Quail grass

I am wanting to plant some type of grass to help improve quail habitat. I have some quail at the ranch now but want to see more birds. I want a grass that is perennial and is also good for cattle. I average 1 cow to 10 acres and my place is cross fenced. I am thinking about planting this grass in small one acre strips around the ranch to see how it does. Located in Karnes County.

I recommend that you contact Turner Seed in Breckenridge, TX. They have developed a mix that shown good results for those trying to re-establish native Texas prairie grasses.

Hay grazer will draw them.


[quote=bill oxner]Did you know that there were 16 varieties of bluestem. I learned that and a lot more than I ever thought I wanted to know about weeds and grasses as I hunted with Jim Willis Saturday. I also learned that he had some great Elhew pointers. Let's go straight to the pictures.

Here's Elhew Dixie with Jim doing the honors;




Here's a great Britt named Buddy pointing as Elhew Sue backing;



Elhew Dixie again;



Here's Sue pointing with Jim doing the honors;



Sue again;



I'm not making this up. Byron brought a Britt named Buddy and a GWP named Ranger. Here's Ranger pointing with Cracker backing;



Would you pick out ranger as a GWP?

I don't post many pictures of Cracker anymore, but she does point. Here you go;



I saved the best bird dog picture for last. Here's Yeats with ET doing the honors;



Jim liked to look at the guts. This crop was filled with a milo size weed seed;



After the hunt;

Whatever you plant, you want a mix. A monoculture will provide food only when that plant produces seeds. Mixed forbs will seed at different times and provide a longer food window.

Used to be a native grass seed dealer east edge of Kennedy on hwy 72. They may still be there

http://pogueagri.com/

trying to serve cattle and quail in the same area is not compatible IMHO.

Cattle need lots of grass to bite and eat in the spring and summer and the farmer feeds protein and hay in the winter and cattle like best short fresh new growth. Cattle have no predators except Burger King.

Quail need quality high protein seeds, grains and insects all four seasons and lots of cover to avoid predators. If you get a Wildlife Habitat Tax Exemption the state biologist will offer you Round Up to kill your coastal Bermuda grass which is like a dessert for a quail. Best practice would be aggressive predator eradication. Fenced off from cattle areas to go feral and grow up for good quail cover everything is a predator of quail. Plant in the specifically fenced off quail areas good quail crops. Work with your state biologist for best seed and grain producing grasses that are best for your area for 4 seasons forage production for quail. Good Luck and thanks for trying and share what you learn. Lucky you, you got quail.

Thank you for the info. I will check with Pogue and see what they have. I will try to plant a mix of grasses and we are pretty hard on predators. I know I have missed my spring chance to plant, is there anything I can plant in my winter food plots to help quail? I usually plant rye, oats, and turnips for my deer.

Ask the Pogue folks

Based on everything I have learned in my quest for quail knowledge is that the best thing you can do is to establish “native” habitat and manage it for early succession. “Native” habitat will consist of a mosaic mix of bunch grass (little bluestem,, big bluestem, switchgrass, side oats gramma, broomsedge bluestem, Indian grass etc) forbs (Croton, Ragweed etc) wildflowers and Woody shrub thickets (sumac, wild plum, blackberry ). This habitat must be continually managed with disking / burning (1-3 yr cycle) to reset succession. Cattle can be incorporated into this regime, and in fact will help improve the habitat in certain ways. You just have to cut way back on the stocking rate and realize you are not going to maximize production. It’s a delicate balance.

It used to be that the folks at Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Foundation would do an assessment of property for quail habitat in return for a donation. I did one years ago, the donation wasn't all that large as I recall. They can advise you on grazing, plantings, feeding and habitat work.

Proper grazing of native grasses is the key.


https://youtu.be/k7bIsMKHpW8

right on,