Quail season is upon us...

10/26

Time for some bird reports.

Our guy in the Rolling Plains near Haskell says it looks about like last year.
Had some birds early on...not so many later.

What are you hearing / seeing?

After listening to the "Dr Dale on Quail" podcast it sounds like the early el nino weather and the late la nina weather created a similar situation for bobs across the state.

Rain is not our best friend below the gnat line. Have to wait and see.

Closest thing to "encouraging" I have heard is a from some folks patrolling pipeline ROW for leaks. They reported "better than last year, but not by much" up in the Canadian area.

Have heard a couple of good reports from down around the King Ranch area, if you have any connections down there, you might want to dip into those.

On a drive through we saw one covey the other morning.

It appears to be slightly improved over last year at my Place in Dickens county. Have seen only one covey of about 15 birds and I am hearing scattered morning calling. Focused on deer hunting and not beating the bushes.at this time.

Flew our place in Webb County two weeks ago. Tons and tons of coveys. Much higher than last year. Tons of young Bobwhites, too.

That's great news.

If you see a silver Tundra trailing you down there, you'll know it's me.

Spent 5 days this week down in La Salle County and I can say without a doubt the highest number of Bobwhite coveys I have seen in a very long time on this ranch. Seems like there were 2-3 good size coveys of Bobs at every deer blind I drove past. That did not include the coveys on ROW, roller chop strips or along ranch roads. Was a wet up till mid spring then rains were spotty and they are below yearly average on rainfall but the rains fell at the right times. Blue Quail numbers are always good on that ranch. Just nice to see Bobwhite numbers in a higher % of the overall numbers.

Got an invite to Jim Hogg county for early December before the rut starts. Hoping to find a few birds.

We haven't seen or heard any signs of Bobwhite in about 4 years.... until this year! Multiple covey with numerous young per family!

We had a couple roaming around the house last year, did not see them this year. We had.. I think, Montezuma at the ranch, but I only saw about a dozen Bobs out there.

Mixed messages but mostly down.

I have a place to hunt in Live Oak county. A friend says there are quail there. I have never hunted them and don't have a dog. Should I just walk fence lines and kick the brush near a water source? I was thinking of heading down next week. I have hunted pheasant and grouse without dogs but never hunted quail at all.

Oh, I bet if you asked real nice, someone here on the Forum would offer to bring dogs and help you find some of those quail.

How many acres?

He aint the greatest but Jack the setter would love to help out

Around 100 acres with water. I haven't been out there. It is about an hour from my place and I hope to check it out next week.

I'll be looking at the back end of a bird dog next Saturday morning.

Why not this weekend?


Texas.gov › tpwd › regs › animals
Quail — Texas Parks & Wildlife Department
Regular Season: Statewide Oct. 26, 2019 - Feb. 23, 2020. View Quail hunting regulations for your county. All counties ...

Crane County today - 5 coveys of blues, one covey of bobs in 6 hours.

I'm was bass fishing today.

That doesn’t sound that great. Were y’all hunting the McElroy?

Spent three days on Matador WMA. Perfects mornings, a tad warm in the afternoon. ...but it was sad. Birds are VERY scarce and the vegetation in thicker than I have ever seen it. Sandburs seem to be at world record levels.

We won't be going back this year.

Got some excellent dog work this morning out of my pup, I was very pleased.

Any bird contacts?

This was just dog training, I used pen raised birds.

Where we hunt, in the Rolling Plains, bird counts are low so we probably won't get much hunting this year.

Got the pups out yesterday for some work........

The world stood still.

Great pictures. Just got back from Snyder. Found 3 coveys in 2 days of hard hunting. It is thick. Hope to go again in January. Just think the bird crop was too thin from last season.

Good looking mutts!

Going to give Kansas a try for Quail. The reports from around Dodge City are fair, which is better than we've seen in TX Panhandle and OK.
Headed out Thursday at noon. Returning when the dogs start pointing mice or the day before Thanksgiving...which ever occurs first.

God I love quail season. I hope all are finding dogs on point with their friends and loved ones as well.

GREAT PICS

Love it! Thanks for sharing

My son just returned from a trip to New Zealand. They spent a lot of time hiking the countryside.
He said the place is covered up in California quail. They are literally everywhere.

Superb pictures Kelulu.

I'm in Archer county just south of Wichita Falls and haven't heard or seen a quail in several years. But they are thick just across the river in Oklahoma.

great

My friend's lease is near Paducah off the Pease.
Pretty bad report from last week. Very few birds seen, fewer pointed.

Hope you are trying to tell us that you also have a fuzzy butt that also points, backs, and retrieves.

Been a tough but satisfying season so far.

Great pictures!!!!!

Thank you. I enjoy sharing. Here's some from this past weekend.

Nice pics!

You boys act like the season is over!

Season ends on the 23rd.

Anybody have any late season hunts left?

This may be it for us this season...........

Find any birds?

a few

Beats the snot out of watching XFL football.

I don’t think there’s a bird left in Throckmorton county. I had a plan this evening to hit all of the deer feeders and run a dog in a big circle around the feed. I still haven’t seen a bird on the Spade ranch this year. My oldest boy and Ihad a good time tonight just camping out and building a bonfire. I can’t believe I was having 25 covey days out here a couple of years ago.

Time changes everything.
It will change again someday.

Had a really fun finale. Here Dot made a nice find on a single.

greatness