We do not have many of these in the county that I live in. It is a corn desert that goes back and forth with another county in Indiana as the worst place in the state to deer hunt; normally around 100 deer a year. There is an area around an old landfill with several large parcels of CRP. Both pheasant and quail are reported to reproduce in this area. I saw him on this fence post 2 mornings in a row and the third sighting this year at this location.
We had many of them around when I was a kid. They have really dropped off the last 20 years. Quail provide one heck of a heart check; I was about 12 and stepped into the middle of a covey on the way to my treestand one morning. I have seen pheasant twice; who knows if they were wild. My friend has most of his 40 acre farm in CRP; they have tons of quail. My beagle that I had as kid always provided a mixed bag; she pointed quail and ran rabbits. I miss that dog and I hope my son gets to kill a few in his lifetime.What is that!?!?!
I have a few of them on and around my place but yes bobwhite quail are in big trouble in the Hoosier state (you don't want to know about the grouse). The main issue is habitat loss.....the "brushy fence row" is a thing of the past in many places. And those fence rows provided lots of small game everything they needed and a means to move from one place to another safely. The landscape becomes more and more fragmented and quail in particular need their habitat needs in a fairly small area as compared to deer. They naturally suffer high mortality rates as it is as well. I get a few whistlers at my place, but not many. Every once in a while the dog will jump a covey but not very often. I have not even seen a significant increase with the install of my NWSG. I realize I didn't go crazy with it but I figured it would help at least some, but I have not seen a difference. I know they manage for them in the south, but many of those management practices simply are not used here. I have NEVER seen a wild pheasant in IN......what are those!!!!
My local biologist was trying to get me to put in a small plot of ragweed, great deer food early and great quail food later in the season
Yet another Hoosier? Tom, I see that was your first post. If you plan on sticking around - take a moment and introduce yourself. There a a few Hoosiers floating are here.
Cool, where about in the state are you? Something we try to encourage new members to do is update your info so we can see where you are generally located. This helps us make better suggestions - you might even find you got some folks close to you. You will see in mine I simply list my county and USDA zone. Some folks will list the the town or city near them as well - this is totally voluntary and simply a suggestion. Welcome to the forum and hope to see you around.
I have done 2 things - I have create 2 new threads (both in the general discussion forum). the first is a place to introduce yourself. I started so you won;t be the first - hopefully others will follow suit and this will be a resource so you can figure out who some of these folks are. The second "tips, tricks & forum functions" - I go into how to update your location on your profile page. Lots of folks struggle with this so I figured I would post it for you and others as well.
