So is Dale Rollins out of a job

As far as all his research on why the quail numbers were so low.

If so, we can certainly use his expertise here in East Texas!!

What were his theories?

No disrespect to Dale or anyone else researching in the field. But it sure seems to come down to what I've heard some old ranchers say. When it rains, we have quail, when it don't rain we don't have quail. Pretty simple really.

Yep, all of this rain the past two years must have drowned all of the eyeworms that were killing the quail.

Reckon how may gazillion dollars were spent on research of "The Decline of the Bobwhite Quail" in the past 5-6 years when the answer seemed to be so obvious? Isn't Mother Nature so awesome that she can fix the problem for free?!!!

Dale still works to get ranchers to do what they can to improve habitat and that is only one of many roles he and the ranch play. I'm glad the drought ended and the birds are back but having Dale around is a big plus for Texas and for bird hunters. My guess is that the prolonged drought was good for the hosts of the eye worm (grasshoppers etc) thus the big increase in the eye worm problem. The eye worms have been around for some time but worse in the past few dry years. It may have been those that made what looked like a decent bird crops in August/Sept disappear in Oct. But what ever the case Dale is a big advantage for bird hunters and glad he's running the research ranch. And dam sure glad the birds are back.

There has also been a steady decline in quail numbers since the 50's. The numbers rebounded but they are still down. Habitat is one problem but there used to be quail all over TX and OK. Other than habitat and moisture he's doing what he can to determine what else could be causing it

Agree100%

I agree with the last two also. Are the quail back in East Texas? Arkansas? Mississippi? Alabama? Nope. So it's not just rain.

"In April of 1943, with the introduction of Coastal bermudagrass (an F1 hybrid between selections from Georgia and South Africa), forage production with perennial grasses changed dramatically and permanently."

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/turf/publications/foragebermuda/bermuda.html

Maybe no one easy answer but I would say this played a role in the post oak savannah region where native grasses (such as blue stem) are practically non-existent. Coastal was a blessing for the cattle industry in this region, especially where there is poor sugar-sand soil. Combine that with all the weed sprays and pesticides that have advanced and become more affordable over the years and you get yourself a high producing mono-culture for maximum profits...but minimum quail. I say this from growing up in the cattle industry, so not saying it's "wrong" or anything as people need to make a living. I had the opportunity to witness this transition first-hand as an overgrown, weed-covered ranch with a handful of quail back in the 90s was converted back into high production and a quail has not been seen since...even with all the rain.

We have Jim Willis in our area.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/...ail-1764954.php

SPRING — The sparse beauty of the tall grasses and sand plum trees at WW Ranch makes this land near the San Bernard River appear unchanged from a century ago. But the still life can be deceptive.

When hunting buddies Jim Willis and John Webb purchased the 225-acre ranch in 2000, the overgrazed property had become "a wildlife desert," as Willis phrased it. The pasture couldn't support anything but cattle.



So, they replaced the so-called improved grasses commonly planted in the area with native varieties, such as little bluestem and switchgrass, to restore habitat for bobwhite quail and other birds. Scores of them now nest in the grasses while the ranch's cattle graze nearby.

What is happening here is a vision that many see as the coastal prairie's salvation. Biologists blame the loss of habitat, primarily from development and modern farming practices, for a 75 percent drop in Texas' quail population in the past 30 years.

The quail's decline matters because the popular game bird is an "indicator species," meaning their numbers reflect the viability of an ecosystem for other grassland birds. Already, without any attempt to restock, the WW Ranch has a healthy population of one quail per acre, Willis said.

I agree with most of the sentiment on this entire post.

I have experienced the same first hand ranching as well as you.

However good pasture rotation on native grass can be profitable and retain good habitat for both cattle and quail. In fact they are one in the same if you can take a naturalist perspective. It does not have to be one way or the other. More often than not though production ag today leaves a ugly trail unfortunately. Again not that it is "wrong"

one of the driest years in history was 2011. We had quail in our area that year. We actually do better in the drier years.

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbth...tem#Post2131207

[quote=bill oxner]Did you know that there were 16 varieties of bluestem. I learned that and a lot more than I ever thought I wanted to know about weeds and grasses as I hunted with Jim Willis Saturday. I also learned that he had some great Elhew pointers. Let's go straight to the pictures.

Here's Elhew Dixie with Jim doing the honors;




Here's a great Britt named Buddy pointing as Elhew Sue backing;



Elhew Dixie again;



Here's Sue pointing with Jim doing the honors;



Sue again;



I'm not making this up. Byron brought a Britt named Buddy and a GWP named Ranger. Here's Ranger pointing with Cracker backing;



Would you pick out ranger as a GWP?

I don't post many pictures of Cracker anymore, but she does point. Here you go;



I saved the best bird dog picture for last. Here's Yeats with ET doing the honors;



Jim liked to look at the guts. This crop was filled with a milo size weed seed;



After the hunt;

exactly

Rain is the king, but we still need people like Dale to help us make the inevitable drought years less catastrophic.

On the TFF there's been a lot of hand wringing for the past ten years over drought, and it has been severe.
But I was always reminded of Matthew 6 - "Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, but the heavenly Father cares for them, now as always."

He's been doing it for a long time.

I hope the weatherman is wrong, but they are predicting a dryer year for Texas starting this winter.

Dryer than?? With all the rain we have had this year, a dryer year might not be too bad.