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Quail care isn't just academic to college administrator
MDC
10/3/03
This college administrator is a successful graduate of the Conservation Department's quail management school.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Don Willis is looking forward to the opening day of quail season with special anticipation this year. He has at least five big coveys of quail waiting for him. The best part is that he won't have to put his Brittany spaniels and his shotgun in the pickup truck to hunt those coveys. They live in his back yard.
Willis, formerly dean of student affairs at Missouri Western College, now directs the college's scheduling services. He lives on 100 acres of hilly farmland a few miles from St. Joseph. One hundred acres is a pretty big back yard. On the other hand, it's not a very big farm. How does he manage to sustain five coveys of quail on his postage stamp of land? Chalk it up to a good education.
When Willis bought his land five years ago, it had a nice pond, a few acres of farm land, a few acres of trees, some brushy draws, a few acres of pasture and a few quail.
The pond had hundreds of largemouth bass, but they were all small and didn't seem to be growing. So Willis signed up for a pond management workshop offered by the Missouri Department of Conservation. With the tricks he learned there, he reduced the number of bass, and before long he was catching bigger fish. Today he regularly catches 2.5-pounders, and the bass continue to put on weight.
"That made a believer of me," said Willis. When he learned that Conservation Department Private Land Conservationist Bill White was offering a quail-management workshop, he signed up. Afterwards, another private land conservationist, Jim Pierson visited Willis' property to show him how to put his new knowledge to work.
"I grew up in Kansas when you could find multiple coveys in every fence row. I hunted quail as a kid, and I thought I knew everything about them. Now, looking back, it's amazing how ignorant I was."
Before attending the quail workshop, Willis thought quail needed only a few brushy waste areas to thrive. In class, and later under Pierson's instruction, he discovered there is quite a bit more to effective quail management.
One of the first things Willis did to benefit quail was convert part of his pastures to switchgrass and other native warm-season grasses. He also planted legumes -- high protein, seed-producing plants -- on parts of his land where there were no quail and changed the way he managed his grassland acres.
Much of Willis' grassland acreage was enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a federal program that pays landowners to take erosion-prone cropland out of production and plant permanent cover, such as grass or trees. Enrolled grassland can be very good for quail. In the first few years after planting it provides excellent places for quail to find insects and seeds to eat. But if left undisturbed, grass plantings become so dense that the better seed and insect-producing plants are crowded out and quail and other small animals can't walk around in the accumulated litter. From then on, they are useless to quail.
Pierson showed Willis how to use carefully planned burns to open up CRP acreage and keep it beneficial for quail. He also emphasized the importance of small patches of bare soil, where quail can dust their feathers to kill parasites.
Willis began disking strips of pasture lightly in different locations each year. Besides exposing bare soil, this prevents the grass from getting too thick. He also planted food plots of sorghum or corn. The standing crops give quail concealment from hawks and other predators while they dust, and in the fall they provide food for a variety of wildlife.
"It wasn't until I started disking that I realized how important bare ground is to quail," he said. "Within 24 hours I saw both quail and pheasants dusting in the newly opened areas."
Pierson advised Willis to cut down trees that sprouted in the brushy edges along woodlots and draws to keep these areas in shrubby cover. By arranging felled trees in piles strategically located between food plots, crops, grassland and woodlots, Willis created "covey headquarters." These spots shelter quail in severe weather and give them secure hiding places at night. Locating them close to other habitat elements allows quail to meet all their needs with minimal effort and exposure to danger.
The results were dramatic. Willis went from having two small coveys of quail to five big ones.
"Before I learned what to do and saw how well it worked, I blamed the low quail population on raccoons and opossums," said Willis. "I thought I had excellent quail habitat, but it wasn't. Subtle changes take place right under your nose, so you don't notice them. Land that's not worked doesn't stay good quail land. Woody plants take over and your quail habitat disappears."
Willis says he's totally sold on fish and wildlife management workshops. "I'd still be in the dark if it weren't for the Conservation Department's training."
Pierson now works in Holt, Atchison and Nodaway counties, but his work in Andrew and Buchanan counties has been taken up by Private Land Conservationist Jeff Powelson, Willis's new partner in wildlife management.
For information about workshops and other educational resources to help with quail management, visit a Conservation Department office near you or call 573/751-4115.
A new, quarterly newsletter, The Covey Headquarters, provides practical information about quail management as well as quail success stories and the latest news about quail research. To subscribe contact: The Covey Headquarters, 3915 Oakland Ave, St. Joseph, MO 64506, E-mail Bill.White@mdc.mo.gov
- Jim Low -
MDC
10/3/03
This college administrator is a successful graduate of the Conservation Department's quail management school.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Don Willis is looking forward to the opening day of quail season with special anticipation this year. He has at least five big coveys of quail waiting for him. The best part is that he won't have to put his Brittany spaniels and his shotgun in the pickup truck to hunt those coveys. They live in his back yard.
Willis, formerly dean of student affairs at Missouri Western College, now directs the college's scheduling services. He lives on 100 acres of hilly farmland a few miles from St. Joseph. One hundred acres is a pretty big back yard. On the other hand, it's not a very big farm. How does he manage to sustain five coveys of quail on his postage stamp of land? Chalk it up to a good education.
When Willis bought his land five years ago, it had a nice pond, a few acres of farm land, a few acres of trees, some brushy draws, a few acres of pasture and a few quail.
The pond had hundreds of largemouth bass, but they were all small and didn't seem to be growing. So Willis signed up for a pond management workshop offered by the Missouri Department of Conservation. With the tricks he learned there, he reduced the number of bass, and before long he was catching bigger fish. Today he regularly catches 2.5-pounders, and the bass continue to put on weight.
"That made a believer of me," said Willis. When he learned that Conservation Department Private Land Conservationist Bill White was offering a quail-management workshop, he signed up. Afterwards, another private land conservationist, Jim Pierson visited Willis' property to show him how to put his new knowledge to work.
"I grew up in Kansas when you could find multiple coveys in every fence row. I hunted quail as a kid, and I thought I knew everything about them. Now, looking back, it's amazing how ignorant I was."
Before attending the quail workshop, Willis thought quail needed only a few brushy waste areas to thrive. In class, and later under Pierson's instruction, he discovered there is quite a bit more to effective quail management.
One of the first things Willis did to benefit quail was convert part of his pastures to switchgrass and other native warm-season grasses. He also planted legumes -- high protein, seed-producing plants -- on parts of his land where there were no quail and changed the way he managed his grassland acres.
Much of Willis' grassland acreage was enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). CRP is a federal program that pays landowners to take erosion-prone cropland out of production and plant permanent cover, such as grass or trees. Enrolled grassland can be very good for quail. In the first few years after planting it provides excellent places for quail to find insects and seeds to eat. But if left undisturbed, grass plantings become so dense that the better seed and insect-producing plants are crowded out and quail and other small animals can't walk around in the accumulated litter. From then on, they are useless to quail.
Pierson showed Willis how to use carefully planned burns to open up CRP acreage and keep it beneficial for quail. He also emphasized the importance of small patches of bare soil, where quail can dust their feathers to kill parasites.
Willis began disking strips of pasture lightly in different locations each year. Besides exposing bare soil, this prevents the grass from getting too thick. He also planted food plots of sorghum or corn. The standing crops give quail concealment from hawks and other predators while they dust, and in the fall they provide food for a variety of wildlife.
"It wasn't until I started disking that I realized how important bare ground is to quail," he said. "Within 24 hours I saw both quail and pheasants dusting in the newly opened areas."
Pierson advised Willis to cut down trees that sprouted in the brushy edges along woodlots and draws to keep these areas in shrubby cover. By arranging felled trees in piles strategically located between food plots, crops, grassland and woodlots, Willis created "covey headquarters." These spots shelter quail in severe weather and give them secure hiding places at night. Locating them close to other habitat elements allows quail to meet all their needs with minimal effort and exposure to danger.
The results were dramatic. Willis went from having two small coveys of quail to five big ones.
"Before I learned what to do and saw how well it worked, I blamed the low quail population on raccoons and opossums," said Willis. "I thought I had excellent quail habitat, but it wasn't. Subtle changes take place right under your nose, so you don't notice them. Land that's not worked doesn't stay good quail land. Woody plants take over and your quail habitat disappears."
Willis says he's totally sold on fish and wildlife management workshops. "I'd still be in the dark if it weren't for the Conservation Department's training."
Pierson now works in Holt, Atchison and Nodaway counties, but his work in Andrew and Buchanan counties has been taken up by Private Land Conservationist Jeff Powelson, Willis's new partner in wildlife management.
For information about workshops and other educational resources to help with quail management, visit a Conservation Department office near you or call 573/751-4115.
A new, quarterly newsletter, The Covey Headquarters, provides practical information about quail management as well as quail success stories and the latest news about quail research. To subscribe contact: The Covey Headquarters, 3915 Oakland Ave, St. Joseph, MO 64506, E-mail Bill.White@mdc.mo.gov
- Jim Low -
