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Anyone notice a huge drop off in quail the last two years. Where I hunt they are almost extinct. Just as little as three years ago I could atleast find one to three coveys a day. Now I am not finding a covey in 10 days.
I think it might be the lice;mites from Turkeys. The habitat is better than normal and we heard many quail during the summer periods.
I know they didn't move. Something has happened
What do you think?
do you live in lowland where they may get flooded?i raised and released some on the farm when i used to hunt.they did great until we got a lot of flooding.If that wasn't enough we have had a great fox and coyote reproduction and my quail are diminishing and they are hardley ever hunted anymore.
Coyote populations are on the rise East of the Mississippi River these days. And they hunt all sorts of small game and birds effectively.
Regards,
Moose1am
I think it has to do with the Turkeys.
coyotes. shoot on sight.
>coyotes. shoot on sight.
That's not really fair. I used to think that way because we have small animals, and we used to have cattle. however, I am now learning that the coyotes really aren't a threat to most of us. We have one that often comes through our yard. I may try to scare it off, just to protect my cat, but I won't kill them just to be killing them.
Think of it this way, what if someone were to decide they are far superior to us, and decide to hunt us?? I would not want myself or family to be shot just to make someone happy about killing something just to be killing something.
Tight lines and God Bless
Danny
Have to disagree Danny. Coyote populations keep growing. If you're a hunter, coyotes are basically an enemy now.
They feed on anything they can kill. They'll kill small deer/fawns. They're really hard on things like quail, turkey, and other small game.
I was turkey hunting last spring, and a coyote came charging out of the woods and attacked my decoy. That coyote took its last breath at that moment.......
Here's the thing about Coyotes!
With the demise of the Gray Wolf in the USA and in the Eastern USA especially the Coyote has taken over the wolf's position as the top predator of wild game. Well that is right behind humans. We are the real top dog.
As Coyotes have no other animals above them in the food chain other than man it's up to man to control their numbers.
Without any natural predators the coyote population continues to grow and expand it's range. They are not found throughout north American and the only areas they don't control are those where the wolf and bear are still supreme.
Now without any real population control the coyotes can consume a lot of small game and even effect the deer population. They are also a nuisance to farmers who raise sheep or cattle and sometimes horse. Any small farm animal is subject to predation if they are not protected. Even domestic dogs and cats are in danger of being attacked by a coyote as they coyotes are known to travel though residential neighborhoods.
I became aware of this last summer when I stood just outside my front door one July evening and could hear a group howl not more than 300 yards from my house. For several weeks the group would get together and start howling in the nearby woods. And while driving along one of the roads my neighbor and I both saw 3 or 4 coyotes crossing the road in front of us and then going though an open field. This field was very close to a farm that had cattle.
Do a Google search on Coyotes and see what you can learn.
I am not saying that all coyotes should be destroyed. No that would be wrong. But there needs to be some type of control of their populations if for no other reason than to protect the other small game for hunters.
Coyotes will feed on whatever game they can catch and is the most plentiful. As one species population is depleted the coyotes will switch to ohter food sources. For example when the spring arrives the deer will be dropping fawns. Coyotes are raising young at this time of the year and both parents have to eat and feed their young. Fawns are easy targets. Farm animals may be producing young at this time of the year also and can be the subject of predation as well.
Many hunters go for deer but there are not nearly as many hunters that specialized in hunting predators. Now there are some guys that specialized in hunting coyotes or other predators but not as many as hunt for deer.
So to help the deer populations stay up and to help the Turkey, quail, rabbit and other small game population keep their levels up it's necessary to control the coyote population by hunting them.
Right here in IN there are seasons for hunting Coyotes. We can't hunt them when they are raising their young as that part of the season is closed to most hunters. Now if you own property you can hunt them on your own land. They are considered a nuisance animal and that allows you to hunt them year round on your own land. I guess the farmers got this rule passed though the IDNR to help them protect their sheep.
[quote=Basswipe;284478]Have to disagree Danny. Coyote populations keep growing. If you're a hunter, coyotes are basically an enemy now.
They feed on anything they can kill. They'll kill small deer/fawns. They're really hard on things like quail, turkey, and other small game.
I was turkey hunting last spring, and a coyote came charging out of the woods and attacked my decoy. That coyote took its last breath at that moment.......[/quote]
Boys the problem with the quail population is lack of habitat. In addition, we continue to clean up every little fence row and thicket in site. You combine that with yote population and zero, absolutely ZERO, emphasis on quail from the state you are not going to have much of a huntable population. All the focus goes towards 3 things.... DEER, TURKEY and Stripers in my old stomping grounds. Years ago when the state used to support suplimental stocking and local bird hunters would get together and release birds you could atleast find some to hunt. Now, most of us have been forced to hunt pen raised birds at some put and take type hunt. They wonder why they are loosing people who are interested in hunting???? It's the small game hunter who is declining rapidly and will continue until it is either gone or something is done. IMHO, small game hunting is done.