When one thinks of bobwhite quail in southeastern Minnesota, the one person who comes to mind is Quail Forever Minnesota State Coordinator, Thurman Tucker. Thurman has worked to keep bobwhite quail populations alive in this area for over the past 40 years! Over that time, Thurman has kept Eagle Bluff staff up-to-date on the latest bobwhite quail management techniques. This has included traveling to Springfield, MO to attend a bobwhite quail management seminar.
Under his guidance, we have constructed covey headquarters, safe places for bobwhite to hide and operate out of. We have completed edge feathering to provide safe travel ways and loafing areas. We have provided three winter feeding stations through which we fed over a ton of cracked corn one winter!
Our latest efforts have focused on bringing bobwhite back to The Point. Over the last three years we have completed prairie restoration activities on more than 40 acres of prairie. We have also installed three bird food plots using Pheasant’s Forever Blizzard Buster sorghum grain mix.
This fall on Saturday, September 21st we released a total of 50 bobwhite in three different groups at the three food plots. We have had frequent sightings of coveys of bobwhite since that time.
We plan to release another 50 adults birds next spring which should be able to start nesting almost immediately after their release.
Talk with Joe Deden, Eagle Bluff’s Caretaker if you are interested in going for a walk at The Point to see if we can put up some birds.
– Joe Deden, Eagle Bluff Founder & Caretaker
