Native bunch grasses such as broomsedge, little bluestem and indiangrass are favored cover. Summer brood-rearing habitat. Quail chicks require weedy areas that are open underneath with plenty of bare ground. The area should have new growth that will attract insects. Areas disturbed with disking or fire within the last year will provide this.
Hunters often supplement winter food by planting sorghum, corn or some other grain.
Sufficient food is usually produced by simply managing enough nesting cover and brood-rearing habitat with some type of disturbance. Ragweed, partridge pea and many other native food plants appear after disking or burning, for example. Winter cover is necessary for escaping from predators as well as bad weather. Birds can move around under dense thickets of young trees or shrubs such as wild plum and shrub lespedeza, but predators cannot easily enter. These seasonal requirements must be close together.