Looking to do some quail hunting at the deer lease before the season runs out.

Lease is located near Jonesboro between Hamilton and Gatesville (Coryell County).

Any recommendations for a good bird provider? I have spoken with Sorrells out of Hubbard. Anyone have any experience using his birds?

THX!

Wes '87

There are wild quail and there are pen raised quail. Anything in between is just marketing

Good pen raised quail are hard to come by

Call Upland Bird Country in Corsicana; he shared with us who he buys birds from and they were pretty good.

But it's spotty at best.

Might look at chukar or pheasant depending on what you find.


[This message has been edited by texrover91 (edited 1/10/2012 12:44p).]

There is a huge difference in birds raises in a 10x10' pen that is 2' tall then birds raises in a 30x60' pen that is 12' tall.

Call Spanish oaks and see if he has any extra birds.

Spanish Oaks-forgot about them.

Call Long Straw up in Montague County; he probably know who has good birds as well.

There is a guy that has decent birds in Fort Worth. His name is James Hankin, I will look up his number when I get home.

Thanks EE07

I have never hunted pen-raised birds. Can someone explain how a hunt like this works? Does one person set out the birds in designated spots and then guides the other hunters to the birds or tells them what route to hunt?

What's sad is that this may be the only way the next generation can quail hunt if numbers don't make a drastic improvement.

Gator - We purchase the birds and set them out on a pasture of our lease. Certainly not the real deal but it is a reminder of the old days (for my dad) and our gang has a great time. Birds are $4 to $5 each and they are delicious.

Wild quail hunts also are quite expensive these days.

pen raised birds will never compare to wild birds. folks that say they do have never shot at wild birds

No one said they do. Just there is a difference in the type of pen raided birds

When those in the know are encouraging hunters to "hunt and release" wild quail due to low populations (get your dogs on point but don't harvest) you do what you have to do to get your dogs on birds.

Never said they compare to the wild. Just want to hunt quail without dropping a ton of dough and we want to hunt the quail at our lease. No quail there... I'm bringing them in.

We do this once a year and it is a great day for the lease gang (that includes my dad)! If you don't have access to wild birds, you should try it. Lot's of fun.

Gig 'em!

Wes '87

K&S Outfitters on west side of San Antonio have been raising quail for hunts for a long time. I have no idea of their current situation but it is definitely their busiest time of year (guiding hunts, etc.) The owners are Arlen Krueger and Greg Sterner. Greg told me that they are very careful to feed the birds at night so they do not ever see people close up and it makes a difference.

You can google and find bits about them but evidently they don't have a website.

Don't know which direction you are coming from but we buy birds in Overton. He has a big flight pen and they fly pretty well. We have lost a few when they are flushed because they fly off a few hundred yards, not to mention a few poor shots.

For the birds that manage to not get shot, what kind of life expectancy do they have in the wild if there is reasonable forage and water for them? My guess is the ones raised in the small pens don't fare as well as the ones in big pens.

Unless a management system is in place, I'd expect the survival rate to be about 0%

I found fairly good birds by using Ceaig's list in the DFW area, you may need to try it for a the closest big town to you...there were several locations I found

English Elhew, send me your guy's info in Ft Worth to Collin@lonestarstripes.com...thanks..I ave some guys around Weatherford and Azle

Survival is around 2% on the high end

Yeah, most birds dont survive. But its a good exercise for the dogs to get out. Usually when I use them I will run dogs in an hour loop to see if we cant find a wild covey to flush. Then I have a few of the pen birds planted somewhere towards the end, so that I can shoot them and let the dogs get some feathers in their mouths. I have actually found more wild birds than I expected. But the coveys are very small. I move 3 or so coveys a day in Jones County.

Forgot to post the number.
James Hankin 817 451 6442. He is in the SE of the 820 - I30 intersection in East Fort Worth. His birds fly decently well, and are $4 each. He usually has birds through march.