Missouri Quail Hunting
Missouri Quail hunting is for those upland bird hunters wanting primarily wild Bobwhites free of pheasants.
Missouri Quail Hunting Region
Missouri's better Bobwhite Quail region is the northern and central western agricultural region where brush, grass waterways and crop field edge provides the right mix of cover and food. This is Missouri's farm country. Contrast this region with south central Missouri that is largely the Ozark Mountain region of limited to no grain farming and of limited hunting value. A parallel distinction is the north is primarily private land, while public land is readily available in the Ozarks.
One Advantage
Our approach is to acquire hunting land where there are birds to hunt. Contrast those with a hunting lodge that must hunt near that lodge.
A Missouri hunt when everything was just right.
The Missouri quail hunter is far more likely to enjoy a mixed waterfowl and quail hunt on the same hunting trip than a mixed quail and pheasant hunt.
Upland Bird Season Comparison
Missouri's hunting season begins November first and runs through January 15. Missouri like that of Kansas and Iowa have an eight bird per day. This compares to Kansas with a later closing season the end of January. Iowa quail season runs from the last Saturday in October through the end of January. The end result is that given most of the upland bird hunting seasons overlap having a favored time of year should mean the availability of any one of our regions to any hunter. This plays well when one locality has a bad hatch. Or, when wanting the added enjoyment of traveling to a new region for a change of habitat.
Missouri's Bobwhite Advantage
The attraction of Missouri wild quail hunting in addition to finding a good number of coveys is the small to large crop field soft edge that makes up Missouri's wild quail habitat. This is miles upon miles of edge hunting that allows for much eyes on the dog. Add to this the singles action after the covey flush makes for a full hunting day.
Missouri's crop land is also an advantage due to this eastern of the Association's private land being dominated by soybean and corn. Each of these crops take advantage of Missouri's rainfall and soil quality of this river bottom land. These two crops are further good rotation crops for the other. Meaning one or the other will be in any one field year after year. This is driven by farm economics as soybean and corn brings the highest prices of any grains.
What Missouri's soybean and corn brings to quail hunting are two grain food sources that last long into winter. Each is high in protein and fats. That combined with mild snow ground accumulation and many drainage's cutting through the crop fields mixing in protective cover means Missouri on a typical year has more coveys. And, those coveys are likely to be anchored to any one spot more reliably than elsewhere.
Kansas on the other hand the more traveled west dries up preventing soybean and corn production. Milo and wheat take over as the predominate crops. Milo is great hunting for coveys. Wheat is not. That makes many spots in Kansas that were last year's hot spot in milo go cold fast when planted in wheat. This two state example shows us hunting is first about food. After food we found the coveys will make use of any protective cover that is available.
The last part is nesting cover. That is a more specialized protective cover not always present where the coveys are found during the hunting season. This distinguishes quail from that of pheasant. The coveys will disburse around breeding and brooding season. That dispersal makes for summer bird locations a poor indicator where the coveys will be found in winter. Missouri again works to the advantage of the hunter through its broken up small field size.
Missouri's more compartmental fields of small acreage size makes for more adjoining protective cover to grain food sources. This compartmentalization is driven by an Missouri's extensive river and tributary system. This is the more protective cover aspect of mixing in with grain fields. These waterway edges for those with good down wind edge running dogs will find much dog work with mid to long range direct observation. Good sight check back enhances the hunt. Having a dog that will cast to field edges and long running drainage's to include branches will save much hunter walking.
Where To Hunt
We highlight the advantages of Missouri hunting without wanting to over emphasize this state above that of Iowa or Kansas. From season to season the better hunting will change. To track that change is possible through our upland bird forecasting.
Our forecast has the advantage of covering a good disbursement of Bobwhite range and that where we have hunting land. Any given year one locality over that of another will have better hunt potential. Knowing that brings us back to being more of a business and not a club. That part is getting the hunter to where he needs to get the best hunt as motivation to hunt again with his Association.
2010 Missouri Hunting Land Available For Quail Hunting
Posted is the Missouri County and private hunting land in that county available for Mid-America Hunting Association hunters.
All the best quail hunting is within the agricultural region of Missouri where 45 - 55% of the land use is farming. For our quail hunts that farming is mostly on row crop fields of soybean and corn. Wheat and milo may be found on the south west acreage.
Missouri Pheasant Hunting
Upland bird hunters will find an occasional Missouri pheasant north above highway 36 and rarely towards the south towards highway 70. When it comes to Missouri it is about Bobwhite hunting. So much so we have some Association hunters that hunt only Missouri Bobwhite and forego all but the occasional trip to Kansas. When traveling to Kansas such hunters do so for its Bobwhite hunting. Regions in Kansas have equaled Missouri's quail counts on a good number of years.
Dogs and Turkeys
There is no such thing as the perfect world for quail hunters. Missouri quail hunts come close. That advantage beyond birds is avoiding cactus, snakes, alligators, hash northern cold and intense humid southern heat. Missouri has other conditions. One distraction is there are turkey and plenty of them. Any good bird dog not disciplined from these monster birds may find them highly attractive and giving of much scent.
Late Season Missouri Quail Hunting
"...early January hunt. I and my dog averaged six birds each day in the bag between pheasant and quail...weather was good the entire Private Land fair to poor to impassable...not another hunter..."
For the rest of us this hunter is known to a good handful of other members most over 10 years of membership and they all share where they have hunted and what they have seen although few actually hunt together. To meet him in the field is to have a good conversation and perhaps a shared meal that evening.
Upland Bird Hunter Distribution
Our self guided quail hunters have an upland bird unit of lease land reserved for each day's hunt.
Each unit has more ground to hunt than any quail hunter can cover in a day. Units are used to distribute pressure. No one unit is hunted consistently and no one hunter is permitted to overly hunt any one unit. The result is a good field day for everyone. This point typifies how we are a business and not a hunting club. Our management is for quality hunts as a means for membership renewal.
Wild Bird Hunting Reality
We will not oversell of Bobwhite Quail hunts. We purposefully show less than limit pictures so as never to imply all that quail hunt will have the dog power, willingness to walk or shooting ability to harvest a limit each or any day of the hunt.
We have found that wild quail hunting to be the highest risk hunt we offer. Of all our hunts it is the Bobwhite that requires the most specialized skill. It starts with dog power that is the foundation of any good hunt. It then builds on shooting ability of these ground loving bird that offers at best less than 3 second flight time. The final aspect of willingness to walk is required more so of those that travel in from non-native Bobwhite states. It will take more time to calibrate the hunter's eye of where to hunt than all else. It is the rare hunter that limits even one day of his hunt. It does happen. However, it is more likely that anyone that seeks Bobwhite will have a learning curve greater than desired.