Pen raised birds will not survive. You will need to bring in wild birds that have been trapped elsewhere. This is NOT legal without state approval.

Okay, this will be controversial, especially on this thread, but since quail are apparently so "fragile", is there another species of bird that could be imported that would serve as good game birds?

Banty's should do well, maybe guineas. I've thought about starting a wild population of both. So far the feral cats are winning.

Here in Bell County when I was a kid there were lots of quail but there all gone But whats weird is at Ft Hood on the impact area where its all native land there are quail and horny toads still.

How many acres in the FT Hood impact area?

saw a small group in Lamar county not long ago crossing the road, was really surprised to see them. I really wish they would make a come back - same with turkey.

Wikipedia says 63,000.

You can't hunt on the impact area or even go there

Theres really to many factors to even list and that's the big reason... but loss of habitat, human expansion, and the big ranches that are left are focused more towards livestock/hay or deer which isn't exactly prime quail habitat around here like south tx.

I use to turn loose 4,000 birds on the trinity bottom every year... they were hunted but avg of 1/10 were shot I bet... and that's a big bet... there was 500 acres designated for the quail hunts and were transformed into natural quail habitat... which even included game proof fencing grasses.. burns... brush piles ponds etc... the works.. I would keep an eye out all year for birds and you would see them every now and then ... the ones that lived were the ones that stayed around the lodge or camp houses that had yard or bird feeders... rarely would I see a bird or two by the time we were letting birds out by the next year.. and these were healthy birds in a huge fly pen that got worked regularly

If one assumes that loss of habitat is the primary cause for lack of quail..... and if one creates optimal quail habitat......and if there are still no wild quail.......then one has to assume that there are no wild quail close enough to repopulate the prime habitat.

If WILD QUAIL are trapped and brought into the newly created prime habitat, and they do not subsist, then one has hypothesize that there wasn't enough area (acreage) of prime habitat created. One then has to determine the minimal area of prime habitat to sustain a wild quail population, create that amount of prime habitat, and release WILD QUAIL into that habitat. If, at that time the quail do not subsist, then I believe it must be considered that there is SOMETHING other than habitat at play. Honestly, this simple experiment should not be too difficult for TPWD with the help of quail restoration organizations.

I have NOTHING against pen raised quail, but with regards to bringing quail back to areas they once inhabited, I dont think you can even use "pen raised" and "wild" quail in the same sentence. Just my thoughts.

The rabbit #'s are not like they use to be either

What he said. Feral hogs and fire ants are #1 &#2 in my mind.

I seen a small group up on our east Texas lease in Panola few years back. Just recently seen some while walking at a work site north of Monroe, LA. Man I wish I could see more of them and wild turkey. I use to see a bunch of woodcocks in our tree lines of our pastor at home in southeast texas...now I'm not seeing much of them either.

Man I love this conversation and wish it would result in the return of both qual and turkey. With that said look what I recently caught on a trail cam at my place in Leon county.

That's another thing.........what is it about turkey nests that allow them to escape nest predation? I'm sure some get raided, but obviously not all.......because we have Turkey in east Texas. This makes me think quail nests (not all, but some) can make it.

jmho
nobody traps anymore because of the crappy fur
market. start doing away with these smaller varmints
that eat all the turkey and quail, they'll come
back in east texas. there's plenty of quality habitat
out away from all the mini ranches and subdivisions
and the loose cats.

Congratulations for your efforts and Good Luck to you. Sounds like you have the right ideas.

Winter disking for firebreak and summer forb production

Let me throw one more into the mix. Trapping used to be very common years ago, coons, possum, ring-tails and even skunks were skinned for the hides, hell my uncle in Weatherford even skinned house cats for 50 cents apiece. Fox, coyotes and bob cats were the big money makers but everything had value. I did allot of trapping back in the 70's until the market pretty much went south and targeted yotes, fox and cat's primarily. There's a whole army of smaller critters we tend to ignore that just can't wait to find a quail nest.

I remember being a 14y/o kid out hunting rabbits in Wood county and stepping in the middle of a bunch of bobwhites. My first experience with them and almost had a heart attack.

I tend to agree with others, even though I did not see numbers in my life, my dad talks of hunting quail every day after school. He believes a culmination of things predators, hogs, ants, habitat, and disease all have contributed.

You know, I live on the 100+ acres my mother was raised on in East Texas and I hunted as a kid.
I see no quail now, as I did back in the day, but the one thing I do see more of that I didn't when
I hunted is hogs, hawks, and fire ants and a lot more of them.
Everything eats quail and quail eggs.
Just too many predators I guess, and nobody killing them. (wouldn't kill the hawks anyway.)

I have worked pretty closely with the Quail-Tech research group in the NTX rolling plains and cross timbers areas. Their research indicates that the hawk is the #1 culprit to quail mortality totaling somewhere around 60%. The rest is spread mostly through the other vermin and hogs, etc.

I watched during 3 different covey rises last week when hawks would fall in behind quail in flight across an open field. It has gotten to where the hawk is showing little fear to man or gun.

Habitat, habitat. Horned lizard is gone now as well. Curse bahia grass, old world bluestem, Bermuda grass, loss of small production farms, fire ants, ect

Makes sense, I learned when I was kid with my dad, when birds got wild, he would hawk call to make them hold. I still do this when I know the birds are running, works like a charm.