Misconceptions About Upland Game

Misconceptions For more infromation About The infomation contained about Kansas wildlife, visit our website at in this brochure kdwp.state.ks.us. Upland addresses many concerns You will be able to download area brochures, and misconceptions check upland bird forecasts, Game about upland game. and review the latest regulations summary. The responses were formulated using Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks Emporia Research Office 1830 Merchant, PO Box 1525 information from numerous Emporia, KS 66801 (620) 342-0658 scientific studies. Equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from programs de- scribed herein is available to all individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gen- der identity, political affiliation, and military or veteran status. Com- plaints of discrimination should be sent to Office of the Secretary, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, 1020 S Kansas Ave., Topeka, KS 66612-1327. 02/09 1. Turkeys have become abundant 2. Turkeys are causing exten- tors were removed annually from each site. Little or no im- while at the same time quail have sive crop damage and need to be provement in quail numbers was observed on the site with high-quality habitat. On the site with poorer habitat, there declined. Turkeys must be eating thinned. was a sharp increase in nest success and fall bird densities. quail or competing with them for These results indicate that predator removal provided little resources. At least five scientific studies have found turkeys benefit if the habitat was already suitable for quail. to be an insignificant source of crop damage. All of the predators that prey upon quail are oppor- It is true that turkey populations have exploded The most recent study used infrared cameras tunistic feeders and when it is difficult for them to lo- while quail populations have declined. This has to closely observe wildlife activity in various cate quail nests and young they begin targeting animals caused some people to assume turkeys are having agricultural crop fields. Observations were that are easier to find. Predation on quail can be mini- a negative impact on quail. In reality, both popula- collected during both day and night mized by simply increasing habitat quantity and quality tions have been influenced by a large-scale landscape throughout two different growing even if predators are fairly abundant. This phenomenon conversion that has occurred over several decades. seasons. While turkeys were regu- has occurred in central and western Kansas over the last Wildlife biologists have been studying both larly seen in all the surveyed fields, 20 years where more than two million acres of Conser- quail and turkeys intensely for more than 75 years researchers did not once observe vation Reserve Program (CRP) grasslands was added to and have never documented a single occurrence them digging up seeds, pulling the landscape. Quail populations in this part of the state of a turkey eating a quail. It is a common rumor plants, or directly eating from stand- have been stable or even increasing despite increasing that turkeys have been shot with quail in their ing plants. They did observe crop dam- predator populations. crops but no biologist has ever seen a specimen age caused by other wildlife species such as In poor habitat it is possible to increase quail numbers by or a photograph. Another problem with this claim is that white-tailed deer, raccoons, crows, squirrels, beavers, and removing predators during the summer reproductive sea- most quail hatch in late June or early July well after the rodents. The majority of damage observed during their son. However, the practice is extremely costly and the ben- turkey season has closed. It would be highly unlikely that study was from raccoons at night. Turkeys do spend efits are only short-term. Quail predators will quickly a legally-harvested turkey would have a quail chick in its much time in agricultural fields displaying and foraging, re-colonize an area when trapping stops so for lasting re- crop even if the phenomenon was known to occur. but diet studies have shown that the birds are eating in- sults the removal must be done annually during the re- The main factor contributing to declining quail popu- sects, grubs, and waste grain from previous years’ crops. productive season. In Kansas, many quail predators are lations and increasing turkey populations is a landscape classified as furbearers and cannot be legally removed out- conversion from grasslands and shrubs to woodlands. 3. Why isn’t predator control recom- side of the fall hunting and trapping seasons. Because pred- Satellite images show that woodland habitat increased 23 mended as a management strategy to ator removal can only be done during the fall in Kansas, it percent in eastern Kansas from 1984 to 2000. If the 1950s increase quail numbers? makes the practice even less effective than in other parts landscape were compared to the present landscape, the of the quail’s range. It is much more cost efficient and so- woodland increase would have been much greater. This It is true that predators are the primary source of cially acceptable to focus agency dollars towards the cre- landscape transformation occurred throughout Kansas mortality for adult quail, nests, and young. It is also true ation of suitable habitat. Additionally, the benefits provided but has been most severe in the Flint Hills and eastward. that populations of many different quail predators have to quail through habitat improvements are long-term com- The additional trees have improved habitat for many wood- increased over the last 25 years. These two facts are pared to those gained from the removal of predators. land species (turkeys, deer, and squirrels) but degraded widely known and it is easy to see why many land man- habitat for grassland species like quail. agers now use predator control as a method to increase Large trees are required by turkeys for roosting, and quail populations. On the surface this seems like a log- as woodlands have matured and expanded into the ical approach to increase quail numbers but does prairie, more areas have become suitable for turkeys. predator removal really work? These trees have shaded out low-growing bunch-grasses Recently, a study in Florida tested the effects and shrubs required by quail for nesting and protective of predator removal on quail survival and pro- cover. Additional woodland has also benefited quail pred- ductivity. Trappers removed opossums, armadil- ators such as hawks, owls, raccoons, and opossums. los, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, and foxes from Avian predators are a major source of mortality for adult March through October on two 3,000-acre quail, and trees provide ideal perches from which rap- study sites. One of the sites was managed ex- tors can hunt. Other factors have contributed to quail tensively for quail and offered high- decline, but more trees in the landscape has had the quality habitat while habitat at the greatest negative impact. other site was of much lower quality. For three years, 300-500 preda- 4. How does fall turkey harvest effect Prescribed fires in some parts of eastern Kansas have Hunter harvest poses virtually no risk to a pheasant spring hunt success and future popu- been rare over the last couple of decades, and as a re- population because only males can be legally harvested. sult, these landscapes have been invaded by trees. Prairie There is a slightly greater risk for harvest to influence lations? chickens require large expanses of open grassland to sur- populations of prairie chickens and quail because fe- vive and reproduce. When trees become scattered across males can be harvested. The time of year when most har- Two major factors are considered when setting fall the landscape, the habitat becomes less suitable for vest occurs determines the severity of that risk. The turkey regulations: the impact on future population prairie chickens. Prairie chickens tend to avoid areas likelihood that a hen will survive until the breeding sea- growth and the effect on spring hunting success. In with tall structures (natural or man-made) probably to son becomes greater as fall turns into winter. Thus, late- terms of population growth, males are much more ex- avoid predation. season harvest of females has somewhat more potential pendable than females because one male can mate with Prairie chickens require 18 to 20 inches of the pre- to reduce the number of breeding hens than early-sea- numerous females. Taking hens in the fall can cause a vious year’s growth (residual cover) to adequately con- son harvest. In Kansas, the majority of the harvest oc- population decline if over 10 percent of the hens are har- ceal nests. Annual burning in April across most of the curs early in the season for both these species. vested. In Kansas, it is estimated that < 2% of all the hens Flint Hills removes that residual cover. It is true that an- When considering the impact of hunter harvest on are harvested. Thus, a reduction in fall harvest alone nual burning has been common in parts of the Flint Hills prairie chicken and quail populations it is also important would not be enough to increase overall turkey numbers for more than half a century, even during times when to recognize that 1) hunting activity is not evenly distrib- in Kansas. In our state, habitat availability and weather prairie chickens were abundant. But prior to the 1980s, uted across the landscape and 2) gamebird populations in conditions are the major factors contributing to changes those fires were patchy, leaving some nesting cover for Kansas are seldom geographically isolated from other in turkey populations. However, if populations become chickens.

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