Territorial Quail

Over the years I've seen coveys of quail establish territories that they seem to hold for long periods, months, even years maybe. I'm talking about a fairly small area. Perhaps 30 or 40 acres.

How many of you have run across a covey holding an area for an extended period?

The ranch we hunted on in Oklahoma was 30,000 acres, most of the coveys we found would get marked on GPS, in slow years we would use the gps to go back to places we had found them more than once, about half the time we would find them within a hundred yards or so. We had one covey at an old pond with busted dam that were almost always there. But they were slick, we rarely caught them out far enough from the trees / creek bottom to get much shooting done but it was always fun going after them.

It's been common for me.

Having hunted the same lease for years, I've seen a lot of this. Furthermore, they often prefer the same bailout over the years--especially when it works against us.
I've seen coveys use the fence line between two leases. They were always on the other side unless the guys on the next lease had just gone by. They knew not to fly--just run under the fence.
I've seen the same covey use the same mott of retama for a number of years. They knew if they could get to the retamal they weren't going to get shot.
Another covey always crossed a creek when flushed.
And, how about the coveys that always manage to get into the pear and run. I've seen a number use the same patch for a bailout for years.


\

Fascinating.

We've all seen them move away from the side with shooters, or to the densest part of a thicket.

A very wise and worthy adversary.

Then again, no easy opponent would be worth the effort.