These are pretty wild!
Bobwhites are essentially extinct in most of West Virginia. They prefer agricultural lands. Most of the state has returned to forest in part because the agricultural economy has declined and because timber prices are quite low.
I’ve never seen a wild one here, but my grandparents saw thousands upon thousands of them. You could hear them in all the pastures and cropland.
The main gamebird of West Virginia today is the ruffed grouse, which is followed closely by the stocked pheasant and “squeegy bird” (better known as the American woodcock).
Wild turkeys don’t count. The state regards those as big game!
Here in San Francisco, we used to have California quail living right in Golden gate Park. if you went about an hour before sundown, you could see them come out leading their little families in a line. So cute. We also had wild rabbits.
Then the cat people started feeding the stray cats. They overpopulated, and completely decimated both the rabbits and quail. I haven’t seen either in 20 years. Sad, and really shows that neuter/release doesn’t work.
Good observation of over population of neuter/release cat program on West Coast as this program has likewise reduced numbers of rabbits and we called them Bobwhites on Coastal areas of East Coast.
I’ll have to mention this to my neighbor. His dad raised and released Bobwhites on his farm over a number of years but they never took. The farm is now in farm preservation and has abundant hedgerows and woods abutting the cultivated fields.