Releasing Quail

[roosterbrews]

We live in south central MN and our usual pheasant release this year was cut in half so I was just checking to see if it was viable to release quail. We are a bit farther north than their normal range but the habitat they are going in seems ideal. Their release would be about 45 miles north of Mankato so not to far north but not somewhere you are likely to find one in the wild.
Thanks
Dave

[topher40]

Releasing pen raised birds doesn't work as a sole plan. It really doesn't matter if they are pheasant, quail, chuckars etc. You have to have the cover and feed to coincide with the release, If it worked as well as people would hope then I should have THOUSANDS of birds around my place with hundreds of coveys. These birds do have adequate cover, feed and water to boot. I have lost THOUSANDS of birds due to them getting lose and I haven't seen an increase that would justify doing a release. Predators are also a BIG problem and if they arent under control prior to releasing these birds then you will be serving up dinner for the predators. From what I have found you need to find a nice balance of what Quail Forever does with your releases. Predator control is a must! If it worked then everyone would do it and we wouldn't be experiencing the low bird populations like we are. Ask yourself this: Has the MN Pheasant release program really boosted numbers or given more targets for shooters in the first few weeks of release?

[cjuve]

Just an FYI make sure that you are acting in accordance with the law, there are many states out there that regulate gamebird release and ownership.

[Neil]

They are all going to die, some sooner. None will make it through the winter to breed. But if you look at it as a put and take, it will work. About 1 bird for ever 4 released.

But you must do it right. They have to be healthy, flight conditioned and anchored with proper habitat. There is much more to it than I can exllplain here.

[DoubleBarrel GunDogs]

We live in south central MN and our usual pheasant release this year was cut in half so I was just checking to see if it was viable to release quail. We are a bit farther north than their normal range but the habitat they are going in seems ideal. Their release would be about 45 miles north of Mankato so not to far north but not somewhere you are likely to find one in the wild.
Thanks
Dave

Have you considered starting a Johnny house instead?

Nate

[RoostersMom]

Check out this posting that I commented on - my comments were long and in the middle of the page - RoostersMom

viewtopic.php?f=69&t=34413&p=324436&hil ... ed#p324436

Bottom line - releases don't work to re-establish quail populations. Most folks agree that releasing birds the day of or day before a hunt is the way to go. Johnny house birds can be useful as well in dog training.

[roosterbrews]

Ok the pheasants have done well but I guess ill skip the quail. Thanks

[Neil]

We have great results with early release programs. Conway, AR is probably the most succesful, releasing in late Summer, we have 5 covey find braces as late as April.

It is expensive, needing to release up to 2 birds per acre, planting many feed plots, plus weekly broadcast feed in winter/inclement weather, annual burning, etc.

So it can and is being done.

Neil

[Jiminla]

Neil, I think your response is the most accurate. My buddy found that out about 20,000.00 later. He went from surrogaters, to six week old birds and then just dumping out mature bob whites. At times we could not find a bird on the farm or even hear any whistle. Bob whites are just what you say, if they were not born wild, the chances of survival are slim to none. If you turn birds loose, you better go after them the next day or that evening. I wish there was a fool proof way to do it, but nature still wins this battle.

[Meller]

We had most success releasing six week birds into an wild established covey with birds of approximate same age. That along with good predator control.

[RoostersMom]

Ouch, I hate to hear that about releasing birds into wild bird coveys. Native birds mixed with pen reared birds of questionable health and genetics. Yuck. Plus, it's illegal in Missouri to do that. Not being a crazy person here, but there are a lot of reasons why MDC (Missouri Department of Conservation) doesn't allow the release of pen reared birds in order to attempt a re-stocking effort. Wild birds have 14 different alleles, while pen reared birds have 11. Even if they chance to breed, you're dumbing down your wild bird population - plus pen reared birds are much more likely to carry disease and pass it on to wild birds that haven't been exposed to those strains.

[Neil]

Would you please cite the source for the dramatic genetic differences?

[RoostersMom]

Look at the link I provided above - it's the bottom study - done on Ames plantation. Graduate students were from MS State's quail program with Wes Burger - one of the most respected quail researchers of this generation.

[Tyler S]

We have great results with early release programs. Conway, AR is probably the most succesful, releasing in late Summer, we have 5 covey find braces as late as April.

It is expensive, needing to release up to 2 birds per acre, planting many feed plots, plus weekly broadcast feed in winter/inclement weather, annual burning, etc.

So it can and is being done.

Neil

I agree 100%. Your not going to find much documentation, because its all private land owners doing it in my area. I know the guy that is about 10 miles north of me hired a private biologist to do genetic studies on the wild birds before he started a release program, then matched that footprint to his raised birds. I don't know a lot about Quail genetics, but I do know his place is unbelievable now.

I also know that released will make it and thrive. We have 600acres designated as a preserve that we release birds on. I've put colored bands on birds and have shot those birds 2 years later, 3-4 miles away in a mixed covey. I also know aggressive predator control works wonders.

Is this the reason our quail are coming back? You've got these "islands" of prime habitat, but we are getting birds back in the places that historically held birds also.

[Neil]

Look at the link I provided above - it's the bottom study - done on Ames plantation. Graduate students were from MS State's quail program with Wes Burger - one of the most respected quail researchers of this generation.

Since I lived, until recetly, about ten miles from Ames and attended most of the 4 trials held there each year, I know most of the players in the study. At least the grown up ones. Follow-up studies question the genetic differences.

Most telling is they are still early releasing quail at Ames, and even more importantly at heck Creek and Black Prairie, MS, areas under Wes's control. So even he gave in.

If you don't have enough wild birds to hold a trial, early release is better than dogs going birdless, brace after brace.

Most of your studies cited are 10 years old and have been refuted by more recent ones. Nearly every quail plantation in the Southeast have been releasing birds for the last 20 years. And now that birds are in great decline in their last viable range of Texas and Oklahoma, even they are changing their viewpoint on released birds.

Neil

[RoostersMom]

I'd love to see the more recent studies stating that releasing pen reared birds have no impact on the genetic integrity of the wild populations. I'm always up for learning more. I'd also issue a challenge for you to find 3 or more quail biologists that support the release of pen reared birds to restore quail populations.

[Neil]

I'd love to see the more recent studies stating that releasing pen reared birds have no impact on the genetic integrity of the wild populations. I'm always up for learning more. I'd also issue a challenge for you to find 3 or more quail biologists that support the release of pen reared birds to restore quail populations.

Did not say any of that. I am telling you that everywhere except TX/OK that they want to have quail in sufficient numbers they are releasing them, and TX/OK are in steep decline. Despite millions of dollars and the efforts of many biologists there is no place they have reversed the trend. If Wes knew how they would not be releasing birds in MS, he sure fought it.

Oh. They have been able to have a few wild quail on Ft. Campbell, sometimes have as many as 5 finds a day, and there a couple places along the FL/GA border that they claim to have eild birds, but I am not so sure.

So if you are eager to learn, know it is a choice for field trial grounds, either released birds or no birds.

Neil

[RoostersMom]

I am all for the release of birds for field trials, dog training, and youth/women/newcomer hunts. Just not to restore native populations. That's all.

[Fester]

We release a lot of birds and it has been already said here quail won't make it, you would have to make the food and water (un frozen) supply so that they fell into it, they are dumb, even the best conditioned birds get weak in less than a week, if you find one after that the breast will be thin as a knife blade, pheasant are more hardy they will make it until they are eaten by a hawk or owl maybe a bobcat, these ppl releasing them and talking about being succesful are working hard to make it that way.
Fester

[daleasche]

I must agree with the fact that pen raised quail won't survive in the wild very long unless you invest many hours and lots of hard work to provide cover, food and water. Predator control is a huge factor. We've been releasing birds on a controlled shooting area for over 20 years and do all of the above, but if any do survive, the wild population hasn't been improved in the surrounding areas. Pen raised birds live about 6-9 days at the most in the wild. You need to remember that these birds have fed from self-feeders and drank from nipple waterers from the moment they hatched. They simply cannot go from that type of rearing to a wild situation and live. Their instincts and habits are completely different from those needed to live in the wild where they have to forage for food and water while learning to take cover from hawks, owls, and other predators. Best case scenario is to raise them in good flight pens, keep them healthy, and release them, then go hunt them. Our best releases come from the back of the atv in groups of 5-6, allowing the birds to fly to cover, giving them a couple hours to covey up, then go hunting. It works and it's fun.

[bwire]

The past few years I have had good success with quail surviving using a johnny house. I get 8 week old birds in July and start running the dogs on them by August. I have two JH's and start out with25-30 quail in each one. Last year I released all the birds from one JH around September/October because the area I had the pen was close to getting flooded out. I released the other quail in mid December. I was able to run the dogs to the end of March and find birds. I heard them calling in the spring and even heard one in early June this summer. A couple of quail were just seen this weekend and last year a small covey was found in August and they were from the previous year's release. I have not seen or heard any evidence of nesting but the birds can survive with good cover.

Here is a picture of some quail I found in December or January:


This picture is from a few hundred yards away from the above picture taken around March. They were the same birds:


Listen to this video. It was taken in the end of April/start of May. I was cleaning up a flight pen for pheasants when I heard it.

The quail I release are not hunted. There is no open season on quail in the area and it isn't a regulated hunting ground. But I do get good dog work from late July/early August to the end of March.

I also find holdover pheasants throughout the year as well and get some good pictures.