I have a theory on quail decline.

I'm not an avid quail guy so this may be a common theory, I've just never seen/heard it before. My place in Uvalde has proven this theory to me yearly since I bought it in '06.

I always start the season off with a healthy population of quail. Mostly Bobs. I have MLD so we deer hunt from oct 1 thru the end of feb. The corn feeders run constantly during that time. And cover gets skinnier all thru the season around those feeders.

When the hawks migrate in, there are always one or 2 (I have actually seen 5 and 6) hanging out at each feeder. I believe this happens more or less all over the state. I know they don't each eat a quail a day, but they are there every day and do get quail pretty often.

Before laws were enacted to protect raptors most ranchers shot hawks on sight. And the older ranchers never stopped doing that even when laws were enacted. The old guy that owned my ranch before me shot every hawk that would give him a shot. And quail were so good back then that word got out and W was scheduled to come hunt until Fla screwed up the 2000 election.

Anyway, I know there are many other contributing causes to quail decline. But it's my personal belief that deer feeders become hawk, bobcat, fox, raccoon, and yote feeders much more often now than they did years ago. And since raptors are the predator we can't legally control, they are taking the lions share of quail.

I think that's probably at least part of it. Another factor could be alflo(not sure if that's the correct word) toxins associated with corn. 20 years ago there weren't corn feeders on every 50 acre patch of land like there are now.

Good thinking, but there is a decline where there are no feeders.

I see a ton more hawks than when I was a kid. And you are right, they used to be thinned on a regular basis. I wonder about raccoons. I see tons of them-and coon hunters used to keep them thinned. All contribute to a fragile birds extinction. Drought, fragmentation, chemicals.

Well,now they have machinery that gets right along the fence lines to fertilize and kill bugs.therefore, there are no bugs for the quail to eat and less cover for them to hide in.

Yep. But there are more raptors in those areas too because they aren't shot on sight nearly as often. And I believe like most and I'm sure you agree that there are several if not many contributing factors.

I'm just noting one I haven't seen discussed before. It's also not very PC to lay blame on natural predators that are protected, and used to be more tightly controlled.

I also agree with the previous poster who mentioned raccoon populations (they have shot up in areas where feeders supplement them). Coyotes and raccoons used to be controlled by a robust fur demand. Not so much anymore.

I think the most consistent quail decline contributing cause is that our co-natural predators are out predating us. They have no seasons or bag limits.

I propose a new raptor hunting season.

I think we are the big problem for the decline . The modern farming now days

I agree that quail hunters are a lot of the problem. Most are not conservation oriented and over hunt the low numbers as quickly as they get stronger. IMHO
researchers getting funds to research talk about
loss of habitat
bad deer corn
increased use of checmical
GM seeds
diseased pen raised quail
preditors
climate changes and less rain
over hunting

Whats a Quail to do

More efficient farming techniques might be a large contributing factor where there's farm land. But it doesn't explain it in the vast areas of native pasture in Texas.

Also, I can tell you from many years of experience that no matter how many quail we kill each year, the quail pops on my ranches follow the area trends. I don't believe we ever over harvest and we kill a lot of quail. But, our predator competition stays on them 24/7/365.

Article in DMN this morning cites a study that the vast majority of the quail mortality rate is raptors. So I think you are onto something.

Parasitic eye worm cited as big reason for decline also.

Keep in mind mortality rate is just one factor.

Thanks NP. I'll have to check that out.

I have some feeder pics that guy/gal would like to see I'll bet.

Is there any link or more descriptors to the article. I haven't been able to successfully google it. What I have been able to find is recent articles quoting studies from '62 all the way back to '43 on raptor predation. Talk about worthless data...

Sorry, was headed out. It was in this morning's paper. May not be in the online edition.

Here it is.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-sp...?nclick_check=1

If that one don't work, try this..
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/more-sp...-in-nesting.ece

Thanks Sniper. So, if you believe the data generated in the studies in the '40's and 60's, raptors are killing 100% more quail today than they were back then (the studies I saw from back then estimated that 25% were killed by raptors).

Two reasons IMO is because they are drawn to coverless deer feeders (that they weren't drawn to in the 40's and 60's), and the fact that raptors are not only protected, but that rancher's/landowners actually don't shoot raptors nearly as much anymore. Laws never stopped any of the old ranchers I was ever associated with.

Add to that fact, the fact that the fur industry is almost nonexistent now, that yotes and bobcats, coons and foxes are at all time high populations, and I think the answer to declining quail numbers is pretty obvious.

I would be interested to know how they determine raptor kills in all those studies.

I was at our place this past week and their were lots of hawks working all over the ranch(wish I knew the bread, they had white band around the tail feathers). A couple were giving the prairie dogs hell. Ground owls numbers were increasing too and I think I saw a Mexican eagle.

FWIW - for the last 4-5 years we get decent numbers right up to October then BAM their numbers get cut by 70%. I also think the ice storms back in December may have put the hurt on them as well.

There was a time when our Blues coveys were 50-100 birds and you could see 30 coveys in a day....not anymore.

Doesn't that timing correspond to heavy raptor migration into Texas?

Although we have a lot of red tails and harriers at Big Lake. The most damaging hawk in south Texas at feeders is the harris hawk. These guys hunt in groups and come to the feeders when they go off. I've seen as many as 6 surrounding my feeders.

http://platform.votigo.com/fbcontests/sh...ion/65351/65351

We were covered up with quail this year. I felt guilty about reporting all my hunts. Our pastures had help from Quail Coalition and Jim Willis. Here's what he's done in our area;



http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/...ail-1764954.php

CAT SPRING — The sparse beauty of the tall grasses and sand plum trees at WW Ranch makes this land near the San Bernard River appear unchanged from a century ago. But the still life can be deceptive.

When hunting buddies Jim Willis and John Webb purchased the 225-acre ranch in 2000, the overgrazed property had become "a wildlife desert," as Willis phrased it. The pasture couldn't support anything but cattle.

So, they replaced the so-called improved grasses commonly planted in the area with native varieties, such as little bluestem and switchgrass, to restore habitat for bobwhite quail and other birds. Scores of them now nest in the grasses while the ranch's cattle graze nearby.

What is happening here is a vision that many see as the coastal prairie's salvation. Biologists blame the loss of habitat, primarily from development and modern farming practices, for a 75 percent drop in Texas' quail population in the past 30 years.

I also believe that raptors take a lot of quail. On my place here there were no corn feeders 2 yrs ago on not many raptors to speak of. Now I have corn and protein feeders and have seen raptors working the quail on a regular basis. Coons also are bad due to feeders, but I have worked on the coons/bobcats/coyotes over the last 1.5 yrs now. Coons are way down in numbers so it will be interesting to see what happens with the quail. I do not hunt them right now and have good ground cover with no cattle at this time. All raptors and predators have increased since the late 60's to early 70's. Predator were trapped down in high numbers each year due to a good fur market. A kid could make some really good money trapping back then. The quail have gone down in numbers starting about the same time. The one thing that has increased tremendously in the past decade are wild hogs. I know a guy who put out 100 fake quail nests on his ranch in Atascosa County in the early 2000's. He used trail cameras to monitor them and he also checked them on a regular basis to see if they had been hit or destroyed. At the time he was doing this the early numbers showed that well over 60% of the fake nests were hit by wild hogs. On my place wild hogs were terrible when I got here. I have trapped off 47 now and there is very little sign of hogs using my place like they had been and any new fence will be net wire. I put in one mile of net wire on my south side and it helped slow them down. I am sure the neighbors are working on the hogs also. So I will be interested to see what happens in the future with the quail here with the varmint work and hog control I have been doing over the past 1.5 yrs.

I have talked with several people in our area about the amount of hawks we see. Many years ago it was a rare sight to see one, we would even stop and try to get a picture. Now they are a daily sight. I have a red-tailed that flies one of my feeders several times every morning looking for easy pickings.
Although they are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, they could use some thinning out.

These hawks are on the list, as well as many other raptors.

HAWK,
Broad-winged
Cooper’s
Crane
Ferruginous
Gray
Harris’s
Hawaiian
Red-shouldered
Red-tailed
Roadside
Rough-legged
Sharp-shinned
Short-tailed
Swainson’s
White-tailed
Zone-tailed

I sat in a deer stand one evening and counted 7 different hawks at one time patrolling a field.

Not only does that provide food. It provides cover. I agree that native grasses ungrazed will provide great habitat for food. But it also provides great cover. Deer feeders draw quail to areas with horrible cover. And leaves quail totally vulnerable to predation from raptors. If youre lucky enough to have land without deer feeders... thank your lucky stars.

Agreed. I want to see the results too.

Out here one big reason is lack of mesquite control. In all of the years when we had high populations ranchers could afford to keep the mesquite canopy at around 25%. Now it averages about 80%.
Where mesquites are thick native grasses and ragweeds don't grow hence no feed. Quail also require sunshine in t he early morning to warm up. Without it they die very easily of low body heat.

The barometer we used back in the 60,70 and 80's was Broomweed. When we had a great year on them we had a great quail year. The ranch I hunted in the 80's was in southeastern Atascosa and they always had good native grass and broomweed cover. The owner had large open areas scattered around on the ranch that he shredded once a year to suppress mesquite and it really helped the grass and weed growth. It had a lot of quail also.

pesticides, loss of natural habitat and fire ants

We have a bunch of hawks we also have corn/protein feeders and a bunch of quail.

Unfortunately we have had several hawks and owls take up residence in our deer blinds for a time. Never found remnants of birds in the blinds, but there are always countless half eaten rats mice and an occasional snake.

From what I have read I would believe that most of the decline is from fire ants and habitat loss. Our biologist told us if we wanted to keep our quail don't let the place grow up as thick as it will if you just let it go, that it would chase them off.

[quote=redchevy]We have a bunch of hawks we also have corn/protein feeders and a bunch of quail.

Unfortunately we have had several hawks and owls take up residence in our deer blinds for a time. Never found remnants of birds in the blinds, but there are always countless half eaten rats mice and an occasional snake.

From what I have read I would believe that most of the decline is from fire ants and habitat loss. Our biologist told us if we wanted to keep our quail don't let the place grow up as thick as it will if you just let it go, that it would chase them off. [/quote

I've never seen hawks nest in blinds. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I've never seen it. Owls are always the blind rooster/nesters where I'm from. Since they hunt at night they don't eat quail so you wouldn't see that in their droppings.

I don't think there's been many recent studies on raptor predation other than the one that the girl did that is linked on this thread. And if her data and the previous study's data is correct, they imply that raptors in fact are a large contributing cause to the decline in that area.

Another thing I've noticed in the Big Lake area was that in the best quail years, we always had a TON of rabbits and other rodents. If those animals are easily available, then it stands to reason that they would be a higher % of raptor diets.

We had a good year this year and we had more rabbits than the past several years. 2004,2005,2006 we were covered up in rabbits and quail.

Loss of natural habitat is what did it here... our river bottom use to be covered in quail and then came more and more hay fields along with a lot of big property's starting to sell pieces off one at a time... ranches that use to be owned by 1 family houses dozens now

crazy how much continuous habitat they need to stay at a healthy turnover rate.. and yalls country is about all that's left and hope its stays that way... imo quail have seen their time in 85-90% of TX and its not long until wild flocks are rare... really sucks to see

I only recall 1 hawk in the blind, the rest have been owls.

We do have more hawks than I can shake a stick at though. I do find piles of quail feathers in trails while walking around, I would assume its bobcats or yotes, wouldn't think a hawk would sit down in a very close quarters brushy trail to eat, most cary them ontop of our blinds or metal building to eat.

I still think fire ants is the major thing. We don't have any in our area.

Habitat and natural food sources are the key to good quail populations. Predators have always been around to keep populations in check and improve the breeding stock. The problem is that we have created environments through our "modern" methods that favor predators and not the indigenous wildlife. Predators are increasing at a rate that the local wildlife cannot sustain themselves. But, in most cases, when food sources for predators are depleted they tend to move on or regulate their own reproduction. One source of predation not mentioned here are fire ants. I think you will find that in an area where fire ants abound the ground dwelling species will suffer due to fire ant attacks on the young. I even know of at least one case where fire ants killed and consumed a new born calf in just a matter of hours. They are land dwelling piranhas.

I have fire ants here and I have quail. I sat in a deer blind in Atascosa County in the 80's and watched Blue Darter/Coopers Hawk work quail and catch them weekend after weekend when I hunted there. I watched that hawk get on the ground in thick white brush to flush up a covey that had retreated to safety off the road only to then fly after them and catch one in mid-flight. I sat in a blind in La Salle county on a tank dam one day watching doves come to water during deer season only to watch a Coopers Hawk single out one dove out of 100's and fly in and catch it. I happened so quick if I had not been paying attention I would have missed and only heard the doves flush. I watched it pluck feathers off then eat the breast out of the dove. I walked over at dark to check it out.
I think it is not one single thing that is leading to the demise of quail but a combination lot of things all happening now that have all contributed to quail population problems. Look at what has changed with farming, ranching and wildlife over the last 40 yrs and you will see the trends that have fallen in place.

I have seen the hawks catch a few dove in flight. Cant say I have ever seen one catch a quail, but don't doubt it.

The quail population we see fluctuates with rain in years when we have good rain they are almost a nuisances and dry years you don't see as many. Ill agree with the its not one thing all on its own.

in the late 70's and early 80s we had plenty of quail here and hawks but when the fireants moved in after the grass farms were getting cranked up the quail numbers dropped so much so that i havent seen a quail around here in over 5 years and when i did it was only a couple of them...the hawks may be a problem in yalls neck of the woods and they may be here to an extent but the fire ants and lack of natural environment around here in my eyes is what led to this....we used to have them everywhere

Are you talking about Blues or Bobwhites? I am talking about Bobwhites. Ranch I was on in La Salle had tons of Blues with rain or without. We had fireants and lots of protein feeders(25). What I did do was trap coyotes, bobcats and coons. We had raptors and hawks but not as bad as some places. That ranch did not have good grass cover from years of over grazing. We rested it for 3 yrs I was there and the Bobwhite made a really good comeback along the grassy drainage's. Still they were only around 25% of the quail population on the 5100 acres.

We only have bobs. We have exceptional grass cover for the most part because there has not been stock on the place since 2007.

We shoot coyotes and bobcats when we see them, but that amounts to very little. We have been unsuccessful at trapping any of them (I personally feel like we have a high number of yotes). Its been a somewhat dry year for us, guess I'd call it average. I chased up a covey of more than 20 the last time I was down and 2 coveys over 5 or 6 just walking 1/2 a mile to one of the blinds.

If TPWD really wanted a good managed lands place id think they would do great by raising them on the barrier islands like of Port O and such... perfect grasslands for them and very little predators.. they are just so easy to kill off out there is why they would have to do drawn hunts or somthing

I keep this picture in my library for when people blame the decline on fire ants. I don't like those suckers either, but we have fire ants and quail. Look at the size of the fire ant bed in the lower right corner;

Looks like Dale Rollins may agree with you:

Operation Transfusion Update

Operation Transfusion, a research project investigating the translocation of wild-trapped bobwhites into recently depopulated areas, has entered its second year. During March 2013, 202 wild bobwhites were translocated to a ranch located on the Stephens and Shackelford county line. Of these, 95 females were radio-collared and monitored year-round. As of February 14th 2014, 71% of the radio-collared females have died, 13% are alive, 8% are missing and 8% of the collars failed. About half of the mortalities have been identified as raptor kills and 33.0% have been attributed to mammals. This week will kick off the trapping season for March 2014. We will trap wild bobwhites from 11 ranches across the Rolling Plains in an effort to move 200 bobwhites this March. We are hopeful that the 2014 nesting season will be as productive as 2013. During 2013, 72 nests were initiated with a success rate of 41.7%. The nesting rate (nests/females alive as of May 1st) was 1.2 and the average clutch size was 12 eggs during 2013. We will continue to investigate survival, reproduction, site fidelity and local relative abundance of bobwhites as the project progresses.

I'm sure you have fireants and quail but do you have the rain that supports a crazy fireant population. I had a huge bobwhite population on my ranch all through the 70's and 80's. Nothing changed in the way of farming practices from then till now. In 1990 fireants invaded my ranch and within two years they were all dead. No quail from 1992 to the present. Same thing with meadow larks. Except for cold days it is impossible to sit on the ground for any length of time without getting nailed by fireants. Eastern Bosque County.

Some of the dryer years are the best in the coastal bend area. We want weeds, not grass.

I personally feel its a combo of ariel and ground predators.

Two big things banning of DDT and loss or softening of fur market/goverement trapping.

Banning of DDT and protection has brought back the ariel predators to all time highs. The soft fur market and less trapping has brought back high numbers of ground predators (skunks, yotes, coons, foxs, bob cats, feral cats, etc)

People fire ants are a very very small % of kills off quail... pretty much everything eats them or the eggs... and I mean everything... iv found armadillos digging up nest... and yeah until the bird of prey laws are backed off of which they wont be...its gona be only a matter of time for the quail

Seems like you are danged if you keep the feeders going and danged if you don't keep the feeders going. We notice fewer birds when we shut down the feeders than we do when we keep the feeders going.

Well there you go...little rain keeps fireants down deep and keeps them from working the ground thus, more quail. Common sense really.

I think the raptor issue ought to be addressed. They are totally protected and their numbers have come back to acceptable levels. I don't know what preys on muskrat but I bet their big drop in numbers might be predator related, just like quail.
It is an issue. First there is a species like the wolf that is a problem and gets hunted to near extinction. Then the decision is made to save it. The creature then rebounds back to normal levels but then goes back to being the problem that it was in the first place. Usually the wildlife people aren't to blame, they set target populations, it's the politicians, once an animal becomes protected it is a one way street.

I hunt near the goose hunting Capitol of the world. Hawks can make a good living on crippled geese in my area.

Great thread here. Everyone brings up good points and it's promising to see y'all come together and share first hand knowledge of what you're seeing at your places. The next question then becomes "what can we do about it."

We had good quail numbers this year at our place. Not quite the best, but very good. A couple of things we do to help them is this. Whenever we are out there, all varmints are shot on site unless it is going to screw up your hunt. We keep traps out often so we are constantly catching and destroying these animals. The other thing we do is take sacks of milo and go around the ranch where we have located coveys and pour some out under brushy areas where quail will have good cover and will be able to eat safely away from predators. We also usually mark those bushes with flagging tape so that we can consistently pour milo in the same area for them. There has been a lot of talk on here seeing hawks near feeders. It sounds like the quail are coming to the feeders to eat on the corn, but the hawks have figured that out. If you put the milo in the safe zones, it gives the quail an option besides going to the feeder.

Those two things have certainly helped us maintain our population.

Bill I met a fella in Cat Springs once that was big into quail habitat.. his place was very nice and he said they are doing pretty well... I had to take him a gun that the business I worked for raffled off. That country is really nice.

I belonged to Quail Unlimited for awhile but dropped out. Good outfit, they are mostly geared to improving quail habitat. If you don't do it right you can spend a lot of money for nothing. They don't have fire ants up north but their quail numbers are down so I think maybe fire ants might be part of the trouble but not the whole story. I know it sounds crazy to drag muskrats into this issue but they are multiple like mad and for their numbers to drop- must be some reason. Fur prices are back up but for years the fur was so cheap no one trapped. Most furbearers eat eggs, small birds, etc.

Here is something I found on habitat, it was written in 2005, but still relevant.

http://www.ckwri.tamuk.edu/fileadmin/user_upload/docs/misc_PDF/Quail/WhereHaveAlltheQuailGone.pdf

They studied and research this problem from every angle, they concluded that the 'Right' habitat is the most important rise/decline in quail populations.

I think QU has gone under, and rightly so. They were mostly a south east outfit and presided over the biggest outline decline in history. Next cam QF and they didn't do much for Texas quail. We now have quail coalition in my area. They are showing some good results but its all on private land. They raise a lot of money but it goes right back to private land. That's a big problem in Texas.

Goes along with my "good rabbit years are good quail years" theory. The more other prey animals there are, the less pressure on quail.

Couldn't agree more. Couple that with the fact that all the old ranchers who shot raptors on sight (regardless of laws protecting them) are gone, and you have a huge raptor problem.

That is an awesome idea with the milo!

To those with the thought that land fragmentation is an issue, i don't know how to explain the great quail populations in Alabama when my dad was a kid 75 years ago. Small farms was all it was then and now.

This is what I'm talking about with zero cover near the feeders. I doubt that the sandhills in this pic were in any real danger, and I know the harris hawk was just trying to shoo them away so the quail would come in... but it didn't stop them from showing the hawk some bluster.



The doves and blues in this pic have replaced the bobs that were visiting this feeder earlier this year. The blues are faster than bobs. And obviously survive the raptor onslaught in higher percentages.

Excellent post, I've got an old friend (Don Gerstner 86) that is still breaking dogs and hunting daily. He believe it or not hunts on horseback and carries a sack of corn with him. Each find he drops corn at the nearest cover where they can feed safely. He's done it for years and like you feels it really helps. When it snow he has a route he drives and dumps feed based on the covey finds that season. Hope the old boy lives forever.

That first pic is pretty cool rancher!

I was at a Dale Rollins "Beyond Dogma" seminar in the mid 90's that focused on deer and quail management and supplementing both. Rollins reported that milo was not the best quail feed since in their research (someone actually watched and counted this I am told) that quail needed to eat over 140 grains on average per bird of milo to fill their daily needs. In his opinion that was keeping the bird way to long in the view of raptors or hawks. He suggested things like soybeans or larger higher protein supplements to feed quail so they could eat less and get into cover quicker to keep pressure from predators down.

I can see the rational behind that. However, we are putting the milo in the area of cover. So whether they eat 40 grains or 140 grains, they are able to eat in the cover instead of out in the open. That does make me want to experiment with some different types of grain (larger in size) and see if that makes any noticeable difference. I'll report back on my findings in about 5 years.

Dale Rollins was another one who presided over the biggest quail decline in the history of his area. I saw a graph of a similar study but they used calories. Western ragweed came out ahead of all the native seeds. Corn was on top of agriculture grains. You might still be able to find the chart somewhere on Google.

all the farmland creates wide open hunting for the birds of prey and since they have been protected populations have more the rectified themselves.

Plus crops mature sooner and are plowed under sooner than they were back then. Fencelines cleared or non-existent today also. Less cover and less food source.

Actually modern farming is less distrubing then old school farming. We are much more consequence of soil erosion, so more hedges/rows are left, more crop residue via no-till drilling. Also up to last year CRP program had expanded 10x in size. To enter in the CRP program you have to have previous crop output history

Even with quicker maturing plants I don't see that as that big of an impact. Quail will use crop edges but sledom venture to the middle, espeically with in row crop plants. To open up top

I very well remember when our gardens and fields would be full of quail chicks, pretty much all summer. But as it became common practice to use poison to get rid of pest insects the quail did not last long. No insects equal no quail. You can feed all the grain you want but it don't help the chicks like it would if we could figure out a way to insure they had bugs to eat when they are hatched. Pesticides put a hurting on the bees here too.

The pesticide argument doesn't fare well when you realize that farmed land is a very tiny % of the areas where quail decline is seen.

Some things to consider are that we started out as a people moving westward into the frontier wilderness. I think a lot of legislation is geared toward re-establishing the wilderness but when you think about it, if this "re-established wilderness" comes about through man's efforts then it is a man made thing and not really un-touched wilderness at all. The reason I'm saying this is because right now raptors are an environmentalist's creature of concern. I personally think they are over protected. It should not be an all or nothing solution. Sometimes I go outside my place and there are 5 hawks on the power lines. I may be wrong but raptor populations may be higher than their natural situation would entail. I used to spend weeks in the wilds and seldom saw a hawk or raptor, maybe owls more than anything else. Maybe trim the population in certain areas and see if quail numbers improve.
Not that raptor populations are the entire issue. The old time farms with fringe areas of weeds and covers and drainage ditches, etc. The farmers probably didn't realize it but they may have created a quail paradise and if you were a kid (me) that grew up in that world you just assumed that such a situation was a normal thing and that the quail numbers were normal.
The reason I quit Quail Unlimited was because they seemed locked into private land. Ducks unlimited, trout unlimited, etc. usually do both- they spend at least a significant amount of time on public land improvement in conjunction with wildlife departments.

That would be correct for most of Texas that is still considered bird country these days and I probably should not have mentioned chemicals that considered. Guess I am still wondering why they disappeared from the rest of Texas and practically the entire southern USA in far less than half a century.
In any case, those of you who still have some quail, it might serve you well to consider that a chemical which breaks the natural chain of events should be used with extreme caution.

It's a perfect storm. Quail are fragile creatures. There have always been predators. There has always been fragmentation of land. Fire ants, and chemicals probably get their share. Quail can bounce back from short term drought. Long term drought is a different story. Areas that have never seen a plow are being effected.
When it's all said and done, it comes down to water. There has to be enough moisture in the air for chicks to peck their way out of eggs. Climate change, that includes long time drought, is taking it's toll. I think part of the problem is microscopic, also.
Then there is the survival of the fittest thing.

Agreed.

There have always been predators yes. But when man hadn't killed the top tier land predators off (wolves, mountain lions) there were a lot fewer raccoons, skunks, foxes etc.

And that leads back to raptors too. We used to keep them in check. But now their numbers are through the roof and they follow my polarises and nail quail on the rise. They live by my deer feeders.

I'll go so far as to bet that we actually had an un-naturally high number of quail when all our competing predators were kept in check. I personally like it that way.

Boys, you better take a close look around-the reptile population is on the brink. No toads, no lizards, no mountain boomers, no water snakes in the willows under a tank dam, no bees, and no quail.

When you see Hawks eating what the buzzards have been eating the last two days you know there are to many Hawks. I Have seen that in East Texas a lot lately.

I'm still eat up with reptiles. All the way from rattlebugs to indigos to horned toads.

You're one if the lucky ones-by most accounts, by people in the know, there are great concerns on all if those.

Certainly not a theory but I remember the 2005 season when we moved 20 coveys a day pretty often around Matador, I saw more jack rabbits in the bar ditches and moved about as many as we did coveys during the hunts. I haven't seen nearly that many since and really very few..

We don't even discuss the Atwater prairie chicken anymore. They're all but gone. I don't extinction will happen to the bobwhite quail because they are so easy to raise in pens.

Farmland was a poor word choice. Not pointing fingers at farmers. Just land in general that used to be wild is now being mowed, plowed, etc. Trying to say that the land is better off one way or the is not my argument. What I was getting at is just think about the number of farms, ranches, homesteads now they are smaller and more divided.True farming operations might use less land but think about how many more people own small plots and how many more tractors there are today than 50 years ago. Im sure the numbers would be staggering. People get to a place and want to clean it up, have a big old yard, clear out the brush whichever and it has drastically changed the landscape of today's Texas because every Tom, Dick, and Harry has a tractor, mower, or clears the land and it compounds over time. Ive cleared contiguous pastures that my grandfather cleared. It took him years mostly by hand. My dad continued his work probably doubled his efforts in less time with a small tractor and I will probably triple my dads efforts in my lifetime. it If there was 5 people per square mile in a given county who lived on some land 50 years ago and now its up to 30 think about how much that changes the landscape especially with modern equipment. Chainsaws, brush-hogs, deforesters, not to mention what the oil companies wipe out when they come through. Then you start adding the numbers of livestock living on those cleared pastures and their effect on habitat. So many factors but Im ready for a change in legality on shooting hawks for quail management at least.

I'll agree with you 100% on overgrazing (ruins habitat AND exposes surviving quail to raptors), and monoculture hay/farm fields. But, overall "deforestation" should help quail, especially how they are doing it in east Texas now. Just mowing everything down. For several years after that happens it becomes awesome quail habitat. And the timber companies ain't selling or subdividing.

Subdividing didn't hurt the southeastern states where my dad grew up 80 years ago. Alabama and Georgia were covered up in quail and it was virtually all small farms. Lots of people farming to survive in the early 1900's should have been terrible for quail if that was the problem.

And subdivision doesn't explain the decline in the areas that are not subdivided below 1,000 acres (which is most of Texas).

I see less farm land utilization than I did 30 years ago, also we are at historically low cattle numbers.

I use to be able to find 10-15 coveys a day on family land in north eastern oklahoma, now maybe two coverys. That lands been in my family in some form for over 70 years, and operations haven't changed.

Just think there is more too it. The one thing that has changed is Aerial and ground predator numbers.

Similar thing on my ranch in western oklahoma, blues are almost gone. Same cattle numbers/per rain fall and rotational grazing pattern for the last 60 years,

Overgrazing is one thing but timely flashed grazed pastures is almost a must with quail habitat... cattle can be a great tool for any wildlife management if seasonal grazing is done right

A Mother quail can make a living for her clutch by taking them up and down a cow path picking off insects, and then dodging into the deep grass when threatened.

But kind of the point I was making up until 3 years ago we didn't ever have any over grazing on either ranch. Just cant up there or your top soil blows away, nor can you keep any soil moisture.

Toss in CRP expansion aand it ups habitat.

Now last three years is different due to severe drought and new CRP regulation on must graze or hay one year out of the program length

Right lol I was agreeing with you

Ya, I over read it..lol!!!

I just wish we could pin point it, define it and fix it