

Quail are known to gravitate towards the edges. The rural landscape should be diverse and have four of the described components. Public land bobwhites thrive where shrubs and trees meet grassland, cropland and weedy areas. Feathers and small piles of green-and-white droppings are clues to roosting sites. According to biologists, at least seven quail are needed to form a circle so that their tails converge and trap the heat from the birds’ droppings. This is done to conserve body heat and to provide 360-degree surveillance of any approaching predators. Tracks in the dirt and snow can be a good indicator that coveys may be in the area.īobwhites roost in a circle.
#Bobwhite quail Patch#
Public land bobwhite quail travel in coveys and run across the ground from the shelter of one shrubby patch to another. Tracks and signs of public land bobwhite quailīird tracks and signs are commonly encountered yet often overlooked as hunters are walking an area. Coveys use it as a reference point to space themselves across the landscape, which reduces competition for food and cover and helps establish a covey’s winter range. Its primary purpose is to announce a covey’s location to neighboring coveys. The covey call is a loud clear whistle, vocalized as “koi-lee” in the early morning hours - but can also be heard in the evenings before coveys return to the roost or after a covey has been flushed.

Listen to bobwhite sounds here: Bobwhite Sounds From grassy fields to plum thickets, the bobwhite call is a bittersweet melody hunters cherish during the fall months. Listen for the bobwhite’s whistleĪ good method in locating public land bobwhites is to listen at daybreak for the “covey call.” These whistles ring across the uplands like an autumn soundtrack. There is nothing quite like walking up behind a dog on point and anticipating an explosive covey rise of feathers and wings.Īs the upland season is underway, bird hunters need to understand some basics when hunting public land bobwhite quail, a bird steeped in pursuit and tradition. It has made its niche in upland poetry and tradition as the prince of the game birds. The bobwhite quail is a small, plump, ground-dwelling bird with a short tail and rounded wings. Pursuing the gentleman of game birds, the Bobwhite Quail on public land is not without a little bit of unsettling chaos brought on by the flush of a covey erupting into the air.
#Bobwhite quail how to#
How to scout, hunt, and shoot public land bobwhite quail this hunting season New England Grouse Shooting, by William Harnden Foster.The Upland Shooting Life, by George Bird Evans.
