Good Luck to all and may the dogs have a great year. Anyone go and how does it look? Can't go out til Dec, but looking forward getting out. Hope its not as dismal as I read.

We hunted this a.m. for 2 &1/2 hrs. We didn't move a bird. Not only that, we saw no tracks and no roost sign. I know there is one covey here with 7 birds and another covey with 0 birds and thats the no bird covey that we moved this morning in the Rolling Plains area.
The dogs worked hard and well; over country where there should have been birds.
I was afraid of this,so we are going to release some birds and hunt after Christmas.

Starr County...two coveys in 3-1/2 hours. Put 8 dogs on the ground all total. This time last year we averaged seven finds in the same length of time.

Looks like the local bird breeder is going to get some of my money this year.

Not the reports I was hoping to hear, but expected. Watch them disappear at home with opinions as to why, both layman and wildlife experts.

Sunked. :_(

How many of y'all are considering not even shooting at birds? This is the first time I have missed opening day in 7 years. From what I understand the weather might have been decent for an opening day. Probably going to wait for a freeze. Probably not going to be shooting at any birds though.

If the temps are right going to try it Thur and Fri. If nothing else have a couple of young dogs I want to get on the ground.

First opening weekend I have not hunter it at least 30 years, I will go drink whiskey and eat steaks in December and hope my Webb county lease will have a few birds. I will put on a kiss your sister hunt(pen raised} in February for friends from Virginia.

I wont be shooting birds, at least not on the rolling plains. I have a few contacts on the coast that claim to have good numbers of birds. If I go down, I may shoot a few there.

No birds found from three different hunters in the Northern Panhandle. Some birds found out west on top of the Caprock. Farmland between the pivots.

Didn't bird hunt (bow hunting deer) but did drive the entire ranch Sunday morning. 35 miles of ranch road in prime Rolling Plains country...zero birds flushed. I've started corning the roads for the gun hunters next weekend. If that doesn't bring in any birds, then there aren't any.

on public land at Elephant Mountain south of Alpine, opening day. Just me and two other hunters on 23,000 acres. I didn't see anything other than five javelinas until about 6:15 p.m., as I was getting ready to drive out of the park, and six quail scurried across the road. I hopped out, unpacked my shotgun and took off after them, and even got a shot off but they were too fast for me. I can at least confirm that there are some quail left out there.

Tigger it is OK, still seeing plenty of skunks, coons and porcupines!

Didn't go for first time in about eight years, ended up taking 13 year old and his friend deer hunting and he made a great shot on his first nice buck.

Please don't let me slip into becoming a deer hunter.

Last year we were covered up with blues and bobs at my lease in lasalle co , this year we have very few birds at all , no birds will be shot on my place this season

Got a good coon yesterday. Hope for a skunk today

Ran dogs out west yesterday. Had dogs on the ground for 3-4 hours and found one covey. It took a 3 year old dog that's pretty good to find that covey. On a good note the recent rains are causeing regrowth where the fires took almost 50% of the ranch (improtant for forbs to get started good). Fire danger still very high as two years of dead brush is still on the ground. We need a wet winter and spring. Lots of ragweed coming on and that's a plus.

We found two new coveys from a September hatch on my last outing.

We hunted a day and a half down south of Corpus Christi in a pasture that is generally thought of as NOT being a great one for quail production. The first afternoon, we found one covey. The next day we found 9. A second truck working out of the same camp found virtually the same number as we did each outing.

So in one sense, of course, our number of finds was disappointing,but then again, since that particular area is not generally thought of as being great quail country, it was a comfort to know this drought hasn't wiped the population out completely.
They are poised for a comeback. All they need is a little rain next spring at just the right time.

Hunt in So Texas on a ranch that feeds yr round to the deer, therefore protein pellets and corn feed the quail...Dove season
my buddy and I got 5 birds each...saw a few quail at the house
feeder..3 or 4...not a covey..Doc kept his tanks full of water
but cover is non existant, and he wouldn't hunt last yr because
of low numbers..He believes he can save quail...

I'm buying birds to work my young dogs on now...Maybe in a yr or
two..it will be better..DD

Fed on the 21st and at one feeder flushed a covey of 7 or 8 bobs, of all things. That's a pretty big deal down here, especially this year.

There are some coveys of blues around, one of the ones I've seen was upwards around 15 birds, but most are down to about 7 or 8 birds. What's there though appears to be healthy.

Maybe in another year . . .

Cracker came up lame this week so I had to decline an invite from ET, this morning. He called around noon all excited. Yeats found ten coveys this morning.

We are thinking of not shooting any at the ranch this year. Earlier this year we had good numbers, but have not seen as many lately. We may have to just hunt pen raised birds this year.