I have a friend who has some acreage outside of Llano who would probably be very interested. He goes out to California each year to hunt California quail on a corporate lease and loves wildlife.

I would buy them and release them on my place in Medina County as long as the price isn't crazy.

I would be in

I'd be in on buying some for sure, I've heard from some bird dog guys that these quail will roost in a tree and not on the ground. I'll be interested to see the long term results on the study they are doing in East Texas with these birds.

How long have the 2 you released been around? We spend some time in and around Reno, Nv and they have lots of wild " California quail ". Not sure it they are the same bird but they thrive in that urban desert environment. I'm always amazed that they are so plentiful out there.
ETA I would like to buy some to try in Southeast Texas pastures.

These quail were thick in Scottsdale when I visited in 2020.

I lived in eastern Washington for a year and we hunted them up there. The coveys were huge (50-100 birds). The coveys were much farther apart than Bob's or blues. Would love to hunt them here, not sure how they'd handle the Texas summer.

.Are there any regulations about releasing non-native birds?

All,

OP is my cousin and an Ag (despite not activating his Ag tag).

He texted me to say that he has reached his daily posting limit as a rook, but will respond to all inquiries ASAP.

I've seen his operation (including quail, turkeys, and peacocks) and it is awesome.

Thanks and Gig 'Em.

CanyonAg77 said:

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.Are there any regulations about releasing non-native birds?

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According to TPWD, the answer is no.

Really interested in any follow up to those articles since they are several years old now.

Are they runners or do they hold/flush like Bobs?

I'd be interested for sure. Intrigued the survival rate for both winter and hot summer days. I'm in southern Coleman.

DeBoss said:

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I'd be interested for sure. Intrigued the survival rate for both winter and hot summer days. I'm in southern Coleman.

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I thought that Coleman and Runnels County were some of the only places left that still held decent BW populations besides South Texas?

Plenty of Bob white in the Panhandle

Watched a cover of bobs whilst in the blind this morning.

Interesting on these Cali quail. I wonder if they'll replace bobs here in Texas in my lifetime.

Glad to hear that. Most of the guys I know that farm up that way have said they have dropped off bad the last couple years.

Cali quail were introduced to Patagonia about 100 years ago. They have thrived there. Huge coveys of birds. They nest in the trees. I have hunted them many times there. Dogs go on point under the tree. Bird boy uses ski poles to rattle limbs. Covey rise and then they will settle down in the grasslands around the tree grove. Then you do your single work. Lots of fun.

The answer to bringing bobwhite quail back is better habitat. Lots of quail left in places that have large expanses of good habitat.

birddog7000 said:

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The answer to bringing bobwhite quail back is better habitat. Lots of quail left in places that have large expanses of good habitat.

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I wish that were true, but that was a theory popular about 20 years ago that has been pretty well debunked. Exhibit A is Albany, Texas. Quail have disappeared from large swaths of territory in which the habitat has not changed at all in the last 150 years.

Jabin said:

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birddog7000 said:

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The answer to bringing bobwhite quail back is better habitat. Lots of quail left in places that have large expanses of good habitat.

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I wish that were true, but that was a theory popular about 20 years ago that has been pretty well debunked. Exhibit A is Albany, Texas. Quail have disappeared from large swaths of territory in which the habitat has not changed at all in the last 150 years.

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Except it has changed. Yes it is still rangelands, but those rangelands aren't what they used to be. I'll give some credence to the Rolling Plains having some unanswered quail questions. But I hold to my statement, there are still places that have lots of quail. South Texas, the panhandle, Southern Kansas, all have birds in good rainfall years.

DamnGood86 said:

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Are they runners or do they hold/flush like Bobs?

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I always heard fire ants keep quail from coming back in many areas where effort has been taken to restore the tallgrass prairie habitat.

There are so many theories about the decline of the bob white quail. I think it is a multitude of issues. One being they just aren't a hardy bird. Nest predators, aerial predators, drought, habitat loss, eye worms.

I wish QuailGuard would go ahead and be released to the public, it sounds like the test ranches have had great results. Seems like there is an FDA approval hold up of some sort. All the bobs we have around our places now seem to be riddled with parasites. They are blind and run into things. It also hasn't rained but .6" since the end of July, and that was spread out over three different rains.

Got my attention. I am thinking about raising quail once the chickens I have left are gone. Just curious how you raised the quail. Pen/cage/size? My dad and I used too raise pheasant and quail in the mid 80's. They were penned and caged but really no flight room. Raised them for meat and eggs back then. Thinking if I try again of making a small flight pen. Also would keep some for eggs and hatch more.

I love quail, but let me go on the record that these quail don't live here for a reason. I dont know that reason, but they don't.

Translation: don't **** with nature

I love hunting quail and grieve that the days of being able to walk out your backdoor and hunt the fringes of fields, which was possible in most places in the southern Midwest and throughout the South, seem to be forever gone. My granddad and uncle used to hunt quail all over central Texas, including right around Hearne. My granddad used to hunt them on the site of the abandoned POW camp. That's hard to believe now.

It was also a different culture back then. Most folks didn't seem to mind others hunting quail on their property so long as you asked first and were respectful. That way of life is long dead as well.

Jay Reimenschneider said:

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I love quail, but let me go on the record that these quail don't live here for a reason. I dont know that reason, but they don't.

Translation: don't **** with nature

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Ringneck pheasant says hi.

ETA, Waldo beat me to it.

For your reading pleasure - test site is Fannin County


https://www.tamuc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Reyna_CaliforniaQuail_FinalReport_2020_R.pdf

I've got water and food out and have seen 6 in over a year. Have good cover for them also with no hunting pressure.

Frankly I'm surprised that South Texas landowners haven't been acquiring these in droves and releasing them. Hell, we have free range warthogs now.

I would buy a couple dozen for sure.