Quail are the smallest, at less than half a pound, and rarest, upland game bird in Ontario. Officially called the northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), the species is listed as endangered federally and provincially. The only current wild populations of bobwhite are believed to be on Walpole Island, with the most recent confirmed sightings made in 2014, according to a 2023 report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. However, observations by Walpole Indigenous community members since then suggest some bobwhite remain.
Mainland sightings are likely birds released on game preserves. In the 1880s, bobwhites could be found north to the Bruce Peninsula and east to Kingston. By the 1950s, the range had diminished substantially: from Sarnia to Niagara Falls, north only to London and Hamilton.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), hunter harvest was non-existent by the 1980s. The last year of hunting was 2007, in WMU 65. The season ran from Sept. 20 to Dec. 15, with a daily limit of three, and possession of six. It is believed that increased agriculture by colonizing Europeans was initially beneficial to quail. Mild winters in the 1840s were also a boon, but harsh winters from the 1850s to the 1980s were detrimental. The very hard winters of the 1970s (when the fear was an impending ice age!) coupled with increasingly intensive agricultural practices that left little cover, were the main drivers that did them in. Hunting probably wasn’t a major factor.
Today, the most significant threats to bobwhite population recovery in Ontario are residential development and agricultural expansion into key habitat areas that birds rely on for survival.
Predators, including domestic cats, are problematic. Invasive plants, such as European reed and invasive European fire ant also pose threats. The release of captive-bred, pen-reared bobwhite is feared by some to increase chances of the transfer of disease and parasites; interbreeding might weaken genetic strains and lessen their ability to survive harsh winters.
I’ve hunted quail in Georgia. Most of the birds were pen-raised. Bobwhite hunts are typically leisurely affairs. English pointers and/or setters would find birds, shooters would set up, then a little English cocker spaniel was sent in to flush them.
Quail coveys flush simultaneously and with a flourish — sometimes with a straggler or two. The small buzz bombs attain top speed almost immediately and are a challenging target. The 28 gauge is popular among hunters.
Can bobwhite populations recover and once again be hunted in Ontario? It’s certainly possible. But it will require Herculean changes to and cooperation with the farming community to provide more and better habitat — there no longer is the combination of grassland and open woodlands quail need to thrive. Predator control and favourable winters wouldn’t hurt.
Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters Fish and Wildlife Biologist Matthew Robbins hopes the MNR provides direction on bobwhite restoration soon. According to its 2020 “Northern Bobwhite government response statement,” the MNR is due to conduct a review of progress toward the protection and recovery of the species by the end of this year.
There are still hunters in this province that remember hunting wild quail. Anyone hankering to hunt bobwhites today needs to visit a licensed game preserve with a permit to release quail, such as the Exeter Game Farm, (exetergamefarm.com), or head south of the border.
Originally published in the Ontario Out of Doors 2025-2026 Hunting Annual
