Texas Quail Article

[Gertie]

I thought some of you might be interested in this article I came across. Cheers.

http://www.chron.com/sports/outdoors/ar ... 588240.php

[chuckanut]

Interesting article. I wonder if the drought down there has anything to do with the low quail numbers? Maybe not since it's been a long and steady decline but it probably doesn't help.

[tommyboy72]

It was an interesting article. Some of the proposals were interesting as well. I don't think taking away the February hunting month is going to help more birds survive the winter. Other than the Texas panhandle, winters in Texas are fairly mild which is why a lot of guides move to Texas in the winter or go there to work dogs in the winter and early spring. The drought may have had something to do with it but other than northern Texas I was under the impression that weather for the rest of Texas was pretty normal as was rainfall and temperature last year. Hot and dry is what the majority of Texas is like.

In my personal opinion, the reason Texas has such a declining population is quail is because they chose to treat quail like a cash crop. Texas chose to promote themselves as the premier quail hunting destination and people listened. More hunters over a long period of time wanting to hunt only wild birds has taken a real toll on their wild population. The wild breeding population cannot sustain what the total number of hunters is doing to it. Stop selling out of state licenses and allowing out of state hunters to quail hunt in Texas and I bet the population will see dramatic increases over a 5 year period. No one will talk about this because no one wants to lose out on that money. I guess greed always trumps the health of a species though in the government's eyes. I bet if South Dakota did not release pen raised birds into their wild populations every year they would have seen a real decrease in their pheasant population. Perhaps they should start a program like this if they want to continue to hunt the birds as hard as they do. I would love to see Oklahoma start something like this. Oklahoma has taken a real hit in wild quail populations especially since numbers in Texas have been on the decline. In my opinion there is a correlation there. I know many guys who come out to where I live to hunt quail because of declining numbers in Texas. They public land which I rarely hunt but I try to hunt public at least once or twice a year and try to talk to the out of staters who are hunting there.

[Gertie]

Sounds like Texas treats their quail like some states treat their deer and elk populations. Unless they take some sort of action to reverse the trend hunter success will get to be so low that folks will stop bothering to buy a tag and go elsewhere. It sounds like that might already be going on. Also, perhaps the line of thought for eliminating the Feb. hunt is to take the hunting pressure off right before breeding season? It might give the birds an opportunity to re-group, gain some weight and establish their breeding territories sooner and improve the possibility of a double clutch. Just a thought, I really don't know much about the bird dynamics down there.

[Redfishkilla]

Hunting has not caused the decline in quail numbers. So the biologist in the article says....and others. In fact people who hunt quail have done more to help bird numbers than any other group through habitat enhancement and research $$$. We can debate to no end what is causing the problems...i think it's hogs, environment and lack of avian and other predator control. For example no one kills raccoons anymore whereas tons of raccoons used to be killed each year. Hawks everywhere...overgrazing. The worst thing the state could do is drive people out of the sport by limiting the hunting season. I could go for a lower bag limit per day...but not shortening the season by 25%. It wouldn't have the desired effect anyway.