alafarmnews

This Pike County couple determined to
increase the quail population on their farm

By Ben Norman

The sudden "THUR-R-R-R" from a covey of wild bobwhites exploding from a sage field in front of a brace of pointers has made many a bird hunter’s heart skip a beat. For many years this was a common occurrence on Alabama farms. Unfortunately, scenes like this have become much less common because of changing land use practices, predation and other factors. The wild bobwhite population is only a
remnant of what it was 40 years ago.

Johnny Taylor checks a bugging area for quail tracks.

Tommy Russell fills one of his tube feeders with milo.

As a girl, Beverly used to love to sit on the back porch after coming in from working in the field and listen to the "bob-bob-white" whistle of a bobwhite calling its mate.

"I told Johnny I wanted to do whatever was necessary so I could hear this sound again from my back porch," Beverly said.

The Taylors began reading Extension Service literature, talking to wildlife biologists and attending meetings on quail management.

"We learned that there were several reasons for the decrease in quail populations in the South, but the changes in farming practices had the most detrimental effect," Johnny said.

The Taylor’s research into the demise of the Southern bobwhite revealed that the change from farming small patches to the large field clean farming methods used today has contributed to the demise of the bobwhite more than any single factor. After the Civil War, many of the large plantations were broken up into small farms, with the landline fence rows allowed to grow up. Burning was practiced to help control unwanted vegetation and insects. Trapping provided the farmer supplemental income in the winter and kept the pressure on nest robbing predators. All these factors combined to create ideal habitat for the bobwhite and they flourished well into the 1940s.

"Once we found out what quail needed to survive, we started managing accordingly," Johnny said. "One of the first things we did was set up a burn rotation program where most of our land was burned off every three years. We burn in February before the quail and turkey begin nesting. We also disk strips to promote

The Taylors have allowed fencerows to grow up in lespedeza, blackberry, huckleberry, Polk berry and wild grape. Roads throughout their property are planted in rye and clover and small plots of corn, milo, buckwheat and bicolor to provide food and cover.

"We buy all our seed, fertilizer and lime at the Goshen Farmers Co-op. Bennie Beasley is very knowledgeable about wildlife food and fertilizer requirements. He really helps us a lot," Johnny said.

"We had heard you just couldn’t bring quail back, but that is just not so. We had very few quail before we started manipulating the native vegetation and planting food plots, but we are seeing more coveys and hearing more calls now," Beverly said.

While quail numbers can be increased considerably on large tracts of
well-managed land, hunters with smaller tracts must practice "put and take" quail hunting. This is simply buying pen-raised, flight-conditioned birds to be put out before a hunt and then harvesting them.

Ronnie Turner prepares to flush a covey of released bobwhites.

Tommy Russell of Luverne is regarded as one of Alabama’s foremost bird dog trainers. Russell uses a system that often makes released birds fly more like wild birds. Russell accomplishes this by releasing 10-week-old birds in October.

"I build a protective barrier around a hanging tube feeder made from PVC pipe. I cut a stock panel and bend it in a circle about four feet in diameter. I then hang a feeder filled with milo that I purchase at the Luverne Co-op store. I next make a top from old tin. You need to camouflage it with vegetation so hawks can’t see the quail feeding under it. Think of it as a small teepee with a bird feeder in it," Russell said.

When Russell finishes constructing his feeder he fills a gallon bag of water so that it is about one inch thick when laying flat and freezes it. "I then take 15 to 20 quail in a cage and put them under the feeder with a little feed scattered on the ground. I open the cage door and place the slab of ice over the door and secure it by sticking a stick in the ground to wedge it against the door.

I leave quietly and allow the ice to melt. This way the birds wander out slowly and begin feeding. If you just dump them out of the box, they will fly off. I also place a ‘call back’ bird in a cage with food and water. If the birds wander off, the call back bird will call them back to the feeder. It’s not perfect and it doesn’t work every time, but it makes the released birds fly more like wild birds and that is what a bird hunter wants," Russell said.

The wild bobwhite may never be as abundant as it once was, but "put and take" stocking enables hunters to enjoy the age-old sport of quail hunting. And for people like Johnny and Beverly Taylor, manipulating native foods and planting the right quail foods enables them to sit on the back porch, watch the sun go down and once again listen to the distinctive call of a wild bobwhite.

Ben Norman is a freelance writer from Highland Home.