Posted 7:54 pm Sunday, January 29, 2012
TPW Commission Takes No Action On Quail
By STEVE KNIGHT
Outdoor Writer
No one knows the problem, so it is a little hard to come up with a good solution.
It is tough being a quail hunter these days.
It may be tougher being a quail biologist.
Lost habitat. Drought. Disease.
All of the above or a combination of the above has pushed quail hunting to its lowest point in 20 years.
Always a boom or bust species, the busts in Texas have come more often and lasted longer. It has taken its toll on hunter and dog numbers.
Located on the western edge of its range, bobwhite quail have always been in a precarious position in Texas. In the years they flourished though, Texas was the go-to state for hunters.
Outdoor Writer
No one knows the problem, so it is a little hard to come up with a good solution.
It is tough being a quail hunter these days.
It may be tougher being a quail biologist.
Lost habitat. Drought. Disease.
All of the above or a combination of the above has pushed quail hunting to its lowest point in 20 years.
Always a boom or bust species, the busts in Texas have come more often and lasted longer. It has taken its toll on hunter and dog numbers.
Located on the western edge of its range, bobwhite quail have always been in a precarious position in Texas. In the years they flourished though, Texas was the go-to state for hunters.
South Texas has always been the better area for the birds, but the Rolling Plains and north has had its years. Even East Texas had its day, but that ended a long time ago.
Now there is concern. It has come to Texas in the form of a wave of declining populations that started in Florida and has moved west. North Texas is more afflicted than South Texas, at least for now.
Some biologists blame it on declining habitat. Others cite the lack of rain. Still others necropsy quail after quail looking for disease.
During the last several years, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been chided by serious quail hunters for sitting on the sidelines. If they have been doing anything it has almost been like a “black op,” it is so far in the background no one has noticed.
The most visible thing the department has control over, limits and season length, have gone unchanged. It is part of the theory that at least with quail, limits and season length aren’t going to change things.
Now there is concern. It has come to Texas in the form of a wave of declining populations that started in Florida and has moved west. North Texas is more afflicted than South Texas, at least for now.
Some biologists blame it on declining habitat. Others cite the lack of rain. Still others necropsy quail after quail looking for disease.
During the last several years, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has been chided by serious quail hunters for sitting on the sidelines. If they have been doing anything it has almost been like a “black op,” it is so far in the background no one has noticed.
The most visible thing the department has control over, limits and season length, have gone unchanged. It is part of the theory that at least with quail, limits and season length aren’t going to change things.
Feeling growing public heat the department last week proposed to the Parks and Wildlife Commission a change to quail hunting regulations. Not big ones. In fact, it was something of an odd proposal based on the state of the state’s quail.
First was a reduction of the season length to a statewide closing date of Jan. 31.
The second called for the state to be divided into two zones — not north and south, but rather east and west. That is the odd one because quail in East Texas could probably qualify for the state’s endangered species list. The population is at best on life support if not already flat-lined.
“We are looking at the potential of dividing East Texas and the remainder of the state,” said Dave Morrison, the department’s small game program director. “There was a discussion of further divisions, but we don’t believe we are in position to need to do that.”
The division line was basically Interstate 35 south to I-10 where it jogs some to the coast.
In East Texas the quail limit would have dropped to six birds. Department biologists recommended it remain 15 in the remainder of the state.
Morrison says biology is on the side of a reduced season more than it is a reduced bag.
“There is a difference between a bird shot on Nov. 5 and one shot Feb. 5. One that is shot on Nov. 5, its chances of survival to February are limited. Those that have survived to Feb. 5 are going to be a benefit production,” Morrison said.
When it comes to reducing the bag limit, he said it would require a seismic shift of at least 50 percent reduction in harvest to have an impact. Morrison said few are reaching the 15-bird bag limit as it is.
Here is where a bit of a philosophical argument begins. The department has steadfastly questioned what message it would send by reducing or more drastically closing the season until numbers improve would send. In no way does it want to project the image that hunters are part of the current problem.
It recently got support from the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute which came out strongly against reducing the bag limit or season, stating neither have ever helped and echoing the negative message scenario. The CKWRI biologists do admit there is a difference in quail dynamics in North and South Texas, citing fragmented habitat as the most likely culprit.
The argument on the other side would be does it really put hunters in a bad light if they voluntarily asked for a limit reduction until populations level out. Some would say that is the definition of a conservationist.
After all, any waterfowl hunter over the age of 50 knows we have danced back and forth with duck limits based on the population. And why is a 13-inch minimum spread rule for deer?
Morrison does make a good point that no one has proven that the loss of habitat and the lack of rain isn’t the sole problem, although doubt is growing. And if researchers do find a disease that is moving through quail populations across the country he questions if there is anything that can be done.
But surprisingly, Texas Parks and Wildlife commissioners didn’t buy into the plan. They tabled the idea, asking for more data from this year’s season. Commissioners even talked of dividing the state into four or five zones.
With more than 20 years of harvest data available it seems a little odd commissioners would need more data, especially from a year as dismal as this. Except for one thing, what if this year’s harvest data shows South Texas held up well enough to continue a long season with liberal limits?
After all, it has become the South Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.
So, TPWD has again done nothing, and if doing nothing doesn’t hurt or help, the department is doing a good job.
And maybe nothing is going to save quail.
Have a comment or opinion on this story, contact Outdoor Editor Steve Knight by email at outdoor@tylerpaper.com.
First was a reduction of the season length to a statewide closing date of Jan. 31.
The second called for the state to be divided into two zones — not north and south, but rather east and west. That is the odd one because quail in East Texas could probably qualify for the state’s endangered species list. The population is at best on life support if not already flat-lined.
“We are looking at the potential of dividing East Texas and the remainder of the state,” said Dave Morrison, the department’s small game program director. “There was a discussion of further divisions, but we don’t believe we are in position to need to do that.”
The division line was basically Interstate 35 south to I-10 where it jogs some to the coast.
In East Texas the quail limit would have dropped to six birds. Department biologists recommended it remain 15 in the remainder of the state.
Morrison says biology is on the side of a reduced season more than it is a reduced bag.
“There is a difference between a bird shot on Nov. 5 and one shot Feb. 5. One that is shot on Nov. 5, its chances of survival to February are limited. Those that have survived to Feb. 5 are going to be a benefit production,” Morrison said.
When it comes to reducing the bag limit, he said it would require a seismic shift of at least 50 percent reduction in harvest to have an impact. Morrison said few are reaching the 15-bird bag limit as it is.
Here is where a bit of a philosophical argument begins. The department has steadfastly questioned what message it would send by reducing or more drastically closing the season until numbers improve would send. In no way does it want to project the image that hunters are part of the current problem.
It recently got support from the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute which came out strongly against reducing the bag limit or season, stating neither have ever helped and echoing the negative message scenario. The CKWRI biologists do admit there is a difference in quail dynamics in North and South Texas, citing fragmented habitat as the most likely culprit.
The argument on the other side would be does it really put hunters in a bad light if they voluntarily asked for a limit reduction until populations level out. Some would say that is the definition of a conservationist.
After all, any waterfowl hunter over the age of 50 knows we have danced back and forth with duck limits based on the population. And why is a 13-inch minimum spread rule for deer?
Morrison does make a good point that no one has proven that the loss of habitat and the lack of rain isn’t the sole problem, although doubt is growing. And if researchers do find a disease that is moving through quail populations across the country he questions if there is anything that can be done.
But surprisingly, Texas Parks and Wildlife commissioners didn’t buy into the plan. They tabled the idea, asking for more data from this year’s season. Commissioners even talked of dividing the state into four or five zones.
With more than 20 years of harvest data available it seems a little odd commissioners would need more data, especially from a year as dismal as this. Except for one thing, what if this year’s harvest data shows South Texas held up well enough to continue a long season with liberal limits?
After all, it has become the South Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.
So, TPWD has again done nothing, and if doing nothing doesn’t hurt or help, the department is doing a good job.
And maybe nothing is going to save quail.
Have a comment or opinion on this story, contact Outdoor Editor Steve Knight by email at outdoor@tylerpaper.com.
