This 2001-02 bobwhite quail report is a compilation of three surveys the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources does annually on quail production and hunter success. The quail wing survey allows us to use quail wings collected from successful quail hunters across the state to determine age and hatch dates of quail from the previous nesting year. This information gives us the timing and duration of the nesting season. The quail wing envelopes have detailed instructions and are postage paid for the hunters' convenience. The wing envelopes and quail hunting log surveys record hunt information such as hours hunted, birds flushed, bagged and shots taken. This information is broken down into weekly and monthly subsets to give us trend data on hunter effort and success over the course of each season. The last report is the roadside survey, which is conducted the last week in July every year by mail carriers across the state. Mail carriers record the number of miles driven on their route and the number of quail and rabbit sightings. This provides us trend data on what to expect this upcoming season. When the surveys are completed we have a glimpse into last year's nesting season, the 2001-02 hunter flush and bag rates and a forecast for the upcoming 2002-03 hunting season.

All of our surveys are strictly voluntary and we strongly encourage all quail hunters across the state to cooperate in these surveys. Hunter cooperators receive this report, detailing the past year's hatch, hunting season results, and expectations for the upcoming season. Cooperators also receive a new hunting log and wing envelopes for the upcoming season and a small gift of appreciation for participating. Hunting logs are available through the Hunting and Trapping Guide and on our website (www.kdfwr.state.ky.us). Logs and wing envelopes are available from wildlife/boating officers, private lands biologists, WMA staff, or by writing to: KDFWR, Attn: Upland Game Program, #1 Game Farm Rd. Frankfort, KY 40601 or calling 1-800-858-1549.

1. 2001-02 Bobwhite Quail Wing Collection

Successful bobwhite quail hunters were surveyed by a volunteer mail-in method whereby wing collection envelopes were provided. Envelopes were distributed directly to all cooperators from previous years and to new cooperators through county conservation officers and regional wildlife division personnel upon requests. Supplies of envelopes were also made available at the Game Farm, Minor Clark Fish Hatchery, and all wildlife management area offices.

Age of the harvested birds was determined utilizing the methods described by Petrides (1942), Petrides and Nestler (1943) and Rosene (1969). Juveniles were backdated from date of harvest to determine the primary hatching dates for the season. The hunter in the field, utilizing instructions on the wing collection envelopes (Figure 1) determined sex.

During the 2001-02 bobwhite quail hunting season, 81 successful quail hunters mailed in 874 wings from 285 hunts and 47 counties across the state (Appendix A). Of the 874 wings received, 654 were usable for aging purposes. The age ratio was 77.7% juveniles and 22.3% adult birds. A productivity index of 3.5 young per adult or 9.2 juveniles per adult hen was found in this year’s sample. Overall, 57.3% of the birds were male with 42.7% being female.

Figure 1. Quail wing survey as printed in the postpaid wing collection envelopes.



 

Figure 2. shows the cumulative hatch over the nesting season with approximately 78% of the hatch having occurred by September 1. The September 1 date is important since birds hatched after this date are expected to have very low survival rates (Kabat and Thompson 1963) and are not likely to become a part of the following spring breeding population.

Percent hatch by week is shown in Figure 3. The main portion of the hatch was spread from mid July to late August. Peak periods occurred from late July to mid-August. This indicates a typical hatch year. The overall hatch dates are later than anticipated based on historical reports, prior to initiation of this survey. Earlier work conducted on a western Kentucky population of quail showed that the majority of the hatch was over by the first two weeks of July (1957-58 P-R reports). Likewise, Reeves (1954) showed primary hatch occurring before the middle of July in Indiana. However, data from nearly all years of this project have indicated major portions of the hatch in Kentucky to have occurred during the last two weeks of July and first two weeks of August. The 2001-02 numbers show the majority of the hatch occurring at exactly this time period.

Figure 4 shows average data from the 16 year life of this survey compared to this seasons data with regards to the proportion of the juveniles which were of a size generally considered to be acceptable to hunters. Quail grow out of this "squealer" stage at about 70 days of age and have plumage and flight capabilities similar to adult birds at this time. The 70-day-old quail will weigh less than an adult but be otherwise similar. A 90 day old quail is indistinguishable in both size and plumage characteristics to the untrained observer. At the November 1 opening, 68.1% of the juvenile birds were 70 days old or older and 40.8% of the juveniles were at least 90 days old. This compares to an average of 75.5% of the birds being 70 days or older and 50.3% of the birds being 90 days old or older for the 16-year life of this survey. Data from the early season opening, November 1^st through 10^th, indicated 80% of hunter cooperators thought the birds taken were of satisfactory size. Hunts during this early period were rated as excellent (13.3%), good (80%), and poor (6.7%).



This information tells us we had a typical nesting season last year with a good hatch. The 80% satisfactory size rating indicates that most hunters were happy with the birds they were seeing and harvesting in the early season.

2. 2001-02 Bobwhite Quail Season Hunter Effort and Success.

Hunter effort and success is recorded by the quail wing survey and the quail log survey. These surveys ask for the same information, but the results are slightly different because the quail wing hunt information is recorded from only successful quail hunters while the quail log records information from all hunts, whether successful or not. Hunt data gathered from the wing envelopes and quail hunting logs included the name and address of the cooperator; county of hunt; wildlife management area (if applicable); number in hunting party; hours hunted; use of dogs; loss of crippled birds; number of coveys flushed; if singles were hunted; number of birds bagged; and subjective rating of the quality of the hunt.

The data were grouped into weekly and monthly subsets of information from the opening of hunting season, 11/01/01, through the end of hunting season, 02/10/02. These subsets were utilized to look at changes in various statistics over the length of the hunting season. An index of hunts/available day was calculated by dividing the total number of hunts in the sample during any one week/month by the number of huntable days in the week/month to compensate for weeks or months with less than 7 or 30/31 huntable days. This allows us to compare all weeks/months equally, even though some had fewer days.

1. 2001-02 Quail wing envelope results

Eighty-one quail hunters cooperated in the mail-in survey by sending in quail wings and hunt information from 285 hunts in 47 counties. All of the hunters surveyed last season used dogs during their hunting endeavors. Most of the surveyed hunters (91.6%) also hunted singles following covey flushes.

Figure 5 shows hunting pressure throughout the season. Hunting pressure varied throughout the season with the highest peaks coming the week after the close of modern gun deer season and the week of the Christmas/New Years holiday. The early to mid December period and third week in January were also heavily hunted. This year's hunting pressure was more varied than the typical pattern of heavy hunting early and tapering off toward the end of season. Pressure was much more spread out over the course of the season this year. The very warm early season and mild winter may have attributed to people hunting less in the early season, and more in the late season, than in typical years.

Figure 6 shows the same data broken down in monthly subsets. Pressure is fairly even over the season with the exception of the lower participation in February. November participation was lower than usual this past season. Unseasonably warm weather could have kept hunters out of the field early on this season.

2001-02 hunts varied in length from 1 to 12 hours and averaging 3.8 hours in duration. The average flush rate during the hunts was 2.1 coveys/trip or 0.6 coveys/hour with a maximum of 8 and a minimum of 0 coveys. The highest flush rate for any one hunt was 2 coveys/hour and lowest was 0.14 coveys/hour for these successful quail hunters.

The average harvest rate was 4.1 quail/trip or 1.1/hour. Approximately 55 minutes of hunting was required to harvest a quail with success rates ranging from 0.20 to 4 birds harvested/hour hunted.

The hunt lengths and rates of harvest found in this year's survey (3.8 hour hunts producing 1.1 birds/hour or 4.3 birds/ trip) compare well with the statewide rates of 5.5 hour hunts, producing 3.8 birds/trip reported for Oklahoma (Ellis 1972:306), the 2.1 birds/trip reported for 3.7 hour hunts in Tennessee (Gudlin 1994) and the 3.6 hour hunts producing 1.9 birds/trip in Virginia (Fies 1994).

Figures 7 and 8 show the flush and harvest rates by week and month of the season. The flush and bag rates obviously start low with lower participation, peak the week of the statewide opener and slowly taper off over the course of the season. Weekly subsets show small peaks in the most heavily hunted weeks and a tapering off toward the end of season. The monthly subsets show the same trend. Notice that even though November was not very heavily hunted the flush and harvest rates were comparable to December and January. February flush and bag rates drop off, as would be expected this late in the season.

The quail hunter log survey is a diary-type survey that hunters are asked to keep throughout the hunting season. Hunters record the same information as mentioned above on the wing envelopes in relation to hunter effort and success. The difference is that this survey records all hunts the hunter takes during the season whereas the wing envelopes record hunt information from only successful hunts. Hunts where divided into the same weekly and monthly subsets as the wing survey information to look at changes over the course of the season.

Hunting logs were received from 45 hunter who averaged 14.6 hunting trips lasting 3.6 hours. Data was provided from 655 hunts from 50 counties across the state (Appendix B).

Hunting pressure was very similar to the wing survey data with peaks the week after modern gun deer season, the middle of December and the Christmas/New Year holiday (Figure 9). Hunts by month of season also look very similar to the wing envelope hunts with December and January having the most hunts (Figure 10).

Flush rates averaged 0.48 coveys flushed/hour of hunting. This translates into 2.1 hours of hunting/covey flush. Covey flushes varied in this year's survey to a high of 8 to 0/hunt. The harvest rates were 0.79 birds/hour of hunting or 1.20 hours/bird. The maximum harvest rate reported was 24 birds per hour and the minimum was 0. You will notice that these rates are lower than the 0.6 covey flushes/hour and 1.1 birds harvested/hour reported in the quail wing survey. This shows the difference in averaging successful quail hunts vs. all hunts in a season. Figures 11 and 12 show the flush and bag rates by week and month of season reported by the hunting logs. Again these are slightly different than the graphs of successful hunts recorded by the wing survey. Here flush and bag rates do not drop of as much as the wing survey hunts or as much as in typical years. Again, more hunting pressure in the later season would explain this less than expected drop in flush and bag rates.

Flush rates were down 2% in 2001-02 versus 2000-01 and harvest rates were down 2.5%. This decrease is a bit surprising with the slight increase in mail carrier survey index last year but not a significant drop. Figure13 shows the flush and bag rates over the life of this survey Hunters reported harvesting 65.5% of the birds shot at. Reported crippling rates averaged 8.5% of the birds shot at. Assuming all wounded birds do not survive the known hunter mortality is 74%.

In summary, the 2001-02 season flush and harvest rates were down slightly from the previous season by 2.0% and 2.5% respectively. This is a bit of a surprise considering the 2001 mail carrier survey was up 14% over the 2000 index. However, the 2-2.5% drop can not be considered significant with the low number of hunter cooperators we have. More participation in both the quail wing and quail log surveys would give us a much more accurate comparison to the roadside survey index and a more accurate picture of our quail population.

1. 2002 Mail Carrier Survey

So, what can we look forward to this season? The mail carrier survey gives us a glimpse into what we can expect this upcoming season. This survey is the oldest in the program being completed for 42 years. Although no population estimates can be derived from this data it does give us valuable trend data as to whether populations are up, down or stable.

Volunteer mail carriers record all observations of quail and rabbit as they travel their normal mail delivery routes. The blank survey cards are sent to the postmasters 1-week prior to the census period, which is the last full week (6 delivery days) of July. Each observer recorded the number of days surveyed, the length of the route, and each quail observation on the cards.

The state of Kentucky was divided into four weather divisions, which were utilized for comparison of quail data (Appendix C).

Mail carriers returned 752 of the approximately 1,100 survey cards issued for a response rate of 68.4 percent. Totals of 2,255 quail were observed during the last full week of July 2002, as the mail carriers drove 240,769 miles over rural mail routes.

In 2002, mail carriers observed a total of 2,255 quail, or 0.94 observations per 100 miles, of which 928 or 41.2% were from the Western Weather Division. These observations represent a decrease of 3.1% on a statewide basis when compared to the 2001 results. This is the first year we have had a decrease in quail numbers in the last 3 surveys. Increases in quail observations from the 2001 to 2002 survey results were recorded in the Western and Central weather divisions by 0.6% and 3.1% respectively. Decreases in observations of 17.6% and 8.3% were recorded in the Bluegrass and Eastern weather divisions.

Table 1 compares observations in 2002 with those of 2001 and the 1960-2002 average index. The 2002 quail index showed a decrease of 3.1% over the 2001-survey index. The 2002 quail index was down 30.4% from to the 1960-2002 average statewide index and 61.3% below the all time high index of 2.43 quail/100 miles found in 1968.

TOTAL QUAIL/100 MILES PERCENT CHANGE

WEATHER MEAN MEAN

DIVISION 1960-2002* 2001 2002 2002/1960-2002 2001/2002

Western 2.50 1.61 1.62 -35.2 +0.6

Central 1.35 0.97 1.00 -25.9 +3.0

Bluegrass 0.87 0.85 0.70 -19.5 -17.6

Eastern 0.63 0.36 0.33 -47.6 -8.3

*No data available for 1964.

You can see from figure 14 that the statewide quail observation indices from 1960 to the present is a downward trend. The trend line shows an average rate of decline of 1.3 %/year over the life of the survey.

Figures 15 and 16 show the quail observation indices from 1960 to the present, broken down by weather divisions (Appendix C). The historical trends of higher quail populations in the Western and Central weather regions are evident by looking at the numbers of quail observed per 100 miles in these regions. The Western weather division has contributed approximately 50 percent of all quail observations over the 40 years of this survey and heavily affects the statewide results. The per cent of total observations in this year's survey came from the Western region (41.2%), Central region (28.9%), Bluegrass region (19.3%) and Eastern region (10.6%). These higher quail populations for the western third of the state can be attributed to the generally more favorable habitat conditions and milder winter climate in this portion of Kentucky compared to the rest of the state.

A similar survey conducted by the Missouri Department of Conservation utilizes a general guideline to quality of hunting as follows:

1 hour per covey flush = excellent

2 hours per covey flush = good

3 hours per covey flush = poor

Utilizing this rating system, the 2001-02 quail-hunting season (2.1 hours per covey flush) in Kentucky would be rated as average.

Given the long term declines in quail populations across the country our flush and harvest rates of (3.3 hour hunts producing 1.1 birds/hours and 4.3 birds per trip) compare favorably to the statewide rates of 5.5 hour hunts, producing 3.8 birds/trip reported for Oklahoma (Ellis 1972:306), the 2.1 birds/trip reported for 3.7 hour hunts in Tennessee (Gudlin 1994) and the 3.7 hours hunts producing 2.3 birds/trip in Virginia (Fies 1994).

In summary, we had a favorable nesting season in the summer of 2001 with timing of nesting shown in the quail wing survey. Hunting was very similar to the 2000-01 season with only a slight decrease in flush and harvest rates of 2.0% and 2.5% respectively from the quail hunting log survey. The 2002 mail carrier survey indicates the 2002-03 season will be slightly down from last season with a 3.1% overall decrease in quail numbers. Regionally the western and central weather divisions should have stable to increasing numbers this season while the Bluegrass and Eastern portions of the state should see slightly lower quail numbers.