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Matador - No Dog
#6631663
01/14/17 02:39 AM
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 458
Brother Phil
OP
Bird Dog
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OP
Bird Dog
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 458 |
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?
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6632175
01/14/17 05:29 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 501
Mundo
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 501 |
as far from the road as you can get
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6632211
01/14/17 06:00 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416
bill oxner
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 91,416 |
Good luck. Let us know what you saw.
Quail hunting is like walking into, and out of a beautiful painting all day long. Gene Hill
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6632378
01/14/17 08:55 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 382
3 alarm bbq
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 382 |
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.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6634737
01/16/17 11:52 AM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,707
stinkbelly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,707 |
Don't forget the GPS. Once you get in deep it all starts to look the same.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6634795
01/16/17 01:28 PM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,485
CinchMan
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,485 |
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.
Say When.....
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6634844
01/16/17 02:22 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 313
tx hunter
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 313 |
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.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: CinchMan]
#6635984
01/17/17 04:30 AM
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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,891
nak
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,891 |
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. 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.
We all need to practice Whoa more.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6636067
01/17/17 11:28 AM
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,707
stinkbelly
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 8,707 |
I am seeing 10 times the hunters each year compared to previous years.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6636250
01/17/17 02:42 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,617
pharmvet
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,617 |
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.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: nak]
#6636397
01/17/17 03:55 PM
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,091
Wacm
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,091 |
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. 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. 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.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: stinkbelly]
#6636404
01/17/17 03:59 PM
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,087
Navasot
Hollywood
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Hollywood
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 28,087 |
I am seeing 10 times the hunters each year compared to previous years. If it keeps in this motion i bet you see it as a draw hunt soon
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6636819
01/17/17 09:01 PM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,485
CinchMan
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,485 |
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.
Say When.....
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6637199
01/18/17 01:00 AM
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,088
blanked
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,088 |
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
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6637469
01/18/17 03:23 AM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,062
MS1454
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,062 |
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.
I'll take a Black Female every time.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6637484
01/18/17 03:29 AM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 313
tx hunter
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 313 |
Rain. It's all about the rain. Plain and simple.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6638281
01/18/17 07:29 PM
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Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 831
TexasUplander
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 831 |
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.
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6641423
01/20/17 06:03 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 94
crash519
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 94 |
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!
Hunt 'em if you got 'em! They may not be here next year!
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6643066
01/22/17 01:17 AM
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 18,668
68rustbucket
THF Celebrity
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THF Celebrity
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 18,668 |
So your booting your dogs, the sand/grass burrs are bad? Run across any rattlebugs on the warm days?
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Re: Matador - No Dog
[Re: Brother Phil]
#6643081
01/22/17 01:32 AM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 94
crash519
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 94 |
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.
Hunt 'em if you got 'em! They may not be here next year!
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