Matador - No Dog

I am planning a quail hunting trip to Matador. I don't have a dog. I am not a avid quail hunter, and have never been to this WMA. The main purpose of the trip is to see the area, and do some hiking. A quail shot would be a bonus. That being said, any tips on where to hunt?

as far from the road as you can get

Good luck. Let us know what you saw.

Took a trip there this past week. It had been hunted very, very hard. We did not see near the numbers we found last year with dogs. That being said, there are birds, try and walk far away from any roads.

Carry some water

Don't forget the GPS. Once you get in deep it all starts to look the same.

I feel really bad for the birds out there this year. Overshot and overhunted is an understatement. They have to figure out a system or lower the bag limit, shorten the hours or something out there. Way too many hunters and too many birds being taken off there.

Was talking to a biologist out there several weeks ago and he was saying that 6,800 birds have been shot on the matador this year. Been hunting all year without a dog with great success. One thing you're gonna have to do is WALK. Pick a pasture and head for the center of it.

They already limit the harvest by limiting the open dates.

I really do not see any sign of it being over hunted.
We are still seeing coveys of 25 - 35 birds, and flushed one monster covery of close to 50, but this is way off the roads.

I am seeing 10 times the hunters each year compared to previous years.

I tiny part of me wishes that Matador was available to Texas hunters only. But then again I really enjoy hunting in other states so I suppose it's only fair to allow out of state access.

It got pounded. We went back for the opener after Thanks Giving and worked our buts off to find half of what we found on the first week. I'm going to guess there are over 50% less birds in there. Those coveys consolidate. That 50 bird covey was probably a few different shot up coveys. I'm with you Cinchman. I'd rather harvest less and have a place to hunt every year then one great season and then wish I had birds to hunt. I'm glad I have private land to hunt. I know TPW says it doesn't matter but there are plenty of biologists who don't agree.

If it keeps in this motion i bet you see it as a draw hunt soon

It needs to be a draw hunt, lower bag limits, and they need to impose a 4:30-5pm stop time and a 8am start time. Oklahoma makes you stop hunting at 4:30 on some of their public land. It is a freaking zoo out there, and I don't care what TPW says, it definitely affects the bird numbers overall.

Pharmvet, I agree with you and a part of me wishes it was instate only. We Texans do get to enjoy out of state trips to hunt upland birds (I've been to New Mexico, South Dakota, and Oklahoma so far this year alone), the difference is the amount of public land we have (or don't have). If we had more public land to hunt it wouldn't bother me. But the only states that have GREAT bobwhite quail hunting are Texas and Oklahoma. Kansas is ok, but there's twice as many birds in Texas.

I'd estimate that after you add up birds shot and bagged, birds shot and injured, birds shot and lost, or unaccounted for shot and bagged birds, there will have been somewhere around 10,000 birds shot at the Matador this year. There's no way that doesn't affect the overall population. But they aren't going to say otherwise.

It's too bad Texas cannot get landowners to participate in a WIHA like Kansas or Block Management like Montana to greatly enhance the public hunting opportunities. Yes Texas has that APH program but it's so disappointing on all levels as far as quail hunting.

The landowners in Montana that participate are in it for 10 years. Montana really does a lot of work on the land to enhance the bird numbers. Excellent program

Seems like there have been thousands of birds taken there he past couple of years and still there have been good numbers this year, hmmm

I say the birds are in the much thicker brush than the opener, not that hunters have thinned them out that much.

Rain. It's all about the rain. Plain and simple.

I ranch just down the road from matador wma. During the peak of the drought, you could hunt thousands of acres and may or may not get into birds. A couple of years of favorable weather, and now you can hunt them with a tennis racket! It really opened my eyes to see what the quail did in good weather. I now believe that hunting will have little to no effect on their numbers overall.

Hunted there yesterday. Too hot and windy for my liking, but still managed to move 10 coveys. Smaller than they have been, but still 10+ birds per. Two coveys were 20+! Didn't do much good on the harvest with the wind the way it was, but got some great dog work in after the wind calmed a bit late.

I hunt there once a week when it's open. According to my GPS, I'm averaging 9 miles a day! That's how I find the birds, especially this time of year. I'd say, for the pressure it has been taking, it is still outstanding with only a week and a half to go. I drive up from Weatherford, hunt all day and drive home. I don't get started until about 9 and normally take boots off the dogs by 5.

Heard the harvest is close to 8800 now. I don't see how overhunting quail has any impact to the next years crop. It's all about the weather. Hunt 'em if you got 'em. They may not be there next year!

So your booting your dogs, the sand/grass burrs are bad? Run across any rattlebugs on the warm days?

Grass burrs are bad in a few places. Cactus are bad in a few places. I'm more about protecting their pads from whatever than anything. My thoughts are stay ahead of it. Once they get into them, it's too late.