Quail Emphasis Areas
If you're looking for new places to pursue quail, check out the Department's 19 Quail Emphasis Areas. These are located throughout the state, and recently the Department has ramped-up quail habitat-improvement efforts on them.
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The long-term goal for Quail Emphasis Areas is a density of one quail per two acres in the fall before the hunting season. Several of the areas are approaching this goal as Department managers continue to increase habitat-improvement efforts there. For example, staff are using prescribed fire to open up bare ground and promote annual plants, creating brood habitat for young quail. Another technique is removing cool-season tall fescue and smooth brome, which produce habitat conditions too thick for quail to walk through. Managers are also controlling other invasive plants and planting low-growing shrubs to provide escape cover for quail coveys. Strip disking of old fields and planted warm-season grass stands encourages annual plants and insects, which are a vital food source for young quail. Edge feathering and brush-pile construction creates winter and escape cover in the form of habitat edges between open land and forest. Natural communities such as glades, prairies, savannas and woodlands are also being restored to provide favorable quail habitat.
To determine whether they're meeting their goal, managers monitor Quail Emphasis Areas coveys each October with a predawn whistling survey. Private landowners interested in monitoring their own quail populations can do a similar survey. Managers survey quail and grassland birds again in May and June during the breeding season.
Most Quail Emphasis Areas are subject to statewide regulations for quail hunting. A few areas have some hunting restrictions in order to protect the quail population from heavy hunting pressure. For additional information on Quail Emphasis Areas, call the phone numbers attached to each conservation area in the table.
| Quail Area Name | County | Phone Number | Quail Regulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamine River | Cooper/Morgan | 660-530-5500 | Statewide |
| Whetstone Creek | Callaway | 573-884-6861 | 1:00 PM closure daily from November 1 through December 15 |
| Bois D’Arc | Greene | 417-895-6880 | 1:00 PM closure from November 1 through November 30. Valid area daily hunting tag required. |
| Talbot (Robert E) | Lawrence | 417-895-6880 | 1:00 PM closure daily from November 1 through December 15. |
| Maintz Wildlife Preserve | Cape Girardeau | 573-290-5730 | Statewide. Valid area daily hunting tag required. |
| Seat (Emmett and Leah Seat) Memorial | Worth/Gentry | 660-646-6122 | Statewide |
| White (William G. and Erma Parke White) Memorial | Lincoln | 636-441-4554 | Statewide |
| White River Trace | Dent | 573-368-2225 | 1:00 PM closure from November 1 through November 30. Valid area daily hunting tag required. |
| Sever Lake (Henry) | Knox | 660-785-2420 | Statewide |
| Crowleys Ridge | Stoddard | 573-290-5730 | Valid area daily hunting tag required. |
| Davisdale | Howard | 573-884-6861 | Statewide |
| Stockton Lake | Cedar/Dade/Polk | 417-895-6880 | Statewide |
| Happy Holler Lake | Andrew | 816-271-3100 | Statewide |
| Bonanza | Caldwell | 660-646-6122 | Statewide |
| Bunch Hollow | Carroll | 660-646-6122 | Statewide |
| Cover Prairie (Dan and Maureen) Memorial | Howell | 417-256-7161 | Managed hunt. Apply in August. |
| Thomas Hill Reservoir | Macon/Randolph | 660-785-2420 | Statewide |
| Poosey | Grundy/Livingston | 660-646-6122 | Statewide |
| Harmony Mission Lake /Peabody | Bates | 417-395-2341 | Statewide |
