Dilane hunts 2017_2018

tom turkey 2x2

Senior Member
Di-lane

I hope to get drawn next year. Di-lane is my favorite. I was just curious what was found this year.

Thanks for the reply!
 

Coach K

Senior Member
Would like to hear from some people that got drawn for di-lane quail hunts this year, how did it go? How did it go?

Being out of state most of Dec, I only made it back for the hunts on 12/20, 12/27, 12/30 and 2/7 in which people invited me for extra dog power.

The bird contacts that we have had these past two years have been about 1/2 of what we had been getting before the UGA students have started researching there.

Furthermore, this year whoever is responsible for the management of Di-Lane thought that having a major logging operation going on through Dec was necessary!! (This is the only month that quail hunters have to hunt the WMA, besides one adult & one youth hunt in Feb). Does that make sense?? I guess it does if you don't give a rats @#$% about quail hunters.

UGA students conducting quail research at Di-Lane - UGA students are supposed to stay 150 yds away from any covey. They are not supposed to flush any coveys. This is according to the professor, James Martin, who told me he was in charge of this program. The past two years I have witnessed UGA students checking feeders, being within shooting distances of groups of hunters, and generally not being conducive to hunters having productive hunt on quail quota hunt days. For example, one morning our dogs pointed four different coveys. No other hunters had been in the area, but every covey had been split up where we had only seen 3 or 4 birds each instance. This was the same morning one of the students came riding up to us on his four wheeler as we were taking a break. Annoyed because we heard him riding all over the property, we asked him what he was doing. He matter-of-factly replied that he was "checking feeders". The student did not have any tracking equipment so he would have had no idea where the birds were. Do you think he disrupted any coveys???

Another hunt a student had driven ahead of us in her quad as we were hunting and had just flushed a covey into a drain into a safety zone as we had just come through a tree line to have the dogs work that area.

I am completely discouraged by the "seeming" incompetence of some of the decisions made in managing Di-Lane. Why have a full scale logging operation going in Dec' when that's the only real opportune time to hunt quail there?

Are these students being monitored in how they are conducting their "research" or performing their duties?

Why have any students out in the fields during a quail quota hunt, anyway? Are there not 5 other days in the week to "check feeders"? Wouldn't these students know that occasionally coveys are around the feeders? Wouldn't students in the field during these quota hunts increase the chances of them being shot by a bird hunter unaware of their presence, too?

Before this research and the logging interference our hunting parties were averaging about a covey every 50 minutes. We also shot our limit every hunt, (that we stayed all day for), three years ago. (just 12 birds as a group).

The past 2 yrs we've had tops of just a covey every 90-120 minutes at best (depending on weather). The only exception was the last hunt of this year 2/7.

That last hunt, the logging had been concluded and I did not see a student researcher in the field before we left at around 1pm (heavy rain). I was informed by Dr. Martin, however, that the students were again out there.

I am so upset with the management of Di-Lane that I am going to forgo hunting at Di-Lane in the future. I would rather hunt out of state where I don't have to be drawn for a quota, where bird #'s are at least twice as good and where good public bird hunting land is more widely available.

And, I conclude that this is really a shame. I have invited people to Georgia to hunt this very interesting and historic wma (previously Henry Berol's bird hunting plantation named for his two daughter's Diane & Elaine) from as far as Quebec, Canada and many U.S. States. I love quail hunting in Georgia and in particular at Di-Lane. However, I can't recommend bringing guests to Georgia any further unless the present attitude changes regarding quail hunters.
 

quaildoc

Member
This is James Martin, the professor at UGA in charge of the quail research at DiLane. The students are my responsibility.

I can't speak on DNR's behalf. I can speak on my own. We are doing the research to improve hunting on DiLane (which is paid for by DNR). As a quail hunter myself with 4 birddogs, I want nothing more than the state of GA to be an awesome place for quail hunting.

The telemetry (i.e., tracking coveys) we are doing on hunting days has VERY MINIMAL (if not, zero) effects on bird behavior. I collaborate with Tall Timbers where they have been tracking birds since the late 1980s including numerous studies we have done during hunting season. See here: http://talltimbers.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/eJournal_Winter2018_FINAL_web.pdf or http://talltimbers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Quail-Call_final_small.pdf or http://talltimbers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Quail-Call_Spr15_Interactive.pdf.

The checking of feeders on a hunt day will be stopped, however. We can do that other days. My guess this only happened once on a hunt day thus far. Likely due to weather constraints.

The decline in covey finds the last three years (we only been doing research for two) has nothing to do with the research. It will get better soon assuming we have average weather conditions.

We plan to have a day of seminars soon where we present our research thus far. When that date is settled, I will post it on the forum.

I appreciate everyone's desire for great quail hunting.
 

mlandrum

Senior Member
To much book work boys?Back in the 60's I was raised as a rabbit hunter with beagles until I was drafted in 67 there was no trouble shooting 30 rabbits and a good bag of quail every week so you're barking up the wrong tree on that one. Now you have the same property but no rabbits and no quail and no squirrels and not much of any other kind of game other tha deer and hog . Lesson for the day Georgia College boys--maybe something is eating them quicker than they produce?? You fellows are using this thing of habitat as a crutch, might I say we still have plenty of perfect habitat I hunted in it this fall on WMAs and NO rabbits NO quail MO squirrels no small game except Woodcock and that's because they MIGRATE every year to the south. So students let's draw a conclusion to our study--- the problem is not PLANTS but PREDATORS---Class concluded.
 

Coach K

Senior Member
Gil

Coach, I hope you complained to the right folks and I suspect you did. Gil
P.S. A little bit of info about Henry Berol for the rest of you folks:
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news-m...d-dog-cemetery-preserves-souths-sporting-past

I just want everyone to know that I am not intending to make any enemies here with Dr. Martin or any of the DNR that manage Di-Lane. But, bird hunting and training top notch pointing dogs is my life, now, full time. It is imperative that people know what's going on so changes can be made to correct current practices that are neither good for the quail or good for the quail hunters. I would much rather stay home in beautiful GA to work my dogs on wild birds here, than have to make month long trips to KS, OK, TX, etc. to have sufficient wild quail populations to work my dogs on.

As a final note I will say that our group had a pleasant surprise of having a nice Di-Lane hunt on Feb 7th, with 9 covey finds between 4 different dogs (all Xerxes Llewellins) in 6 hrs of hunting. We covered a lot of ground to accomplish this, though. I hope the quail hunting in GA and specifically at Di-Lane turns around. But, it won't happen unless a real change in attitude (a real care for the quail and the quail hunter) occurs. I put most of the onus of this responsibility on GA's Department of Natural Resources.
 

GLS

Classic Southern Gentleman
The loss of quail in our state can't be hung on any one factor, including predators. The same predators blamed here in Georgia have been abundant in many states that have good wild populations. The coyote has been in TX since the beginning of time and it had an unprecedented season year before last season. Some recent additions to Georgia's WMA list were timber lands cut to the bone and handed to the state after thousands of acres were clear cut. Timber monoculture of rapidly growing pines has had an impact. Georgia's population has more than doubled in the past 40 years and is now the 8th most populated. Agricultural practices of farming to the very edge and eliminating hedge rows, etc. all have had an impact. I don't think anyone can pinpoint the exact cause of quail decline. Gil
 

trad bow

wooden stick slinging driveler
There are several factors causing the decline in small game with the largest cause being habitat changes. Pine plantations are not conducive to quail. I used to always get on quail at BF Grant but the best areas have been converted to no hunting areas being boarded by unhuntable pine plantations. The past several years has seen most of the hardwoods removed and replanted in pines. The edge areas needed is quickly disappearing. Georgia’s terrain and land use is vastly different than places such as Texas and much different than what Georgia was back in the 1950’s and 1960’s. In the 1970’s here in Middle Georgia we saw a tremendous change from small farms to timber companies buying them and replacing the conducive quail habitat to pine plantations. I will say those cutover areas had plenty of quail the first few years but rapidly declined as the pines got taller. Public land cannot support the amount of hunting pressure we see today especially the way these properties are being managed. Deer hunting has taken the forefront in managing properties today but it would be interesting to see if all these food plots being planted would benefit quail if these plots were diversified in planting techniques and seed choices.
The nest studies will be interesting to see how many are destroyed by invasive species such as armadillos and wild hogs. No nest survival equals no coveys. Fire ants can destroy chicks in their first couple of days of being hatched also.
A good honest and open discussion is the first step in returning quail numbers to what we were accustomed to.
Jeff
 

quaildoc

Member
I just want everyone to know that I am not intending to make any enemies here with Dr. Martin or any of the DNR that manage Di-Lane. But, bird hunting and training top notch pointing dogs is my life, now, full time. It is imperative that people know what's going on so changes can be made to correct current practices that are neither good for the quail or good for the quail hunters. I would much rather stay home in beautiful GA to work my dogs on wild birds here, than have to make month long trips to KS, OK, TX, etc. to have sufficient wild quail populations to work my dogs on.

As a final note I will say that our group had a pleasant surprise of having a nice Di-Lane hunt on Feb 7th, with 9 covey finds between 4 different dogs (all Xerxes Llewellins) in 6 hrs of hunting. We covered a lot of ground to accomplish this, though. I hope the quail hunting in GA and specifically at Di-Lane turns around. But, it won't happen unless a real change in attitude (a real care for the quail and the quail hunter) occurs. I put most of the onus of this responsibility on GA's Department of Natural Resources.

I appreciate your enthusiasm and desire for wild quail hunting on public land in GA. Our objectives are aligned in this regard. (But to be clear, I make ZERO management decisions in the state.)

Friendly advice for all quail hunters, focus on voicing your concerns and desires -- not proposing opinions on why things are not what you desire.

For example, express that you want more hunting days and more birds to hunt. In a respectful manner of course. But it will be ineffective to pose blame or propose opinions as to why something is the way it is or a way to fix it. Not to be arrogant or rude, but the how and why is much better left to biologists and scientists. The "want" comes from the hunters. I want more birds, days hunting, etc. Focus on that. The biological and management folks will focus on how to get there.
 

GLS

Classic Southern Gentleman
Jeff, over 30 years ago, a buddy had access to some small farms in SW Ga. north of Albany. These were small farms with one to two acre fields surrounded by creek bottoms and cover to the fields' edges. Corn and soy beans were left on the edges as the harvest wasn't efficient. Coveys were everywhere. As you note, that has all changed. I was riding to the woods recently and saw a field of several hundred acres that stretched to the horizon. At its highest point, sat a tall gps antenna for autoguiding tractors and other farm wheeled machinery. State of the art, but a farm operation not conducive to quail. Gil
 

trad bow

wooden stick slinging driveler
I left out one of the most destructive invasive predator out there. The common house cat. In my humble opinion all cats outside a home are feral or just one miss feeding away from it.
Jeff
 

Killinstuff

Senior Member
More out of curiosity then anything, what are the feeders for? I haven't been to Dilaine but in Tx, Sports like to have feeders on their leases but I don't think it helps with bird numbers. It's just a good place to look for birds and the Sports will drive from one feeder to next doing a milk run. If its a poor year for birds, food ain't the reason. Weather is. Food is maybe 4 or 5 down the list of must have's for quail IMO. Unless it gets super cold.
 

GLS

Classic Southern Gentleman
Quail learn where feeders are just before the predators do. That's why many quail plantations no longer plant food plots or use feeders but instead lay out food trails so that birds don't bunch up on a silver platter for predators.
 
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quaildoc

Member
More out of curiosity then anything, what are the feeders for? I haven't been to Dilaine but in Tx, Sports like to have feeders on their leases but I don't think it helps with bird numbers. It's just a good place to look for birds and the Sports will drive from one feeder to next doing a milk run. If its a poor year for birds, food ain't the reason. Weather is. Food is maybe 4 or 5 down the list of must have's for quail IMO. Unless it gets super cold.

Killin,

GLS answered your question for the most part. The feeders are to boost quail populations. I prefer spreading but some of the laws in GA make it tricky to do so on public land. Food is not typically limiting in the classical sense. That is, in the south quail aren't dying from starvation--this does occur at northern latitudes when there is snow and ice cover. Feeding does reduce movements for foraging which reduces exposure to predation. Imagine you had to cross I75 on foot every time you had to eat or just cross a dirt road.

Fed birds also typically nest earlier and produce a few more nests mainly because they are alive longer versus their unfed counterparts.

Feeding is no substitute for vegetation management.
 

delacroix

BANNED
I appreciate your enthusiasm and desire for wild quail hunting on public land in GA. Our objectives are aligned in this regard. (But to be clear, I make ZERO management decisions in the state.)

Friendly advice for all quail hunters, focus on voicing your concerns and desires -- not proposing opinions on why things are not what you desire.

For example, express that you want more hunting days and more birds to hunt. In a respectful manner of course. But it will be ineffective to pose blame or propose opinions as to why something is the way it is or a way to fix it. Not to be arrogant or rude, but the how and why is much better left to biologists and scientists. The "want" comes from the hunters. I want more birds, days hunting, etc. Focus on that. The biological and management folks will focus on how to get there.

Good grief. You customer service skills are awful. DNR has training classes. I know, because I have taken some. Get thee to class! If you have gone, go again!
 

GLS

Classic Southern Gentleman
Good grief. You customer service skills are awful. DNR has training classes. I know, because I have taken some. Get thee to class! If you have gone, go again!

I don't believe quaildoc is an employee of the DNR. He is employed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia which isn't a branch of the DNR nor under its control nor is the DNR under the Regents or its employees' contol.
 
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