Posted By: jeh7mmmag
Quail hunting: Preliminary data raise hopes for this season after years of decline - 08/02/15 03:08 PM
By RAY SASSER rsasser@dallasnews.com
Staff Writer
Published: 01 August 2015 05:27 PM
Updated: 01 August 2015 05:27 PM
Quail hunters are an optimistic crowd. Their favorite game birds have always risen and fallen, riding the roller coaster of unstable Texas weather trends. In recent years, the quail have fallen more than they’ve risen.
So, too, have the ranks of quail hunters, once estimated at 233,000 strong. By the 2012-13 season, that number had declined to an estimated 25,000. Hunter numbers blipped up to a little more than 36,000 in 2013-14 and rose a little higher in 2014-15, to more than 45,000.
Robert Perez, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department quail program leader, said he was glad to see quail hunters on the uptick for a change. If a catastrophe doesn’t occur before quail season begins in November, the number of quail could increase significantly this fall, and hunters are expected to respond.
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