It’s been a difficult summer across the US.

The heat has been taking its toll on the landscape and the wildlife. Temperatures have been breaking old records and the drought has been coming down hard all over.

For the quail and other upland birds in Texas this means that it would be a rough season.

Since having a record breaking year in 2007 the quail have been fighting to get back to those levels. It doesn’t look like this year will be on the same level as 2007. In fact, with the way the summer has been going things could be looking slightly down again for quail hunters in Texas this year.

We’ve been looking at the pheasant numbers across the US this year. While things have been looking really good through the mild winter and wet spring there have been concerns over the summer. The weather has just been too hot and combined with little moisture it’s been one of the most difficult summers for crops and wildlife on record.

It sounds like the early reports are that people are seeing some good birds on the ground. That’s a good sign and there should be some strong carryover from the good winter and spring. But the adult population has struggled the last few years and that still reflects on this season.

It will take a couple years before this year’s birds can turn into adults and bring back those banner years. This year the conditions were good early and have been a struggle through the summer, but in the upcoming years things should be looking up for the quail in Texas.

If the weather is good this fall it can still be a great time to get out and do some quail hunting. Early signs point to a solid fall season in terms of weather and hunting conditions.

It’s always worth planning a trip to Texas to quail hunt. If you work hard enough there should be plenty of birds out there to test your skills.