Natural History

Posted in wildlife | Tagged bobwhite quail, New world quail, quail | 7 Comments

7 Responses

1. on November 5, 2010 at 2:01 am GeorgiaQuailHunts.com | Ultimate Fishing and Hunting Blog

   […] How tame are captive-bred bobwhite quail? « Retrieverman's Weblog […]

   
   
2. on November 5, 2010 at 8:07 am Hunting bobwhite quail | Ultimate Fishing and Hunting Blog

   […] How tame are captive-bred bobwhite quail? « Retrieverman's Weblog […]

   
   
3. on November 6, 2010 at 8:07 am HTTrainer

   The end of another school project?

   
   
   • on November 6, 2010 at 9:10 am retrieverman

     LOL

     Looks like it.

     On Long Island, there is some youth group that is raising bobwhites to restock it.

     
     
4. on November 12, 2010 at 6:39 pm bill

   Took the dog out on some pen raised bobwhites this morning. It was great to work her on steadying and retrieving neatly to hand, but the birds (the ones that flew well) were somewhat depressing to shoot. They are a necessary evil in the finishing of a gun dog.

   Shooting pen raised birds vs. wild is like going to a brothel vs. being in love. Fun, but not really quite as special. I hope they come back in my lifetime.

   
   
   • on November 12, 2010 at 6:44 pm retrieverman

     Not a bad analogy.

     The tame birds– I’m fine with them.

     I think they could be a solution to protein deficiencies in developing countries. You can raise a ton of them on far less grain than you could a chicken.

     And they don’t fight like roosters do.

     We even have jumbo and giant strains of these birds.

     Looks like they are well on their way to becoming full domesticated.

     The wild birds are done for, except in a few places.

     Stocking them is a big problem for conservation.

     The tame ones teach raptors to hunt bobwhites, and that makes things worse for them all, wild and tame.

     
     
5. on November 12, 2010 at 9:56 pm bill

   It’s really got me down. Sometimes I wonder: “To what end have I put this much time/energy/money into a gun dog? To find and retrieve quailtards in a contrived setting, for it’s whole life?”

   I feel like running pit bulls to catch and bay feral hogs is probably a lot more authentic of an activity at this point.

   I guess I need to stop whining and either move to Oregon or make $10 mil and keep a wild bird plantation in south georgia.

   
   

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