Great posts, guys! Keep 'em coming!
Ed, yes, there is still a lot of put and take but there are wild birds around if you're willing to work for them. This year, I and a few others, are taking up a 500 acre lease in Southwest Georgia. This property has a long history of quail management and offers a good wild population. We also plan to conduct early release and maintain established coveys of "almost wild" quail.
This year should be good. We had a severe drought early on which really hurt properties that conducted burning this year (our place was not burned this year) but nesting seems to have been good and insect production was great. Just last week, I flushed 3 coveys (off the road) in 2 1/2 hrs while walking around taking photos.
Jose, thank you very much for your insight. Several years ago, I read an article in an old Pointing Dog Journal. They were hunting banded quail and redbreasted quail in Morelos. It was horseback hunt through farmland in a fairly mountainous area. This article spurred an interest in all the "exotic" quail species.
For those of you who are interested, here are some photos of the some lesser known bowhites (most of which are found in Mexico)
Crested Bobwhite
Speckled Bobwhite
Black-throated Bobwhited
Tennessee Red
Masked Bobwhite
Wood Spotted Quail
I know that was a little off topic but I really enjoy learning about these lesser known quail... especially the bobwhite variants.
Adam