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March 22, 2024
LoneOStar Outdoor News
LSONews.com
HUNTING Does feed bulk up quail?
Creating quail habitat in East Texas Prescribed burns on 500 acres By Craig Nyhus
Lone Star Outdoor News
Supplemental feed helps quail during drought and lean times, but the birds don’t put on weight. Photo by Lone Star Outdoor News.
By Mike Bodenchuk For Lone Star Outdoor News
Bobwhite quail have received a lot of research attention over the past 30 years. Quail research continues in the South Plains and in South Texas as landowners and scientists try to reverse the quail decline. One topic of significant study has been the supplemental feeding of quail to increase survival. In a research paper presented at the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society, researchers described a field trial of using supplemental feed for quail along the roads on a South Texas ranch to see if supplying feed increased body mass. It was hypothesized that increased body mass would help quail survive over winter. To conduct the study, managers applied grain sorghum at a rate of 70 pounds per mile of road in one area and did not supplement quail on another site. Quail were hunted in both areas, and birds shot were taken immediately to the vehicle where they were weighed. Interestingly, the use of supplemental feed in this experiment did not affect the body weight of the birds. Following the presentation of the results, researchers and other quail experts discussed the possible reasons for their observations. It was noted that supplemental feed may not be necessary in good habitat. It was also noted that grain sorghum may not be the ideal food source, as it’s lower in digestible nutrients than other grains. Perhaps more telling, because bobwhites are genetically programmed to avoid predation, it is a disadvantage for a bird to gain too much weight. A fat quail may be killed by a predator more easily than one that is more fit. Another observation was that hunters in the supplemental feed area encountered coveys closer to the road than they did in the no treatment area. While quail did not gain weight from the use of grain sorghum, it appear they use the feed and, in doing so, they may not have to move around the landscape as much. Whether supplemental feed reduces their exposure to predators by reducing the need to move was not examined.
Stan Graff, in an effort to create quail habitat and reintroduce bobwhite quail on his Red River County Graff Ranch, worked with Tall Timbers, a Research Station & Land Conservancy, to conduct prescribed burns on about 500 acres in early March. “It went really well,” Graff said. “Overall we had a good burn on 90 to 95 percent of the area.” Kyle Carrington, the East Texas Prescribed Fire Outreach Coordinator at Tall Timbers, said the area hadn’t been burned in 50 years, and the initial fires would help get rid of the heavy fuel buildup. “We divided it into four sections based on roads and fire breaks,” Carrington said. “They had harvested timber a few years ago, and we needed the right conditions so the fire wouldn’t get too hot and damage the pine trees and remaining hardwoods. They had thinned the area pretty heavily, but it will still need another burn or two before all the extra fuel is gone.” The private lands team of six out of Florida, Georgia and Carrington from Texas, after scouting the area, burned black lines on the downwind side so the fire wouldn’t escape, and then burned the sections downwind. The burning process took two days. “Once we get the excess fuel burned, then we’ll split it up into smaller patchwork blocks and burn a quarter of it each year,” Carrington said. The end goal of the lengthy process is quail production. “It will take some time to get there,” Carrington said. “The burns will promote forb production, create plant diversity and help with native grass restoration. Graff’s plan is to expand the burning effort. “We’ll expand by another 350 acres,” he said. “Our ultimate goal is to get to 1,450 acres and set the stage for reintroduction of bobwhites. And it also should accelerate the eastern turkey production, which has been good (Graff’s ranch was the original eastern turkey release site when the birds were reintroduced in East Texas) and it will be good for the deer. Everybody wins.” He credited Tall Timbers with a safe and productive burn.
Much of the Graff Ranch hadn’t had any planned or unplanned burning for more than 50 years, but a prescribed burn is part of the plan to improve the habitat for wildlife, especially bobwhite quail. Photos by Kyle Carrington, Tall Timbers.
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Strutting in the rain Matt Olsen had a memorable hunt on opening morning of the South Zone spring turkey season. The Victoria resident, who loves turkey hunting so much that he started a National Wild Turkey Federation chapter in his hometown, hunted near Nixon, and knew rain was in the forecast. The rain let up to a drizzle as he started hunting, and as the cardinals began to wake up the rest of the woods, a pack of coyotes sounded off and he heard toms all around, gobbling. He headed into the woods and got into position. When the sun rose, the rain picked up and the birds went silent. Olsen softly purred and clucked and got a response, but then nothing. He called again, louder this time, and the tom sounded off. He quickly put out a jake decoy and ducked back into the woods. The tom came out in a full strut, slowly spitting and drumming his way into the decoy. After 15 minutes of putting on a show and fighting with the decoy, Olsen did a sharp cut call, bringing him out of a full strut and bringing his head up. “For the next hour I sat there in the rain, literally soaking it all up,” Olsen said. Photo from Matt Olsen.