With quail and pheasant-hunting season starting November 1, the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) advises hunters that quail production appears higher than last year while pheasant production appears lower than last year.

MDC says each August, MDC conservation agents record the numbers of quail and pheasants they see while driving a 30-mile route – called the roadside index. A total of 110 routes are completed around the state. These numbers are then tallied and grouped by eight geographic areas of production – called zoogeographic regions.

This year’s statewide average roadside index of 2.4 quail per route is 33 percent higher than last year’s index of 1.8 quail per route. An average of 0.2 pheasants was recorded per route, down 33 percent from last year’s index of 0.3 pheasants per route.

Scouting areas for bird hunting is important and habitat is still the key for finding good numbers.

Hunting seasons for quail and pheasants is November 1 through January 15, 2021. Youth seasons for both quail and pheasant are October 24-25. The daily bag limit for quail is eight with a possession limit of 16. Daily bag limit for pheasant is two male pheasants with a possession limit of four.

Get more information on quail hunting, including places to hunt, at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/quail.

Get more information on pheasant hunting at huntfish.mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/pheasant.