From: Dale Rollins
Date: 1/31/07
Subject: TeamQuail E-Covey Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 2

The TeamQuail E-covey Newsletter is an ever-so-often update of quail happenings in west Texas. Feel free to forward to your quail-addict friends, or reply with their e-mail address and I'll add them to the E-covey. Comments, questions, or ideas for future topics? Please e-mail me at d-rollins@tamu.edu . See the TeamQuail website (http://teamquail.tamu.edu) for past issues of the E-covey and additional information about quail management.

TeamQuail Ranch Update - See attached for a Google Earth tour of the 4,700-acre TeamQuail Ranch (TQR) property in Fisher County. If you'll right click on the attachment and then hit "open" it should work (does on my end anyway). I just came across Earth.Google (http://earth.google.com/); it's a user friendly GIS package, and beginner's package is a free download. Mark your calendars for the following dates for "open houses" at the Ranch. There will be a total of 3 open house events; one each for (a) members of the Board and Advisory Committee (Monday, April 2, 1:30 - 4:30 p.m.), (b) agency and university collaborators (Friday, April 20, 9 a.m. til noon), and (c) a general open house (Friday, May 11, 10 a.m. til 3 p.m.). The Ranch will host its first educational program with a "Plant Appreciation Day" slated for Tuesday, May 15. Y'all come. As the Ranch gets its legs under it, we'll need help in many capacities, i.e., financial, logistical matters. IF you have contacts who might be able to provide special deals on such things as vehicles, ATVs, a tractor, computers, GIS expertise, etc., please touch base with me. The name "TeamQuail" Ranch wasn't by happenstance. Together Everyone Achieves More.

New Research Efforts Slated for this Spring - I hope to have 50 bobwhites and at least 25 blues wearing radio collars by April 1 at TeamQuail Ranch (TQR); goal will be to keep a similar sample radiomarked throughout the year. That way, we'll have some sentinels out there the next time the wheels fall off the quail population. Other studies about to get underway at TQR will involve a comparison of census techniques and some benchmark data on songbird and small mammal abundance. Later studies will involve placing GPS-telemetry collars on cows and feral hogs to monitor their use of the Ranch. Matthew Schnup, a MS candidate at Texas A&M University - Kingsville is one of a team of 3 grad students who are doing some baseline work on the 'Managed Lands Quail Permit." Matthew will be focusing on the Matador Ranch in Motley county; other 2 students will be focusing on sites near Victoria and Kingsville. Drew McEachern, a new MS student at Angelo State University, will be evaluating several techniques to dissuade raccoons from using free-choice quail feeders. He'll be monitoring feeders at three sites in Coke and Tom Green counties. Chris Snow, also a MS candidate at ASU, will be evaluating census techniques for blue quail at six sites in west Texas. If you're interested in finding out more about these projects, e-mail me.

How Old Was That Bird? - Most of you know that you age quail by an examination of the wing feathers. Only two age classes are recognized: (a) subadults (sometimes referred to as "hatch-year" or "juvenile" birds) which were hatched in the previous summer, and (b) adults, i.e., those a year old or older. The feathers you examine are called the "primary coverts", a half-dozen small (3/4 inch long) on the top (outside) of the wing; see the attached image. These wings are from scaled quail, but it's the same for bobwhites. Most reports I've heard suggest very few subadults (typically less than 20% of the bag). An early sample of 160 blue quail from Midland was 96.1% adults, which is both incredible, and lamentable. Most recent numbers from Matador WMA stands at 280 birds (0.36 birds per hunter day); the age breakdown is 88% adult, 12% juvenile. The Gene Howe WMA harvest is 74 birds (0.30 birds per hunter day); age breakdown is 51% adult, 49% juvenile. to put those harvest numbers in perspective, the harvest at the Matador WMA was over 7,000 birds last season. That's a reduction of about 96% from last year . . . OUCH!

A Half-Mast Quail Season - While most reports have been similar to the Matador WMA's, I've received some mildly encouraging reports from Aspermont west to Snyder, and around Hebronville. More zombie-like experiences reported from places like Throckmorton, Shackelford, Coleman, and other heretofore bobwhite strongholds. See my recent article "Don't Forsake Me Now" on the TQ Weblog (see next item for address) for an exhortation to keep the faith.

Blogging On - Thanks to some urging from my Information Technology Specialist, and quail hunting bud, Jeffrey Sorelle, my blog is back up and running. I'll try to make at least weekly postings thereto. Now, Jeffrey has some plans to marry the E-Covey mailing list with the TeamQuail Blog so you'll be notified each time via e-mail when a new posting is done. Bear with us here. You can sign up for the blog at teamquail.tamu.edu.

A New GIS Tool for Quail Management - The Landitude Game Manager: Quail Edition software has been specifically designed for quail hunters and managers. This software is built into the industry standard ESRI ArcPAD Software, which can also be used outside of the hunting season for limitless field mapping applications. Once installed on either a PC computer or Mobile device, an additional toolbar is added into ESRI ArcPAD. This toolbar allows users to collect a GPS tracklog of their hunt, record covey locations, record harvest information and view detailed statistics that pertain to their current hunt, current season, and all seasons combined. The statistical reports generated by this software enable quail managers to determine many things about hunt quality, hunter success, harvest, and age ratios of harvested birds. All of this information can be either printed or digitally archived to compile annual reports and to evaluate the impact of current and past management practices. Users who are already familiar with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), can import the ESRI shapefiles created by this software application into their commercial desktop GIS software for further analysis and display. for more information see www.landitude.com/software-hardware/software/qe-software.html. Purchasers can earmark a 10% rebate to their favorite quail entity in Texas.

Sportsman's Groups Covey Up to Address TPWD Fund Balances - On January 22nd many of the Texas hunting and angling organizations met at Texas Wildlife Association's urging to address the funding issues related to hunting and fishing license dollars. Goal of meeting was to address legislature's choke-hold on Fund 9. Fund 9 includes user fees from hunting/fishing licenses, stamps, boater registration, and maybe another thing or 2. In 1991, dedicated fund balances (eg. Fund 9) were allowed to be used to balance the budget, i.e., provides legislature a means for deficit spending. Unspent balances in Fund 9 have fluctuated from $12-60M in recent years, currently estimated at $45M; legislature refuses to allow TPW to allocate those funds instead using them to help balance state budget on paper. The legislature had initially requested another budget cut for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that would have built fund balances up further in Fund 9 and possibly left them open to a grab by the legislature and subject the state to diversion (the loss of 75% matching federal funds for fish and wildlife). The successful meeting included local and statewide sportsmen's organizations as well as state chapters of national groups uniting behind a letter to the state's Senate Finance Committee. The discussion also led to the potential to form a Texas sportsmen's coalition much like the AWCP (American Wildlife Conservation Partners) which is composed of national hunting groups. The organizations would maintain individual identity and retain all authority to choose to sign on or not to individual issues, while the partnership would never send a letter or take a position except only as those individual organizations. The process will be explored further on Monday, February 12, 10:30 at Cabela's in Buda. If you are a member or leader in another hunting or angling organization make sure they are involved. Contact Kirby Brown (k_brown@texas-wildlife.org) for more information.

Dale Rollins
Professor & Extension Wildlife Specialist
Texas Cooperative Extension
San Angelo
325-653-4576
325-658-4364 (fax)