Posted 8:50 pm Sunday, February 05, 2012
Price Of Quail Becomes Case Of Sticker Shock
By STEVE KNIGHT
Outdoor Writer
Move over Kobe beef. Keep swimming bluefin tuna.
Neither of you have got anything on a wild quail when it comes to price per pound.
Considered the gold standard, Kobe beef sells for about $70 per pound. Not exactly chopped steak, but compared to bluefin tuna, it is not prime cut either. Highly sought, but declining in number, a 539-pound bluefin recently sold for $736,000, or about $1,288 a pound.
But Texas’ wild quail might top both of those, according to a recent survey of hunters by Texas AgriLife Extension Service, which shows hunters spent $253 per quail killed last season. Doing the math, and assuming there is about three ounces of meat per bird, that comes out to about $1,340.
Outdoor Writer
Move over Kobe beef. Keep swimming bluefin tuna.
Neither of you have got anything on a wild quail when it comes to price per pound.
Considered the gold standard, Kobe beef sells for about $70 per pound. Not exactly chopped steak, but compared to bluefin tuna, it is not prime cut either. Highly sought, but declining in number, a 539-pound bluefin recently sold for $736,000, or about $1,288 a pound.
But Texas’ wild quail might top both of those, according to a recent survey of hunters by Texas AgriLife Extension Service, which shows hunters spent $253 per quail killed last season. Doing the math, and assuming there is about three ounces of meat per bird, that comes out to about $1,340.
The price of the bird includes a lot of factors that go into the cost of hunting. According to the survey, hunters averaged spending about $8,606 for 8.8 days of hunting during the 2010-11 season.
Considering the estimated harvest last season, that puts the cost at $253 per bird.
The good news, if it can be called that, is that the estimated cost is up only a buck from a similar survey conducted 10 years earlier.
“These surveys underscore the passion and commitment quail hunters have for their favorite game birds,” said Dr. Dale Rollins, Texas AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist at San Angelo. “Such commitment equates to the quail’s high value and this segment of hunters’ willingness to pay for a quality quail-hunting experience.”
Considering the estimated harvest last season, that puts the cost at $253 per bird.
The good news, if it can be called that, is that the estimated cost is up only a buck from a similar survey conducted 10 years earlier.
“These surveys underscore the passion and commitment quail hunters have for their favorite game birds,” said Dr. Dale Rollins, Texas AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist at San Angelo. “Such commitment equates to the quail’s high value and this segment of hunters’ willingness to pay for a quality quail-hunting experience.”
According to the survey results, 46 percent of the cost of quail hunting is spent at the hunting destination. Another 18 percent is spent on the road to and from the hunt.
However, quail hunting’s future is in danger, and it isn’t completely the cost.
“Today, bobwhite abundance is only a remnant of what it was just 30 years ago for most of the southeastern U.S.,” Rollins said, noting bobwhite and scaled quail populations dipped to record lows in 2011. Along with that, quail hunter numbers have dropped by two-thirds since 1990.
Land with quail is disappearing, making those that still have birds a commodity. This could cause a number of hunters from being priced out.
Rollins also is concerned about a rift growing between landowners and hunters over what is causing the population declines. Some see habitat loss as the problem. Others cite extended seasons as a concern. There are those that blame wild pigs, turkeys or fireants.
Biologists around the country are also looking at an unknown disease as the culprit. Rollins recently reported a high percentage of birds with eyeworms being documented in one study, but there is no directed correlation to that and a decline at this time.
However, quail hunting’s future is in danger, and it isn’t completely the cost.
“Today, bobwhite abundance is only a remnant of what it was just 30 years ago for most of the southeastern U.S.,” Rollins said, noting bobwhite and scaled quail populations dipped to record lows in 2011. Along with that, quail hunter numbers have dropped by two-thirds since 1990.
Land with quail is disappearing, making those that still have birds a commodity. This could cause a number of hunters from being priced out.
Rollins also is concerned about a rift growing between landowners and hunters over what is causing the population declines. Some see habitat loss as the problem. Others cite extended seasons as a concern. There are those that blame wild pigs, turkeys or fireants.
Biologists around the country are also looking at an unknown disease as the culprit. Rollins recently reported a high percentage of birds with eyeworms being documented in one study, but there is no directed correlation to that and a decline at this time.
