Public Land Quail Hunting

Howdy everyone, I am an avid hunter and fisherman, but most of my hunting is done on my family’s land in Kentucky. That being said, I’ve only done some public land hunting for small game and hogs in Texas, so my knowledge is limited on public land here. I’m not asking for spots, but I’m curious to know which part of Texas is the best for quail hunting? I’m willing to drive, so location ain’t too much of a hassle. I’m 20 years old, and sadly I’m afraid my generation might be one of the last to see our quail population disappear, so I’d like to get my share before it’s all gone.

Go to TPWD website. All the info is there.

There is very little public land for hunting in Texas and much of it is not good quail habitat. What there is gets shot down pretty quickly. If you must hunt public land in Texas get there opening week. If you are out-of-state your best bet is Kansas. They have a very good public land program and had a decent quail year.

Thanks for the information. Have any of y’all ever had good success quail hunting public land here? Also, I’m assuming West Texas is my best bet?

Probably the matador if they got rain--it was pretty slow there last year. There is some public land down by the river west that holds blues. Honestly, I check the mileage on going to Kansas. There are some good hunting opportunities on fed refuges like Laguna Atascosa--however they are big game only.

Appreciate the info!

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0112a.pdf

My brother and I are around the same age as you and just getting into Quail hunting. Last year we hunted the Chaparral WMA a couple of times. Like most of Texas last season the hunting wasn't great, but we still found some birds. I wanted to hunt Matador WMA but decided it wasn't worth the trip with the bad bird numbers. Hopefully, things will be better next season. I am also hoping to do some out of state hunting next season.

If you can walk both Kansas and Oklahoma have great public land opportunities. Back when I could still follow a dog afoot had some good hunts in both states. Texas is pay to play all the way so you are probably going to have to head north if you want to enjoy public land hunting to any degree.

I was down at Black Gap last fall. You are supposed to turn in the wings so I looked them over and 90% (?) looked like doves, so...there is supposed to be blue quail but I was told a lack of rain had dropped their number. Right after the check in area the road drives into a ditch/gully and then up the other side and even with a pick up truck you have to do some real work just to get into the area.

These are both public land hunts in Oklahoma. You have to earn them with shoe leather but they're out there. Rent a room, eat at the cafes and buy some beer while you are here please.

No problem, I tend to kill way more beer than quail on my adventures.

Cool video, too. Love that lock up in the first one.

yep, the quail population in some areas are better than pheasant...

When I was a little boy there were tons of quail by these baseball fields in balch springs, off sheilah road. We used pellet gunsand shot them on the ground. Some 30 years ago. I guess that's a no-no all the way around but I lived on sheilah and we was po'.

If you went down there with a shotgun you'd get locked up! But there's quail here.

I'd look into hunting the easement around rivers outside city linits. I had permission to hunt the lampasas river bottoms specifically from the bell county game warden because I inquired. But I only took nongame species and used an air rifle.

Also look into the Corps of Engineers regs for any reservoirs nearby. There are reservoirs and corps land all over the place, and many of these reservoirs don't even require a corps permit. Just comply with state and local laws.

If you's spend a half a day hunting hard for information, you'll soon find there is a whole lot more public huning opportunities than what you find on the TPWD website. TPWD managed lands are only a small fraction of the hunting near me. It's mostly corps reservoirs and national forests.

Do you have dogs?

Three years ago was unbelievable in the Panhandle...almost like the 80s Two years ago was fair. Last year's drought was very hard on them. We got to the point we were happy with two coveys a day, in some very tough walking for man and dog.

Matador & Gene Howe in Tx. There are a couple of good WMA in OK also. It depends on where the right weather has been for the hatches. Last year's winter and spring drought was so hard on them in the Panhandle, even with perfect weather, it may take a couple of years for the birds to recover.

Both the TX and OK WMA are walk in only, no off-road vehicles. If its easy to get to, its too pressured. The best way to hunt Matador is to leash you dogs, walk in at least a mile, then turn the dogs loose.

nak is spot on. We do exactly like he says. Last year was terrible at Matador WMA and Oklahoma. But they are getting rain this year so I suspect that if it keeps it up we might have an average year this season.