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Photo by Chad Love
Observations from several states across quail range
It may be the beginning of summer, but quail hunters know that autumn’s birds are made now. This is the time of year when quail hunters across the nation start cocking their ears for the sound of whistling birds and the sight of paired-up quail along roadsides.
Weather and cover are the keys in the spring and summer months, so even as we engage in our summer activities we keep one eye on the weather and the other eye on the cover, hoping for that magic combination that will provide ample birds for making autumn memories.
And while it’s very early to be making any predictions about how nesting season will shake out, here are a few quick takeaways from a small sampling of states across quail range.
These aren’t full-fledged reports, but merely casual observations from the field; consider it “upland water cooler talk.” For a more in-depth and more complete look at how next season will be, be sure to check back in later this summer for our full, in-depth 2023 hunting report.
Here’s where we’re at state-by-state:
Click on a state to jump ahead to that report, or scroll down to view all.
New Mexico
New Mexico
Enchanted Quail Forever President Stephanie Walton says she’s excited about not only New Mexico, but the Southwest region in general, which in many areas has gotten some timely spring rains.
“We’ve gotten some good moisture that we haven’t seen in a while,” says Walton. “Right now it’s looking pretty good across parts of the state, especially for scaled quail and Gambel’s.
“The southeast part of the state is still pretty dry but I was in southern New Mexico last week and I heard Mearns’ quail calling, which usually doesn’t happen until July, so hopefully we’ll have a good year on them, too.”
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Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Tell Judkins, small game biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, says he’s “cautiously optimistic.”
“Overall field conditions are looking good, we need the weather to continue to cooperate and continue to build on the areas where habitat management for quail has or is being done,” said Judkins.
“We’ve seen habitat respond favorably across much of the state. We’ve seen some timely rains, some untimely. Nesting could have been impacted by torrential springtime downpours, but rather than wide swaths of a county, spring rain impacts should be localized.
I am hearing a lot of “bob…bob-white!” calls this spring. Seems everywhere I go I am hearing the trusty call! At this point in the year it’s hard to get excited for the upcoming season based on what we are seeing because there is so much that can change between June and November.
But if weather patterns continue the way they are looking, we could — and I stress could — see something akin to the boom year of 2015, where we saw a very similar pattern: Several years of extreme drought followed by an ideal and timely wet spring that creating a ton of forbs, flowers, and insects. But again, that’s just one many scenarios, and only time will tell.”
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Mississippi
Mississippi
Rick Hamrick, small game coordinator for the Mississipii Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, says a drier second half of spring balanced out early spring rains, and conditions are looking good going into nesting season.
It was wet for a while, but has recently gotten drier,” said Hamrick. “It’s still early, so there isn’t that much drought stress yet, and some rainfall is starting to return. It was overall a mild winter, but after a really warm start to March it was a lingering cool, wet early spring. The latter half of spring has been mostly pleasantly mild with a few hot and humid days mixed in.
With the hard December freeze and the lingering cool and rain from early spring, things seemed a little slower getting going this year. Quail are calling fairly actively now in most areas where they occur, and so far nesting conditions should be mostly good.
Temperatures are increasing, and it has gotten dry in many areas, but rains are starting to come that should get vegetation perked back up. We are just getting toward the peak of nesting season for this region. The next several weeks for vegetation condition will likely be some of the most important as our peak hatch is in July.
Overall I believe we are going to be a little later before the brood sightings pick up this year given the cool, wet spring, although there are certainly a few early broods already out there, especially in South Mississippi. So far weather has not been too unfavorable as we approach peak nesting.
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Texas
Texas
John W. McLaughlin, upland game bird program leader for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, says steady rainfall across the state in the early winter provided some relief from recent drought conditions but things became unseasonably warm and dry later in the season.
“While dry in early spring, we’ve had multiple reports of nesting birds in April, both bobwhite, scaled quail, and Montezuma quail,” said McLaughlin. “This is early for most birds and surprising given widespread drought. Widespread rains in May provided much needed drought relief across the state. There were concerns about rain and cold impacting chick survival, but mostly good news in the grand scheme.
Habitat conditions are improving, with green up across most of the state and continued nesting and hatching activity reported across all regions, so the good news is birds are nesting and habitat improving.
The challenges are that — outside of South Texas — there are only so many birds to take advantage of the conditions, given recent years’ lack of production. However, looking forward – if we can avoid severe summer heat, which seems likely with El Nino development, it could be a good recharge and a bumper year for birds in Texas. But Texas is big, so these are broad generalizations; it’s still early and summer is long down here, so right now it’s still a “to be determined” situation,” but our native grasses and forbs will certainly benefit.
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Nebraska
Nebraska
“Nebraska has seen many weather extremes this year including ongoing drought, heavy snowfall, and flooding in various parts of the state,” says Kelsi Wehrman, Nebraska State Coordinator.
According to Wehrman, the Southwest, Panhandle and Northern regions had significant and prolonged snowfall. The long winter pushed the growing season back, and both pheasants and quail nesting activity seems later as well.
“The same area that was impacted by heavy snows had also been impacted by prolonged drought prior to the winter,” Wehrman reports. “Even with snowfall, the areas were still considered in extreme drought throughout the spring. Unfortunately, CRP and other quality nesting cover has been regularly hayed or grazed in many of the regions for the last three years during the extreme drought conditions.”
Rural mail carrier surveys indicate much of the same as last year for pheasant and quail numbers. The Northeast, Central and Southeast regions continue to see gains though.
“The drought continues to be problematic for Nebraska’s pheasants and quail. Areas near wetlands would have the best chance of brood success,” says Wehrman Areas that have received early spring moisture have reports of good numbers of insects.
The Panhandle, Southwest and Sandhills areas are showing declines, and nesting cover was very short due to the ongoing drought. Wehrman says wildfires were also problematic due to the drought with major fires occurring in the Sandhills region.
“Few broods have been observed yet, likely due to the late spring,” she says. “Pastures have been grazed more heavily with little to no grass regrowth in the Southwest, Panhandle, and Northern Regions.”
Wehrman has her fingers crossed that conditions will help to improve habitat over the summer. “Keep tabs on conditions in Nebraska as summer goes on to see which areas may see some timely rains to help the habitat and the birds.
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Arkansas
Arkansas
“The winter of 2022-2023 in Arkansas was relatively mild and, though we did dip into the teens for several days, we did not get the extended snow and ice that we saw in early 2021 that was so damaging to our quail population,” said Clint Johnson, quail program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. “Our brood data just began rolling in on June 1st, so it is hard to say right now how our hatch will look for the summer of 2023, but we are hoping the positive trend from the last couple of years continues.
Except for 2021, our adults-per-observer, chicks-per-observer, and chicks-per-adult have been increasing every year since 2018 and are the highest seen since at least 2007. These brood data are collected by agency staff and the public mostly on lands managed for wildlife — though not quail, specifically — which suggests we are on the right track for habitat management on both public and private lands in Arkansas.
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Tennessee
Tennessee
“With the exception of a hard freeze with lows around zero and single-digit daytime highs around Christmas, winter was relatively mild with no major snow events in Tennessee,” said Michael McChord, small game coordinator for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. “February rains hindered management somewhat, but this has become typical weather for Tennessee in recent years. Anecdotally, overwinter survival seemed pretty good based on late winter covey observations on managed lands.
Spring burning conditions were average, with unfavorable conditions for most of February and better conditions in March. Spring cold fronts delayed green up about a week. Warm, dry conditions in late April and May accelerated the first hay cuttings, hopefully shifting hens to other patches of cover that won’t be disturbed prior to nest initiation. Our field staff are wrapping up habitat projects ahead of peak nesting season and beginning whistle counts. Nesting cover should be good on properties that are managed for bobwhites this year.”
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On to summer! Look for Quail Forever's Annual Fall Hunting Forecast about a week after Labor Day. We will keep you updated until then.