I've never heard of a test. A quick google search says there isn't.
I've never heard of any wrong species being taken by the quail shooters I know,
but that probably reflects the low chances of finding anything else where they
happen to shoot.
On a related note, I heard from them that quail numbers plummeted in their area
when a particular herbicide was introduced (I can't remember how many years
ago) and they never recovered. Shooting might not be the biggest problem for
quail.
Concerning the difficulty of identifying a flushing quail, it's possible that
shooters have an advantage there. For us, the bird disappears and we have
difficulty learning to associate the jizz and style of flushing with the right
species. Shooters get to pick up the dead bird and have a good look.
Peter Shute
> -----Original Message-----
> From: SeanDooley
> Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 8:43 AM
> To: Peter Shute; 'Dave Torr'; 'Dimitris Bertzeletos'
> Cc: 'Birding Australia'
> Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Duck shooting season- There'san
> identification test?
>
> Peter, is there an equivalent ID test for quail shooters?
>
> I was surprised to learn last year that there is still a
> (Stubble) Quail
> season in Victoria. And I was stunned to read a Victorian
> government report
> which said that in the last quail shooting season they
> estimate that 678,000
> quail were killed. I wouldn't have believed there were this
> many quail in
> the entire state but the report claims fairly rigorous
> methods based on
> surveys of what hunters have said they shot. (And
> extrapolated out, taking
> into account all the licence holders who said they didn't go
> shooting.)
>
> What concerns me most, is how the hell do these quail
> shooters identify
> their prey? I know even after thirty years' birding I
> struggle to identify a
> quail as it whirrs up from below my feet. In that split
> second that a bird
> bursts from cover I still regularly momentarily mistake a
> pipit, skylark or
> songlark for a quail, let alone nailing an ID of which quail
> (button-quail
> or Plains Wanderer) it is.
>
> Is there any ID test for quail shooters, and if so, do they get the
> extraordinary luxury of 20 seconds to make their choice as we
> have learnt
> prospective duck hunters have in their ID tests? In my
> experience, most
> quail encounters are over in about 5 seconds or less.
>
> I wonder how many of the estimated 678,000 birds killed were actually
> Stubble Quail? How many Little Button-quail, Red-chested
> Button-quail or
> Plains Wanderer? We know that Plains Wanderer still exist
> near Melbourne as
> one was "brought in" by a hunting dog a couple of years ago.
> How many others
> got blasted that we never hear about, particularly as the
> majority of quail
> hunting takes place on private land, away fom prying eyes.
>
> Sean
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of
> Peter Shute
> Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 7:36 AM
> To: Peter Shute; 'Dave Torr'; 'Dimitris Bertzeletos'
> Cc: 'Birding Australia'
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck shooting season- There'san
> identification
> test?
>
> Part of the training DVD can be viewed here, at the bottom of
> the page:
> http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/game-hunting/game/australian-water-fowl
>
> Peter Shute
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> > On Behalf Of Peter
> > Shute
> > Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 7:24 AM
> > To: 'Dave Torr'; 'Dimitris Bertzeletos'
> > Cc: 'Birding Australia'
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck shooting season- There's an
> > identification test?
> >
> > When the test first came in, people I know who had been
> duck shooting
> > for years had to buy the training video in order to be good
> enough to
> > pass the test. I would imagine therefore that they're a lot
> better at
> > id in flight than they were before, which is a good thing.
> >
> > The video is called "Ducks in Sight". I've got a vague memory of
> > seeing it for sale at the BOCA shop, so I get the impression it's
> > useful for learning id.
> >
> > I don't think they're required to ever sit the test again, so just
> > like a drivers' licence, there's nothing stopping people who've
> > forgotten everything they learned from shooting/driving regardless.
> > But the tests do stop those who can't be bothered learning id from
> > ever getting a licence, so I imagine there are far less illegal
> > species shot by mistake than there were before.
> >
> > How many are shot anyway, I don't know. Those collected by
> volunteers
> > are probably a small percentage of the total, given how
> many shooters
> > use private wetlands. I'm guessing enforcement is the
> problem now, not
> > id skills.
> >
> > Peter Shute
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From:
> > > On
> Behalf Of Dave
> > > Torr
> > > Sent: Tuesday, 7 February 2012 6:34 AM
> > > To: Dimitris Bertzeletos
> > > Cc: Birding Australia
> > > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck shooting season- There's an
> > > identification test?
> > >
> > > Anyone who wants to drive a car has to pass a test, but
> the evidence
> > > is that it doesn't help some people drive safely. I
> assume the duck
> > > shooting test is likely to be even less of a success!
> > >
> > > On 7 February 2012 02:35, Dimitris Bertzeletos
> > > <
> > > > wrote:
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Hello all,
> > > >
> > > > I've just learned that there's an identification test that
> > > waterfowlers
> > > > need to pass before they can shoot in the field. Anyone
> > > have any idea how
> > > > stringent this is? Evidence suggests not stringent enough...
> > > >
> > > > Cheers,
> > > >
> > > > D.
> > > >
> > > >
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