Habitat & Conservation,Hunting & Heritage,Quail Hunting Forecast  |  10/04/2017

Quail Hunting Forecast 2017


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Prepare for some serious road trips. The news from most of quail country is that good.

By Tom Carpenter

For the seasoned quail hunter, Quail Forever’s annual hunting forecast is going to cause fever-level excitement indeed. 

For the uplander who has always had quail on his or her “list,” or the hunter who has been waiting for the right time to get serious about an expedition for Bobs, Cottontops, Gambel’s, Mountain’s, California’s or Mearns’, the only sane takeaway messages are these:

Go now. Make this the year.

Weather has certainly cooperated in many places -- especially the arrival of timely rains that enhanced quail habitat for nesting, brood production and escape cover. The habitat itself is there; but we still need more.

Perhaps the best sweep of quail country is going to be the Great Plains triangle of Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, where mild winters and solid brood production have put quail numbers far above long-term averages.

Moving south, it looks like Texas’s hunt is “only” going to be about like last year – which was the best in recent memory. Oklahoma had a few issues with production, but the place still is going to produce between one and two million quail for hunters.

Heading west, Colorado’s quail hunting forecast is as good as it’s been in modern times. For a winter trip, Arizona and New Mexico are going to produce birds. The coastal states are solid.

Not to overlook the Southeast, a close look at the following state-by-state reports will show windows of promise and hope as quail habitat work seems to be making a difference. We just need more of that work.

And that’s the final message for everywhere in quail country: It’s all about the habitat. Fortunate weather conditions will only go so far in keeping quail counts as strong as they are. That’s when habitat really kicks in. Join or renew with Quail Forever today to make your own difference, give back to the habitat, and create more of it.

Explore the reports that follow. Then get and Hunt Quail Now.
 

FULL CLICKABLE MAP

QUAIL FOREVER ULTIMATE HUNT PLANNER TOOL

ARIZONA

CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

IDAHO

ILLINOIS

IOWA

KANSAS

KENTUCKY

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

NEBRASKA

NEVADA

NEW MEXICO

OHIO

OKLAHOMA

OREGON

SOUTH CAROLINA

TENNESSEE

TEXAS

UTAH

VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON