Texas Hunting Forum

Can quail survive this storm??

Posted By: GA DOG 3

Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/15/21 04:42 PM

Just wondering how long or if the quail can survive this record cold wave. Never had conditions like this in Ga. I would love to hear what some of you old Texas bird hunters think. Stay WARM Texas!!!
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/15/21 05:01 PM

I'm afraid some will die.
Posted By: Kelulu

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/15/21 05:31 PM

I saw photos yesterday from Nebraska of a covey of bobwhite feeding in the snow at 3 degrees F. If my understanding is correct the main issue is access to quality food sources in cold weather. They need to eat a LOT to create the calories necessary to survive the cold.

I sure hope they are tough!
Posted By: arandy

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/15/21 07:39 PM

I think there will be some not make it on the ranch that I have been hunting for the last three years as it is over grazed badly and cover is limited. But some will survive in the draws that had some cover and thick mesquite. The bad thing is there were just not that many to start with so any loss is critical. I think the scaled quail will fare better than the bob whites on this place. The benefit of moisture is always significant out west so maybe it will mitigate to some degree lost birds. You just never know what will happen but I do know they did not need this and I am greatly concerned.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/15/21 10:31 PM

It is a shame what has already happened with the bobwhite quail in Texas.
Posted By: Lalo

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/15/21 10:36 PM

Here is a good link to a podcast from Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation about winter die-off.
Posted By: skinnerback

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/15/21 10:43 PM

Originally Posted by Kelulu
I saw photos yesterday from Nebraska of a covey of bobwhite feeding in the snow at 3 degrees F. If my understanding is correct the main issue is access to quality food sources in cold weather. They need to eat a LOT to create the calories necessary to survive the cold.

I sure hope they are tough!



I have killed bobwhite quail and pheasant in Nebraska when it was 3 degrees with a wind chill of 17 below. Plenty of food there between the corn and soybean fields, but what has hurt both the pheasant and the quail populations there is the lack of cover. They need it. Farmers used to leave hedgerows everywhere around their fields and the birds would use that cover. Now many/most farm all the way to the road/no more hedgerows.
Posted By: scalebuster

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/16/21 03:37 AM

I’m afraid the south Tx quail will suffer badly. I wish we had really pounded them last week instead of just shooting covey rises. We didn’t think about it until we were driving back today watching kids playing in the snow by palm trees.

I didn’t believe the snow could affect blue quail until we got a foot of it in west Tx. We had a few bird thanksgiving week but three weeks ago we hunted after the snow. 4 men and 21 dogs, saw 6 bird covey in two days.
Posted By: GA DOG 3

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/16/21 02:03 PM

Me too. Bill
Posted By: tigger

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/16/21 05:03 PM

I had 4 dove freeze last night on my south facing poarch
Posted By: nesikabay

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/16/21 09:56 PM

Not if they hide under a plum tree on a dirt road
Posted By: KHH

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/17/21 02:02 AM

Had a male bob white running around the working pens this evening. 1st one I’ve seen in a while. Was a good sight to see. Guess he was looking for a warm spot.
Posted By: huntwest

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 02/17/21 02:52 AM

Nope
Posted By: cabosandinh

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 03:44 AM

I have over 400 quails (bob, cali, gambel, blue scale ) raised in pens outdoor

all survived

freezing cold does not bother them

having access to water that 's not frozen is crucial to their survival
Posted By: Whiptail

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 04:33 AM


Makes me wonder if this cold will have a big impact on fire ants.

Sometimes quail can have a big rebound in years following a big weather event. Quail started showing up in places they hadn't been in years after 2011 but have since disappeared again.
Posted By: Hudbone

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 12:24 PM

Did not see a single one in Eastern Lasalle County on Saturday - extremely unusual.
Posted By: 68rustbucket

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by Hudbone
Did not see a single one in Eastern Lasalle County on Saturday - extremely unusual.

They are in the brush, in survival mode.
Posted By: goosebuster

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 03:16 PM

I can tell you the ants are in full force. They lit me up the other day, they'd survive a nuclear bomb.
Posted By: 1955

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 03:19 PM

I hate them dam fire ants, what are they good for just to inflict pain
Posted By: LarryCopper

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 03:44 PM

At my home around DFW, the one fire ant bed that I knew about got hit hard. I went to put Amdro on it after the snow melted and there were dead ants balled up. I'm sure some survived tho.

I went to my brother's place in Knox Co last weekend. We pushed two coveys Sat morning that were real healthy. It got hot in the afternoon so it turned into a beer drinking event. He also ran across some others while working on deer stands after the freeze. The quail there seemed to have made it OK.
Posted By: Dave Scott

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 03:52 PM

Quai9l live way up North, should survive okay.
Posted By: quailg

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 09:28 PM

I still found 6 big coveys on a 1 day hunt, after the freeze in Runnels county.
If you have good cover, they should be ok.
Posted By: rmp

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/01/21 10:46 PM

Originally Posted by scalebuster
I’m afraid the south Tx quail will suffer badly. I wish we had really pounded them last week instead of just shooting covey rises. We didn’t think about it until we were driving back today watching kids playing in the snow by palm trees.

I didn’t believe the snow could affect blue quail until we got a foot of it in west Tx. We had a few bird thanksgiving week but three weeks ago we hunted after the snow. 4 men and 21 dogs, saw 6 bird covey in two days.


Hunted Saturday the 27th in the Premont/Falfurias area. Place hadn't been hunted this year (250 acres or so) and jumped 15 coveys. Every covey was probably 12+ birds. Lots of feed and cover of course.
Posted By: SRPI89

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/04/21 08:33 PM

We hunted our place in the panhandle the 2nd to last weekend of the season. It was a rough year before the storm and i think the storm did some real damage. We had two points that the dogs wouldn't leave. We went back and searched, and in both instances we found dead birds that we assume froze to death. They were both in places we hadn't jumped or shot at any birds before that weekend.
Posted By: bill oxner

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/04/21 09:16 PM

Dang. I hate to hear that.
Posted By: colt45-90

Re: Can quail survive this storm?? - 03/05/21 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by skinnerback
Originally Posted by Kelulu
I saw photos yesterday from Nebraska of a covey of bobwhite feeding in the snow at 3 degrees F. If my understanding is correct the main issue is access to quality food sources in cold weather. They need to eat a LOT to create the calories necessary to survive the cold.

I sure hope they are tough!



I have killed bobwhite quail and pheasant in Nebraska when it was 3 degrees with a wind chill of 17 below. Plenty of food there between the corn and soybean fields, but what has hurt both the pheasant and the quail populations there is the lack of cover. They need it. Farmers used to leave hedgerows everywhere around their fields and the birds would use that cover. Now many/most farm all the way to the road/no more hedgerows.

loved those hedge rows in S.E. Ks.
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