AMEAICAN GAME 
 
 
Want More Quail? Here's How"' 
 
         Dog Trainer Demonstrates Success of Game Management 
 
                            By C. Mortimer Palmer 
 
 
"sIX birds, no more, no less!" Only 
   S   six quail found on 3,000 acres in 
   _ the heart of Virginia during a 
 week's hunt! 
   This was the discouraging experience of 
 Willie Craig, veteran dog trainer, after 
 he had completed a survey of the place 
 he bought near Trevilians six years ago 
 for training his dogs. 
   Idle bemoaning would not produce more 
 birds. Grumping would not replace cover, 
 nor would quail food thrive on sighs and 
 disappointment.  Here was a problem 
 which must be faced immediately. It 
 threatened his business, his livelihood and 
 the welfare of his family. The same prob- 
 lem of scarcity is facing sportsmen all over 
 the country. What was to be done to get 
 more birds on the place? The state doesn't 
 present them with their compliments. Lib- 
 erating hand-reared birds is expensive. 
   But birds were needed immediately. 
 Birds were bought and liberated as seed 
 stock. These were fed and protected dur- 
 ing the winter. A close study of the area 
 showed a serious lack of food and cover. 
 Fields were wide and open and overrun 
 with broomsedge. Predators were of many 
 species and numerous. 
 Management Increases Quail 
 A declaration of war was immediately 
 made on all predatory species. All sus- 
 pected species were kept under close ob- 
 servation. Feed patches were planted and 
 cover was allowed to grow up unimpeded. 
 The birds became more numerous. 
 Now after six years of study and labor 
 Mr. Craig can show birds on any part of 
 his property. Natives who hunt on the 
 surrounding territory claim there are more 
 birds now than there ever were before. 
As many as_,Ucovies have been located in 
less than a day on this area. And this in 
spite of the fact that the birds are disturbed 
 
 
by the working of dogs practically nine 
months of the year. No dog work is done 
during the most important part of the 
quail breeding season - May, June and 
July. Mr. Craig admits he should not 
work the dogs during August as well, but 
the fact that so many field trials are called 
early in the fall compels him to work some 
of his dogs during this month to prepare 
them for these trials. In spite of this con- 
stant stirring up by dogs, the birds have 
increased tremendously and thrive beau- 
tifully. 
 
 
Fire lanes aid to quail 
 
 
   A definite technique of game manage- 
ment is being developed after the experi- 
ence of the past few years. It is covered 
here briefly. 
 
Technique of Management 
  Cover is encouraged wherever it volun- 
teers. It has been unnecessary to plant 
for cover because it has grown up along 
old field boundaries. Thickets and bram- 
bles, briers and vine tangles have appeared 
and afford ideal cover and protection. Ad- 
jacent to all these hedgerows, wooded 
areas and wherever cover abounds, a strip 
is plowed. It varies from 10 to 30 feet 
wide, depending upon the size of the field. 
  The strips are then planted to the follow- 
ing food for fall, winter and spring; mixed 
cowpeas and beans in the larger fields, 
Brabham whippoorwill and iron peas in 
all the smaller patches, with Octotan beans, 
 
 
kaffir corn, maize, millet, buckwheat and 
sorghum, with field corn mixed in all the 
patches in open country. These plants, 
particularly the last six, are all built on 
a sturdy stalk, which will stand up and 
hold its store of grain through the severe 
storms of the winter, making the food ac- 
cessible to the birds. The others lie closer 
to the ground and fill in this space, afford- 
ing better hiding places to birds surprised 
by their enemies while feeding. The ability 
of the strong stalks of the corn, etc., to 
hold up through inclement weather insures 
a supply of grain food spread out over 
the months when birds find it most difficult 
to get enough food to keep up their stamina 
to combat bad weather and enemies. Er- 
rington says, as a result of his investiga- 
tions in Wisconsin, that well-fed covies 
came through the winter with little or no 
mortality. The stored energy of well-fed 
birds enables them to withstand severe 
storms and low temperatures. They are 
quicker to detect danger and have full 
command of all their faculties in making 
quick, sudden rushes to protecting cover. 
Winter and Spring Food 
  The plants selected to supply winter 
and spring food are those bearing large 
numbers of seeds usually in the ear (such 
as corn), or head, as with millet and kaf- 
fir, on strong stalks. These stalks are 
gradually weakened as the storms of win- 
ter progress and one by one they bow to 
them, lowering the precious seeds to the 
eager birds below. The ears of corn drop 
and even quail have learned to dig through 
the coarse husk to the grain beneath. This 
was proven in Wisconsin. 
  Legumes of various kinds have been 
found to be one of the most important 
items of the quail diet at certain seasons 
when they are available. Various culti- 
vated legumes have been tried to find out 
 
 
'' 
 
 
1. Areas planted to winter wheat with Korean lespedeza planted over it in
early spring. 2. Strips planted to various grains 
and legumes for fall, winter and early spring foods. 3. Weeds and sedge areas
for nesting and roosting. 4. Woods 
               throughout which are cut the fire lanes referred to in text.
5. Hedgerows between fields. 
 
 
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