I moved from MI last July and it was all ground and pound for me. If you want to hunt in Texas you either have to have land, know people with land or suck it up and get involved with a lease. Also the lease price in TX is going to be anywhere from $2-$4 more per acre than other states. My point being, I wouldn't waste your time or effort if you are on a budget in TX and I certainly wouldn't waste my time and effort on TX public land. The "access" granted by TPWD is laughable. All of the surrounding states have hunting that is just as good if not better than TX. KS, NE, NM, and AZ all have big tracts of public land that can have great bird numbers if you put in the effort. If I were you, I'd evaluate what species of quail you want to hunt, where can you get to the easiest, and most importantly, what kind of access there is.

If money is not an issue, I'd get a lease in the panhandle area. Lots of rain and lots of birds so far. Make sure you decide which arm or leg you want to give up before hand if you can even find a lease...

take

That's not true at all. Our public land is good. The only hard part is dealing with other people all the time but with a good dog come good hunts if you do the work. I was so hungry to get my one year old Gsp on Pheasent last year. I called all around and talked to all sorts of people. The verdict was you just have to get out there and hunt. I hit lots and lots of public land and got into wild Texas pheasent and had fun. I didn't always do well but it's much better then preserve hunting. It also helped my dog a ton. It was never really easy and I drove to some far reaches of Texas but that's part of the adventure. I know there is better public hunting in other states but ours isn't bad if your ok with walking and driving a lot. It's honest hunting no doubt.