I spent 20 years and 100k of my own money on quail management on my land. I had four different populations of viable quail that had been steady to increasing for five years. Multiple coveys on each farm. Two of those years were extremely cold which under normal population cycles would have resulted in a big die off. I got lucky perhaps that while the number of birds carrying over was down we had two separate hatches the following year. Population was better the next year.

We had quail which wr were able to hunt and which did well. I expected them to continue doing well. But the damn State released turkeys across the road from two farms the first year of their brilliant Turkey management program. The next year they dropped them off on a farm next to mine and on my other farm without telling me. Populations of quail were about level the first year, then they dropped on the first two farms the second and were virtually destroyed by year three. I had nesting Turkeys but no quail.

It's a correlation I know but every effort to re-establish quail on those farms has failed. If I could do it I'd remove the turkeys and see if my quail make a comeback. Not going to happen. I understand from the States viewpoint turkeys are an easy sell. Big birds, easy to see in the off season and they can claim a clear management victory of wildlife. Never mind if that victory cost my poor quail their future.