Choices
| Ranking examples of Missouri quail habitat. These pictures were taken in late October as a means of showing better the variety of cover that exists rather than posting more of the common during season brown drab photos to be found throughout this website.
Low quality during hunting season cover and food habitat. The value of this picture illustrates just how large our leases are and how a long edge running dog with reasonable check back will do well. This picture is of the same lease as the next two pictures. this happens to be what we would consider the least productive portion of this farm. It still deserves a hunt by the dogs, but would be the last effort on this farm.
Another spot on the same lease shows better food and edge cover. Many consider beans less valuable to quail than milo or corn, however that does not mean to pass on a bean field. With row crop rotation it is more a matter of degrees rather than absolutes in terms of which grains enhance the better quail hunting. Missouri is strong on beans and corn and weak on forage such as alfalfa and dry land grains of wheat. Most quail hunters will agree a bean field is superior to that of wheat or alfalfa.
The best combination of cover and food habitat on this farm. This would be the first spot to hunt on this lease and it is well inside of the farm fence. For the first year member that seeks the best hunts it must be remembered the willingness to walk part of the quail hunting trilogy inclusive of shooting ability and dog power. That willingness to walk is well illustrated by this lease. The quail could be anywhere on this farm, these pictures offer where to look as a hunting pattern. The self guided hunter must decipher that pattern. If that is viewed as part of the adventure of the hunt then that is the right attitude. If the member/hunter wants us to identify the exact tree line where the coveys will be found that is beyond our mission as a do it yourself hunter organization. Our mission ends at leasing the right habitat within the right region of the state that has a history of good reproduction and getting that hunter/member to the right spot to park his truck. After that, it is the hunter that must hunt. |
