Some experts say that released quail won't survive in the wild, but other experts say they can and do.
From what I saw and experienced in south Georgia last weekend, I am inclined to believe the latter.
My host welcomed me to hunt and take photos on his quail paradise on the condition that I not divulge where I was nor whom I was with. I can only say that I was accompanied by three Arkansans in the legal profession. Two of our group have hunted there annually for 16 years, and they are as awestruck now as they were at first.
We hunted for two days on about 2,000 acres of intensively managed longleaf pines. The sandy soil is carpeted with native grasses, legumes, briars and sand plums. The landowner burns about one-third of the property annually to provide an uneven-age mixture of habitat that includes generous amounts of nesting cover, brood-rearing cover, loafing cover and escape cover.
That's Quail Management 101.
From there, the landowner goes rogue.
A disciple of Jim Evans, a renowned quail management expert, the landowner has populated his property with domestic-raised, flight-trained bobwhites. His results over decades are phenomenal.
In two days, a group of seven hunters moved nearly 50 coveys of bobwhites numbering 25-50 birds per covey.
I have had some empty, soul-searching experiences hunting pen-raised quail. I've seen bird dogs snatch and eat befuddled quail cowering on bare dirt, and I've seen quail that you actually had to kick to make them fly. So corrupt were these experiences that I long ago swore off slaughtering birds on shooting preserves.
One whiff of that in Georgia and I would have cased my gun and enjoyed a good walk.
I noticed no difference between these Georgia birds and wild bobwhites. In fact, it's unjust to call them "released" birds. Feral is more accurate.
"Really, the only difference is that my birds weigh about two ounces more than a quail that was born and raised in the wild," the landowner said. "Otherwise they act the same, work the same and fly the same as wild."
Under Evans's guidance, the landowner establishes a covey in a home range by initially providing food, water and cover. The cover includes strips of lovegrass that can feed and conceal an entire covey.
At the outset, the landowner said he expected to lose 30-50 percent of his birds to predators.
"To my great surprise, that did not occur," he said.
He said that he also expected to lose most of his birds to natural mortality since they were not conditioned to deal with weather extremes.
"To my great surprise, that did not occur, either," the landowner said.
His birds elude predators and survive Georgia's hot summers, winter ice storms and rain. They also mingle and breed successfully with wild bobwhites. Carryover is exceptionally high.
Once a covey imprints to its home territory, the landowner transitions away from feeders, which concentrate birds and make them vulnerable to predators.
Instead, he broadcasts milo and other grains into the thickest cover. This allows quail to disperse and feed where they are invulnerable to predators.
Also, the landowner only hunts covey rises until February. He does not hunt dispersed coveys or singles until near the end of quail season in February.
"They get educated real quick if you do that," said the landowner's guide and manager. "If you leave the singles alone, they'll covey back up real quick, and they'll continue to hold for the dogs and work right.
"If you start hunting the singles, they'll run from the dogs and flush 'wild.' "
Also, the landowner does not allow 12-gauge shotguns on his property. He prefers 28-gauge.
On our final hunt on New Year's Day, a north wind blew about 14 mph, and the humidity was 25 percent and falling. So poor are those conditions for hunting and for dog work that everybody went home early except for us Arkies, one of which stayed at the lodge and watched football next to a roaring fire.
The rest of us had the hunt of a lifetime. I counted 12 coveys, but a companion counted 16. They were all big coveys, too. The birds flew so well that we didn't get shots on at least two rises.
I've never seen anything like it, and it makes me question everything I thought I knew about quail management.
There is always somebody who knows more.
Sports on 01/07/2018