Missouri Upland Bird Hunting

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Missouri upland bird hunting is for wild quail and pheasant. However, when discussing Missouri upland bird hunting the substantive discussion is about wild Bobwhite Quail hunting. The reason is that Missouri's quail numbers are high and the pheasant numbers low making Missouri primarily the quail hunters' domain.

Missouri also has Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock. Some will even say the Prairie chicken. Missouri also has our best waterfowl hunting for teal, duck and goose. However, it is the Bobwhite Quail that exists in sufficient numbers to make for a good hunt. The other upland birds should only be considered a bonus if encountered.

The Missouri upland bird that may be of special concern to the hunter is turkey. Missouri has many turkeys. They should be anticipated on every hunt. Any dog that likes to chase turkeys will have more opportunity to do so than compared to deer.

Why Missouri For Quail Hunting

Missouri's geographic location develops in the upland bird hunter a greater understanding of ground nesting bird distribution. That distribution as discussed in the 1962 Arizona Game Bird Study. They showed that altitude and humidity to be the distinguishing criteria of where some ground nesting birds are able and are not able to incubate eggs successfully. Add to that altitude and humidity differences that of habitat recognizing that pheasants are large grass field birds and quail are edge or transition cover loving birds. This is where Missouri comes in as it is well known as the "Rivers States". That moniker well describes that Missouri has may wet and dry drainage's cutting through fertile bottom land well suited for row crop farming. This combination of many small and large drainage cutting through grain fields makes for much edge cover along food sources. Conversely, few large grass fields exist. Grain farming is simply too profitable to not use it for grains. In the case of Missouri the grains are soybean and corn. Soybean high in protein for growth. Corn high in energy for life.

Missouri upland bird hunting being dominated by quail hunters is due to their being a lot of quail. No surprise in this statement, however there is consequence we offer for consideration to the upland bird hunter to make a more informed choice of to hunt Missouri or elsewhere.

That consequence is exactly as described as Missouri's benefit. Missouri quail hunting is that Missouri has a lot of quail habitat. Much more edge line habitat than could ever be measured. The consequence is that edge must be hunted to find the quail and there are only so many miles within each hunter on any given day to hunt. This then leads to what does more to distinguish a good quail hunt from a lesser hunt and that is bird dog power. Specifically, quail dog power. Missouri will show this better than most states which upland bird dog has the quail finding power better than another.

Missouri's upland bird hunting distinction is quail and bird dog power.

We have all heard the upland bird hunter who will make the statement that he has one or two of the best (chukar, grouse, pheasant, hun, or in general upland bird hunting) dog to be found. And, that may be true. It may very well be true that same upland bird dog may not be a good Missouri quail dog at all. If a good quail dog that dog may not be well suited to Missouri's upland bird habitat.

Take this one example relative to Missouri upland bird hunting. We have all seen the pointing dog training videos, read the books or been to training seminars where the expert leading the discussion will touch on the techniques to train a bird dog to quarter a field.

If we agree that quartering a field is conditioning the dog to work the front area of the hunter regardless of direction of travel and thoroughly cover all the ground so as not to miss any birds. These birds are typically planted quail on a field trail course of open ground to allow for plenty of long range observation by dog handler judge, gallery and other brace mates. And, of course the field trail is a timed event.

The problem with this quartering technique is that it is not effective on linear quail cover common to Missouri creek bottoms.

An upland bird dog that quarters will extend his range well into the crop field where the further traveled to the interior the likelihood of finding quail drops dramatically. Or, the other direction as is common for big woods grouse dogs. That quartering bird dog well accustomed to running the trees for grouse will dive too deeply into the river or creek bottom extending well beyond the narrow band of edge the coveys will occupy.

In short most bird dog hunters will agree their dog hunts best the upland bird, plains bird or deep woods bird it was introduced to the earliest age and hunts the most. An upland bird dog well skilled to hunt all birds effectively is rare. A dog that specializes in wild quail hunting will show through its downwind runs of the edges. it will not quarter.

All Upland Bird Dogs Welcomed

How big of an upland bird hunting issue is this for the MAHA staff? It is significant to the point that if anyone calls us and says they are interested in quail hunting we will have the discussion that was just read.

The reason is that we know what it takes to have a good quail hunt. A good bird hunt is what we want for all. And, we will do the best we can to give each new Association hunter the information he needs to make the best choice for his upland bird hunting style. That bird hunting decision criteria may very well point towards Missouri quail hunting as well as away from Missouri. We will seek to give the best information possible so the upland bird hunter can select his own hunting location.

That upland bird hunting information may be the recommendation that perhaps for their first hunt the best hunt will be in the tall grass fields of Kansas. A pheasant hunt for a grouse dog well conditioned to quartering as an example. Or, a Missouri quail hunt for a more easily to influence first season dog that will learn what it means to run the downwind edge rather than quarter.

The Quality Of The Hunt Regardless Of All Other

In all cases of the upland bird hunting that we offer it is for those that want a more leisurely approach to their bird hunting than is achievable on public land. Be they the small game lands of Pennsylvania or the large track of public land in Utah. We make that possible by acting as the friendly point of contact to discuss upland bird of preference and habitat of preference for each bird hunter's particular hunting style and dog power.

In the case of our Missouri upland bird hunting we will recommend to the hunter "units" of land totaling more acreage than can be hunted in a day. That includes for a brace of even the best upland bird dogs to be seen.

What these upland bird hunting land units allow for is hunter separation. This is that everyone may step from their truck every time, every day of every trip and not cross the boot prints of others, mix his dogs with other hunters' dogs or race the next guy to that next good spot.

In the case of our Missouri upland bird hunting these units also allow us to manage hunter pressure on the sensitive coveys. We insure no covey is repeatedly hunted by the same hunter to extinction.

We seek the upland bird hunter that wants to watch his dog work above all else. We seek the hunter that enjoys the hunt rather than just the collection of limits. For Missouri upland bird hunting that has dogs steady to point, wing, shot, drop, honors and retrieves Missouri's quail will provide the opportunity for that level of work every day.

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