Private Land Upland Bird Hunting LeaseFirst for upland birds within our Association the cover vegetation is varied to allow for both pheasant and quail. The pheasant holding high prairie grasses over large tracks provide the loafing and escape cover for the birds in one area. This holds them in place regardless of weather or ground and air predation in that locality.
In each case the mixing of upland cover and food source vegetation is well understood and sought after by the land managers as they both have bird dogs. This is probably the true price we pay for the ability to hunt without having to work to find where to hunt upland birds. The MAHA staff scouts the land, secures the permission to hunt and then controls access to prevent over pressuring the game and more importantly to the hunter, the ability to hunt without competition. The chance to work one's bird dogs without being in sight of another hunter certainly makes this a relaxing sport even for those times we wished we had a witness to the great work our dog has just done. Competing species habitat in proximity to the upland bird cover and food source habitat is a concept some hunters do not consider. While this is not a hard and fast rule, as are most concepts, the odds are that similar cover and food habitat areas next to select other areas produce fewer birds. An example of this is we can mix prairie grass fields, crop fields and wooded areas in the same general location. The portions of the grass and crop fields nearer the wooded areas are less likely to produce pheasant than a grass field surrounded by open or crop grounds. While quail will predominate along wood lines with good soft edge area grass and brush they are less abundant if the field next to the tree line is High Bluestem Prairie Grass. This concept combines not only the fact that select habitat is more likely to produce desired game, but that also competing habitat in proximity to the productive habitat attenuates the likelihood of finding the birds. The art is to determine which conditions exist.
Every upland bird dog owner understands the value of this photo. This picture will last a lifetime well beyond the upland bird hunt. |
For quail habitat we have tremendous mixed grass areas and edge habitat spread over hundreds of miles of tree lines on hay, crop and wild areas. None of these areas would be as productive as they are without nearby food sources. While large tracks are attractive to every hunter, the smaller ones of pocket cover mixed in with food sources are equally productive and sometimes easier to locate.
