I know one San Angelo rancher who keeps a close eye on his quail crop. He lets his troughs run over and create wet spots on the ground in the knowledge that those moist places will bring forth insects: more wet spots, more insects -- more quail.

Talk to ranchers and look at the landscape to see where cattle have grazed the most heavily. Sections of a ranch that haven't been grazed either because the land's too rough for cattle or because the cattle have been rotated off of it are good places to inspect. Beaten-down ground that looks like pavement and offers only limited woody cover won't favor quail.

Sometimes I focus on edges, where two different types of terrain or vegetation meet. Specifically, I like hunting wherever thick brush and open pasture intersect. Examples: dense mesquites bordering a food plot; senderos carving their way through thickets; rough canyons adjoining open grasslands. Quail have protection from predators in the cover, and can move easily into the open to feed along the edge.

Winter months are tough on quail when it comes to finding food. They'll key in on any seeds they can find from plants like ragweed or broomweed, but they also feed on small green winter forbs and weeds that sprout up. Look for quail food along these edges close to cover and you're likely to find birds nearby.

Automatic corn feeders -- whether intended for deer, turkeys or other game -- are also worth investigating. Quail eat cracked and even whole corn, but it's easier for them to digest smaller seeds. By simply mixing milo seeds with corn, you can make any deer feeder more quail-friendly.

A quick way to survey the hunting prospects of any new ground is to drive from one hotspot to another, making short walks around each location searching for quail, listening for calling birds and looking in the dirt for quail tracks. Drive to a windmill, ease out and walk loops around the surrounding brush; then, drive to a feeder and walk a widening loop; then, move to the next water source. By studying a ranch map to locate potential hotspots close to one another, you're apt to run into some quail. It's a quick way to plan a hunt without wasting dog and hunter energy in unproductive terrain.