Dwayne Elmore knows how it feels. When Hurricane Michael struck his wife’s fifth-generation South Georgia property in 2018, the storm uprooted the quail woods he had labored over for years. Thousands of soaring pines lay shattered; hardwood stands, ripped apart; wood roads and firebreaks, wrecked—the progress the couple had made managing for bobwhite quail, seemingly blown away by the wind.
“It was heartbreaking,” he recalls. “I know what people are going through whose properties have been impacted by 2024’s storms. I’ve lived it.” Hurricanes Helene and Milton also leveled pine forests where quail thrive, and the flooding such storms induce can sometimes drown birds or crowd them onto higher, drier ground, where they are ripe picking for predators. But as the game-bird program director for Florida-based Tall Timbers, Elmore knows that with the right efforts, a hurricane’s effect on quail habitat can turn into a positive.
In terms of quail, “two years after the hurricane,” Elmore says, “our property had never looked better.” The storm-blasted gaps, cleared of woody debris and soaked with sunlight, exploded with the native forbs, grasses, and cover plants that quail need to thrive. New shrub growth provided escape cover. “You’d walk through those stands, and you couldn’t see your pants for all the beggar’s-lice, partridge pea, and ragweed,” he recalls. “And the quail blew up. It was the best hunting we’d had in years. I suspect we’ll have similar stories with this year’s storms, if landowners take advantage of the next few months.”
They’ll need to move quickly. Even the fiercest storms have relatively minor, and typically hyperlocal, ramifications for quail populations, so birds should still be around. They won’t stay long, however, if habitat conditions erode. Quail woods owners should prepare for the toll of restoration, on both the emotions and the bank account. Timber salvage operations can be expensive or pay relatively little back. And the work required to reshape hurricane-marred forests can take months, sometimes years. “It was painful to watch all those dollars go down the drain,” Elmore says. “But it can pay off for landowners committed to providing quality habitat for quail.”
The first step: Get downed timber off the forest floor as quickly as possible, before fast-moving diseases and pests render it unsellable. Elmore suggests removing the trunks, and then piling and burning the residue. If a property already lacked dense cover, some pine tops can be left to help create thickets for up to a year. Next, clear roads and reestablish firebreaks, since burning is critical to stimulating the recovery process. Landowners who have previously burned their woods shouldn’t put this off. As saplings grow, moving through storm-damaged parcels becomes even more difficult. And expensive.
Having a plan in place before hurricane season begins can help. While Michael was still raging, Elmore’s mother-in-law was on the telephone, arranging for muscle power and equipment—she knew there would soon be a shortage of labor and a glut of salvaged timber on the market. Federal and state funding that can help defray costs also exists. As for those with property damaged by last year’s storms, “it’s still not too late to make significant improvements,” Elmore says. “It’s a bit of a bad situation if you’ve waited this long. But you can still make lemonade out of this lemon.”
The same conditions that support a flush of beneficial plants for wildlife, however, come with a more nefarious side. In newly disturbed soil, now awash in abundant sunlight, the march of the exotics begins quickly. Non-native plants such as privet, cogon grass, and Bahia grass can take hold within months. “Every Southern landowner in the paths of these storms will be facing waves of invasive species,” Elmore cautions. “If you aren’t paying attention, this can become a nightmare scenario down the road.”
In the meantime, Elmore advises not to obsess over what your quail woods look like right now, but to focus on what they could look like in a year or two. “This can be the chance to make good quail woods much better, or even jump-start a new emphasis on quail for landowners who have been wondering how to get going,” he explains. “If there are even a few quail left, they can just explode. It’s remarkable to see.”
