when they leave the covey to nest. The male in the pair is known to help care for the nest. A covey of 5 males and 15 females may be less productive than a covey of 10 males and 10 females. I could be wrong, but from what I do know about the birds, common sense tells me taking a larger number of males from a covey during a time the quail population on an area is low enough to require restricted hunting, is not at all beneficial to the management of that areas bird population. Even if I am wrong, I feel if a property has become to the point that is is believed restricting quail hunting to not shooting hens or if limuting shooting to males only will matter enough to have an impact, then that area has probably reached a point that it should just be closed to quail hunting until conditions improve.

Interesting points sniper john. Appreciate your input.

The combination of legislation to protect hawks coupled with the advent of feeding deer increasing logarithmicly over the past 30 years is directly proportional to the decline in quail numbers.

The quail come to the deer feeders where there is no cover... And the hawks are more numerous and fatter/happier than ever.

It really is as simple as that.

What about guys that have gigantic ranches, with no feeders, who used to have tons of quail and now have none. I've hunted those type of ranches 30, 40, 50, years ago and nothing has changed the land except the quail and most reptiles are going extinct. Along with bees, wasps, and others except red ants and grasshoppers.

Last time I checked, raptors move freely about their world.

30 40 50 60..... 100 years ago, the guy that owned the ranch you hunted killed every raptor he could using every means possible.

And while the combination massive amounts of raptors and deer feeders is the perfect storm, obviously, unchecked raptors are pretty efficient at quail decimation. Count the number of raptors you see each day. Assume they eat one quail every two days. It's very simple math.

No offense rancher but I don't think it's that simple at all. Not saying hawks don't catch a quail now and then but I don't think every hawk catches a quail every other day. I have sat on a deer stand many days and watched quail come into feed. They don't lounge around the feeder all day. It's more of a move thru and feed quickly and they are gone. I have never witnessed a hawk get after a quail at one of my feeders personally although no doubt it happens. Never have I even caught this event on a game camera with thousands of pics taken.
If I had to name a single predatory enemy, I'd go with raccoons as being more of a problem along w hogs at nesting time.
No simple answer to this issue we have with quail decline but I'm more inclined to go with climatic issues, ie drought. Give me timely rain and more times than not u have quail. I'm more and more interested in the research on a viral or parasitic problem as well.
As far as taking or not taking quail.... I think it does the hunter as much good as anything. I have not shot a quail off my place in 10 yrs. there are no more quail there now than there were 10 yrs ago. 2 cents

I've heard of guys shooting hawks.
And owls.

I just had a bobwhite land in my front yard in Stephenville. I like that for a good omen.

I never take offense at disagreement and make matter of fact statements often to draw fence sitters into a discussion. We're all entitled to our opinions.

I have pics of hawks after quail and have posted them here. Harris hawks hunt in groups (google them) and gang up at my feeders. I'm covered up in bobs in Uvalde almost every sept. By the time November rolls around there are less than half the quail. And they're almost nonexistent in feb.

I'll submit this as my strongest validation for my opinion: We've had drought, parasite, disease cycles forever. The most widespread and drastic difference everywhere is the permanent change of feeding deer/quail, and protected hawk populations.

And yes "I know" to the guy who said he knows folks who still shoot hawks owls. But the vast majority of people won't risk a felony to shoot one. Me included. And that's a huge change, from my experience.

Heck, I remember the days when folks would put steel traps on top of posts. A pretty effective raptor control tool.

It's not about a hawk or raptor. Many ranches I have hunted had cover so thick a hawk wouldn't have a rats chance of catching a quail. Back then you could limit in a hour or so. Same exact ranch now- no quail. If you have a 15,000 acre ranch with no "raptor" hunting on it before the decline-they really don't effect quail now--and hunting quail has never been a factor.

Fire ants aren't cutting them any breaks around here.

I have been part of and followed the Quail Research of one large panhandle university here in Texas and they have shown that apprx. 50% of the mortality in quail is from Avarian predators. Quail are such a perfect example of Murphy's Law. If it can go wrong, it will. Someone mentioned in a previous reply that hawks will not wait around for a quail to come to a feeder. I can't prove this right or wrong, but an owl will. I probably see more owls perched in the vicinity of my feeders than anything else. This is why I went to "off the two track" broadcast feeding. This has helped tremendously. It has proven that year round feeding of quail increases their survival rate tremendously.

Great info. Many thanks!

We didn't shoot any quail two years ago and shot very sparingly last year. That being said i don't think it helps.

I spoke with Dr. Rollins about this very thing and his answer was a little on the fence. He said the mortality rate for quail is close to 80% regardless, so many more die from things other than shooting then die from being shot. But he did say if he had a chance to hunt two similar ranches and one had not been shooting birds and the other had he would choose the former.

There is no clear answer, what is clear is that they are following the southeast states and they're going extinct.

The only clear answer I have is that for every hen you harvest, she stands absolutley zero chance of ever reproducing again. If you take the seed away, the land becomes barren.

Like the hunter that killed a 21/2 year old 10 point and ask what he would score and I said the most he will ever score right before I told him the pack up and leave.