March 2005 Archives
The Texas Quail Index was initiated in 2002 as a means to train landowners & County Extension Agents in how to monitor quail abundance and factors that may be impacting quail populations. Our number of participating counties has waxed and waned during that time from a high of 62 to a low of 25; we currently have 32 counties involved.
The proposed MLQP has become a lightning rod for negative comments. It's getting a 2-thumbs down from quail biologists (the Quail Technical Committee voted unanimously today (3-30) to oppose it, and I understand all comments at the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers were in opposition to it as stated (i.e., the opportunity to increase bag limits to 30/day).
See below my public comment made to TPW.
See below the agenda for a workshop aimed at at heightening awareness of blue quail hunting (and what a blast it is!), and how landowners in west Texas can better capitalize on this underutilized resource.
Meeting will be on campus (Student Union - Tumbleweed Room) of Howard College in Big Spring (map on page 2 of agenda). Pre-registration (until next Tues) is $10; $15 at the door and includes lunch.
PLEASE FORWARD TO LANDOWNERS AND HUNTERS WHO YOU THINK MAY BE INTERESTED IN THIS WORKSHOP!
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The TeamQuail website was recognized as "Outstanding Website" by the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society at its annual meeting last month in Amarillo. 2004 marked the inaugural year of the award.
Thanks to Kerri Michaelwicz, senior secretary at the Texas A&M University Research and Extension Center in San Angelo for being most of the brains behind the website.
The TQI is a hands-on demonstration where we show you how to monitor quail happenings on your ranch/lease. Cooperators are taught how to conduct spring call counts, roadside counts, covey-call counts, and also various means of evaluating quail habitat. The goal of the TQI is to track quail happenings at a regional and state-wide scale using data collected from both professional wildlife biologists as well as "citizen scientists" (ranchers and quail hunters).
The TQI was initiated in 2002. The number of participating sites has ranged from about 25 to as many as 55 counties. See http://teamquail.tamu.edu for a more thorough description, protocols, and a spreadsheet showing the results of previous years.
This year we will be offering a "TQI-Lite" version which reduces the amount of property and work needed to participate. Properties as small as about 500 acres can now participate.
The training session for new cooperators is April 25-26 at my office here in San Angelo. E-mail me if you need additional details (d-rollins@tamu.edu).
DR
Quail habitat management will be one of many topics to be discussed at a field day on April 7 at the 6666 Ranch in Guthrie. See attached agenda. I'll be discussing quail habitat and debating a colleague (Dr. Darrell Ueckert) on the value of brush. Participating is limited to the first 100 who pre-register (I understand they're about half-way full as of Mar 10.
Rick Smith will be discussing hunting considerations relative to brush management and giving a short demonstration on dog training.
For more information, or to pre-register, contact Todd McCartney at Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association in Ft. Worth (tmccartney@texascattleraisers.org) or call TSCRA at 800-242-7820 ext.140.
I've been hearing a lot of talk about proposed Managed Lands Quail Permit. TPW will be taking public comment until early April (the proposal is to be acted upon at the April 7 commission hearing). If you have a comment on it, I encourage you to submit it to Mr. Robert MacDonald at TPW (robert.macdonald@tpwd.state.tx.us). As of Mar 9, he'd received a total of 10 comments; all opposed to the permit.
As the old saying goes "it's better to debate an issue without settling it that it is to settle an issue without debating it."
The following comments on the MLQP come from Bob Cook, TPW's Executive Director:
