Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 25, 1993 TAG: 9310270011
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN OUTDOOR EDITOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hunters had hoped that quail, another farm-fields product, would follow the same upward path. Last year it even looked as if that was happening.
An annual survey conducted by the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries had hunters reporting that the number of birds they bagged per hour jumped by 27 percent and the number of coveys flushed per hour was up 26 percent.
Everyone hoped this season would build on those figures. But that won't be the case.
Quail hunting prospects now appear to be dismal.
"Lousy" is the term Mike Fies is using to describe the outlook. He is the game department's small game program manager.
"I am not optimistic at all," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if this season will be near a record low."
The hot, dry summer apparently spoiled any opportunity for a rebound.
"In the past, when we have had a dry season we have had poor nesting success for quail," Fies said. "This time we had one of the hottest, driest seasons of the century."
There is better news for rabbit hunters, but the season isn't likely to be as exciting as Fies had predicted back in the summer.
"When I made that prediction early on, there were a lot of people observing a lot of rabbits," he said. "That pretty well shut down. All of a sudden people weren't seeing as many as they had."
Fies is puzzled about the disappearance. It is common for numbers to decline toward the hunting season, but not as dramatically as occurred this time, he said.
The same drought that set quail populations back could be a factor, he said.
Mild winters have had a positive impact on rabbits for several seasons, and, with the exception of the March blizzard, the past winter was no different. And there was plenty of spring rain to green everything up, thus providing food and cover for rabbits.
"We had rabbits everywhere. Then the drought hit," said Fies. "I think it still is going to be a good season, but earlier I was expecting it to be even better. It won't be quite as good as last year."
The rabbit season begins Nov. 1, and the quail season opens Nov. 8. The quail bag limit has been lowered from eight to six daily, but that's not expected to make it much easier to bag a limit.
Again this season, the best quail populations will be found in the Tidewater and East Piedmont regions, Fies said. Elsewhere it is going to be tough.
As for rabbits, their numbers appear to be best in the southwest mountain section of the state.
by CNB