$13 bushel of beans and $7 bushel of corn will doom what little upland game habitat is available.  I’m seeing fields that have sat fallow for 20 years being tilled up in my area.  Farmers are definitely cutting a fat hog these days.

Posted by buckbull on January 03

whitetailfreak- great question…quail prolly wont nest in brushpiles, i havent seen them.. but i have seen them use brushpiles frequently.. brushpiles are great cover to have!

yellowstone-actually, the things that quail and pheasants need are basically the same thing that deer and turkeys need! an interspersion of; timber, shruby brush, and native grasses. now yes, quail dont range as far….

they are all indigenious here..quail, deer, and turkeys, becasue they thrive on similar things… so yes, we should talk about quail!

forbs are great and needed for a breeding population of quail, and also forbs make up to 70% of a deers diet in the spring and summer months!

Posted by foodplotPhil on January 04

depends on what kinds of brushpiles you make… there actually is a proper structure when building a pile, to allow birds to get off the ground and up in the branches of the pile…i can elaborate later…..ive been working on several differant kinds of brushpiles too.

shrubs are good, but usually take several years to get going..

one farm i worked on planted a bunch of shrubs and the quail didnt use them much…yet, but there also wasnt much food close!

ive witnessed quail use these brush piles many times.. and we actually had brush piles by the shrub plantings,

remember adault quail only weight 160 grams…there very small..they dont range very far at all… usually 1/4 to 1/2 a mile, so they need; food, and cover, very close

tmalone-  “Quail LIKE short native prairie grasses”

i disagree.. hhaha well kinda, depends on your meaning of LIKE…if by “like” you mean prefer then no(i dissagree), if by “like” you mean will use if its all they have….then ok

illinois was a native tall grass prairie… the quail, do not prefer the shorter native grasses(ie little bluestem). the quail hunters, prefer the shorter grasses.

“that pheasants and deer will use”

yeah.. but i would never tell anyone to plant just little blue ...deer prefer taller native grasses. but yes they will use them.. i would blend; little blue, big blue, and maybe indian grass…switch is too aggresive, and gets too thick.

hands down..the best and most needed thing in illinois…NATIVE WARM SESAON GRASSES… with forbs!!!!

Posted by foodplotPhil on January 04

We never plant native prairie grasses without forbs in them like I stated earlier.  Shrubs the key is getting the right species for the right shade condition/sunny site and soils.  Still takes a few years yeah. 

From our Technical guide,  quail prefer stands of bunch forming grasses that form overhead canopies with open space at ground level with legumes and other annual plant species.  Some mixtures include Little bluestem, sideoats grama, canadian wildrye and forbs. 

Posted by TMalone on January 04

Switchgrass is pretty aggressive, but Indian grass will eat switchgrass for breakfast! I use all native grasses in my plantings, but I try not to mix short and tall because I’ve found that tall always wins. Had a decent stand of little blue and sideoats , but then the indian grass and switchgrass took over. Now I plant short grass sections, and tallgrass sections. I’m going to experiment with strips of grass, food, and shrubs this year. I’ve been working on my property for about 5 years now and I was able to harvest some quail this fall. It was a good feeling seeing them start to come back from the brink.

Posted by aerosmith16 on January 05

Was out today and jumped 4 different coveys:)Im giving them acouple more years and the hunt in on:)

Posted by WhitetailFreak on January 05

In 2010 Pheasants Forever had a Quail/Short Grass & Dog Friendly mixture that consisted of little bluestem, sideoats grama and then forbs. 

We have used Switchgrass in wet sites and sandy sites both.  It is well tolerant of both.

Posted by TMalone on January 05

I have seen quail make a mad dash for our Honeysuckel bushes that form a 20 ft wide hedge around our back field.  The Red Tailed Hawks are relentless on them.  There was a nest of Red Tails nearby this spring.  They are very noisy!  I haven’t seen or heard a quail since. 

We have plenty of cover in the area 80 acres of CRP two farms down, but the quail population can’t keep up with the hawks appetite.  I learned real quick that I could not let my pigeons out to exercise.  It was pretty impressive to see such a large bird zipping through the woods at amazing speeds on the heels of one of my pigeons.

Two days ago I saw a Red Tailed Hawk feeding on a freshly killed White Swan.  A flock of them settled in the area last month. I don’t know if it killed it, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I hunt Carlyle Lake regularly.  The Hawks were so bad in years past I watched them take the pheasants right in front of us.  They sit in the trees and wait for the buffet bar to open. 

We don’t hunt any birds around here unless we release them. I have seen some studies where they are recognizing that the Red Tailed Hawk are doing significant damage to local bird populations even other species of Hawks are suffering because of them.  I keep hoping they will alow some sort of population control of the hawks before wild quail are just a distant memory.

Posted by Upland Girl on January 05