| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Season | 21 NOV 2026 – 28 FEB 2027 | 100d |
As publishedNov 21, 2026 - Feb 28, 2027
Statewide season.Quail hunters must wear a minimum of a Hunter Orange or Blaze Pink hat/cap. Separate from wild season: Bird Dog Training Areas (BDTA) allow release-and-take of pen-raised bobwhite under permit (max 6 quail or mallards/day); wild quail taken on a BDTA counts toward that 6-bird limit.
LDWF's own Louisiana Bobwhite Recovery Plan is the most detailed regional source the state publishes for this species. It defines two overlapping frameworks: a five-region Fall Bobwhite Whistle Survey (run since 1983) dividing the state into Longleaf (west-central Louisiana), Acadiana Rice Belt (original Louisiana prairie), Southeast Loblolly (Florida Parishes), Mississippi/Atchafalaya Agricultural Belt, and Loblolly/Shortleaf/Hardwood (north Louisiana uplands), all five having shown a steady statistical decline but at different rates, and a five-focal-landscape restoration framework (Northwest Uplands, Macon Ridge/Northeast Ag. Lands, West-Central Historic Longleaf, Upper Florida Parishes, Historic Prairie/Ag. Lands) built around exactly two current bobwhite focal areas, Sandy Hollow WMA (Tangipahoa Parish) and the Vernon Quail Emphasis Area on Kisatchie National Forest (Vernon Parish). The plan states plainly that a 1950 survey (St. Amant) found northwest Louisiana held the state's highest historical bobwhite concentration, and that the West-Central Historic Longleaf focal landscape has the greatest restoration potential today due to large public-land ownership (Kisatchie National Forest).
Provisional: LDWF's Fall Bobwhite Whistle Survey, the state's forecast instrument, runs late October through early November, so no 2026 count exists yet. The early read is about conditions, not birds. LDWF's own small game biologist, quoted in Quail Forever's 2026 forecast, says "Conditions appear to have been good," with "slightly below-average rainfall throughout the spring and summer pretty much across the entire state, which could have positive impacts on reproduction in areas where there is quality habitat." One Washington Parish landowner reports hearing more quail this year than in years past, and no 100-degree days this summer, unlike 2023's long run of them. That leans slightly up, but it is a conditions read plus one property's ears, not a population count. Western Louisiana's Kisatchie National Forest and Fort Polk WMA remain the named public options. Fort Polk is an active military base, so check for training closures and watch for razor wire left behind.
Slightly below-average spring and summer rainfall statewide, which LDWF's biologist reads as favorable for reproduction where good habitat exists. Conditions only, with no survey figure until the fall whistle count.
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