Choices
State
Of Interest
| Wild Quail v. PheasantOur do it yourself Missouri upland bird hunting is predominately for Bobwhite Quail with some pheasant as Missouri's upland bird hunting is on the edge of pheasant country. Habitat is more of the open crop field soft edge along fence lines, wood patches and wooded creek bottoms. This habitat is the easiest of all the to be found in the Association and for this reason alone many dog runners prefer quail hunts in Missouri over all other areas.
Habitat
Hunt QualityFor most of us it is about the bird dog work and when it comes to dog hunters we certainly enjoy taking good point pictures as much as finding the coveys. The quail only get us to that point.
Bird hunters distinguish themselves as being the most conservation minded of all the different groups in our Association. Quail hunters more so than any others seek the good day in the field rather than a bag limit. However, limits are possible for those that have three key elements. The first is shooting ability. Most of the quail will present shots other than with blue sky background. Bobwhites dodging around trees and over fence lines will allow many hunters to help our economy through firing shells at phantoms.
The second element is dog power. We all have been with hunters at sometime in our past that had a dog or two that to save their life to find a covey they could not. While other dogs always seem to be the first to point. It all comes down between dogs that know target habitat and those that just run. Those with dogs of even the least skill will still have a good day of it. The final element that makes for a successful quail hunt is the willingness to walk. Those that do will invariably find more coveys and singles. One aspect that separates the do it yourself bird hunter of his own dogs to that of those that hunt at a hunting club. We, association staff, have spent the entire daylight period of a single day walking properties of less than 700 acres of Missouri farm land and found a limit while others we meet have found less. A key discriminator between these two are those that wear out a pair of store shelf boots each season and those that have the same pair of boots for several years. MAHA AdvantageFor all those that want self guided upland bird hunting for a good Bobwhite Quail and acceptable pheasant population they will never be disappointed by Missouri's upland bird habitat quality, ability to hunt on their schedule and the opportunity to be on game every day. Acreage by county where we lease Missouri land avaible for self guided upland bird hunting.
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For those wanting a Missouri upland bird hunt this map shows the region that will produce the best cover and bird densities. The remainder of the state is composed of the Ozark Mountains or far too efficient agriculture to allow for good habitat.
Throughout the website are pictures that show typical productive habitat of the field soft edge. In this case along a fencerow left and a wooded drainage below. This is season long habitat.
