Alabama

Alabama's upland hunting centers on a single species, northern bobwhite quail, open statewide except on the Bankhead National Forest, on a season that follows a recurring calendar formula running from the first Saturday in November through the end of February. The state's Black Belt region looks like open quail country but is not; conversion to cattle pasture has left it poor habitat, and the strongest known populations instead concentrate on two actively managed public tracts, Boggy Hollow Wildlife Management Area in Covington County (longleaf pine savanna managed jointly with the Conecuh National Forest) and the Bobwhite Quail Emphasis Area within Choccolocco Wildlife Management Area in Cleburne County. Southeast Alabama's pine belt, Barbour, Bullock, and Pike counties, and a smaller area in west Alabama's Sumter and Marengo counties, round out the state's better covey country.