HPO: Rainfall helps bobwhite crop

Posted: Tuesday, October 22, 2002

AUSTIN - Quail hunting prospects this year are pretty much hit or miss depending where you aim to hunt, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

A late hatch in South Texas and favorable weather conditions in the southeastern portion of the Rolling Plains during the nesting season should put huntable numbers of birds in the field in those regions. In contrast, quail census surveys point to an average or below average hunting season outlook in other parts of the state.

"Our surveys indicate that bobwhite numbers in all ecological regions surveyed are below their respective long-term means, but there should be good hunting opportunities in areas with good cover resulting from proper range management," said Gary Graham, Ph.D and TPWD wildlife division director.

Quail season opens statewide Oct. 26 and runs through Feb. 23. The daily bag limit for quail is 15, with 45 in possession. Shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. The bag limit is the maximum number that may be killed during the shooting hours in one day.

State wildlife officials have estimated quail population from roadside surveys since 1976, and long-term patterns reflect a history of "boom and bust" cycles. Each quail-count survey "line" is a 20-mile route where biologists record all quail by mile and species. The same routes are counted each year. This trend information is useful in determining quail populations.

Quail surveys this year in the Rolling Plains showed an average of nearly 16 birds per route, up from 12 birds per route last year. Five years ago, the average route revealed almost 25 quail each.

"About every five or six years we see a peak in production and right now we're behind in some areas," said Robert Perez, TPWD Quail Program Leader. "In South Texas, 1999 was a good year and this year has a chance to be good, but you wouldn't know it from the surveys."

Much of South Texas received no significant spring rainfall and as a result quail nesting and hatching conditions were very poor, he said. Bobwhite calling activity was low.

"They didn't get any rain until July and then it went gangbusters. Now we're getting a lot of reports of small birds. I wouldn't call it a second hatch, just a late hatch. There will be a lot of young birds out there at the opening of the season, but I wouldn't count on them to be there by February. An early cold front or heavy fall rains could take a toll on those late hatches and they are typically more susceptible to predation."

Conversely, the northern and central portions of the Texas Panhandle experienced more favorable spring and summer conditions.

"The southern part of the region around Shackelford County is looking really good. We're hearing a lot of positive reports from the field. They got rains early, had a normal hatch and the July rains produced a second hatch, so we basically had an extended nesting season. When you have a long nesting season, you end up with better age structure in the coveys and more room for survival.

For quail to flourish, they must have adequate nesting cover, he said. This usually occurs in areas with good range management that get two years of favorable weather.

Perez said this hasn't happened since 1992-93 on the Rolling Plains.

Call counts this year show other parts of the state have not recovered as well. In the Edwards Plateau, this year's census found only .31 birds per route, the lowest on record. Only once in the last 10 years have quail numbers here exceeded the long-term average of 7.25 birds per line.

The department is now surveying only in the areas with proper bobwhite habitat, which should give a more accurate count, Perez said. Much of the western Hill Country is more suited to blue quail.

The Cross Timbers has not been above the long-term mean since 1993. But Mineral Wells biologist Jim Dillard said this year's census of 8.31 birds per line is a substantial increase over last year and especially the 2.91 birds per line counted two years ago.

Trans Pecos scaled quail seem to be holding their own, despite a prolonged drought.

"They are drought-adapted birds and don't need much rain," Perez said. The habitat probably needs more rain to respond, but they have gotten some July rains the last couple of years, that's the natural time for rain for ideal production, and we're seeing a turnaround from a bad situation."

A detailed summary of the quail surveys in each region of the state is available online at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/regs/quail/index.html.

Trending this week:

