Interesting article: game bird hunters/trappers

https://bringbackbobwhites.org/2018/05/1...bobwhite-quail/

I have trapped on over 30 quail plantations over the years. Without exception, the ones with the strongest trapping program had the most quail, rabbits, deer, and turkey.

Habitat is good but without a strong trapping program, is defeating its purpose, of having game animals to hunt.

Kirk You are 100% right .Delta Waterfowl has done a good bit of research on the removal of ground nesting predators .And the numbers are staggering .It of course must be an ongoing effort or otherwise the predators come back quickly . I am a long time volunteer for Pheasants Forever and I have seen what good habitat can do for many different species of wildlife . But more prey species will draw the predators in to the good habitat . That is why small areas that have good habitat become traps for the prey species living there . The service that trappers provide often for free of controlling ground nesting predators is taken for grated by the many that think we just want to kill something

One plantation manager with the best program, told me they have gotten as many as 60 coveys pointed by 3 pm of wild quail.

You can just tell. The squirrels and rabbits are in the roads. They have to have doe shoots every year. Turkeys are always seen in numbers. Quail are every where in the early morning, calling.

A customer,s field man told me, before they had a program, they would release quail to hunt. Come back a few weeks later and there would be no birds left. Thousand or more birds.

Delta Waterfowl calls predator management the most cost effective duck production tool .In some of it's research they found areas that where being trapped had for 15 % to 30 % more ducks hatching their eggs . That would have to a big difference in how many ducks being seen during the season