Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, skledbetter@ag.tamu.edu
Contact: Michael Wilkes, 806-868-3191, mcwilkes@ag.tamu.edu
MIAMI – A Quail Appreciation Day will be offered May 21 at the Mesa Vista Ranch by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in Roberts County.
Individual registration is $10, payable on site, and it includes lunch, said Michael Wilkes, AgriLife Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Roberts County.
Those planning to attend should RSVP by May 15 by calling 806-868-3191.
Three general Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units will be offered.
“Over the past decade, many things have changed the way we view wildlife and wildlife habitat management,” Wilkes said. “We have learned a great deal from research and technologies that have made tracking quail habits easier. There are still many things to learn if we want to reverse the downward population trend of quail in Texas.”
Wilkes said the Mesa Vista Ranch markets itself as offering “The World’s Best Quail Hunting.” It provides an ideal location for participants to explore what the future holds in terms of quail management strategies.
The program will begin with registration at 9 a.m. At 9:30 a.m., the tour will leave for stops to look at habitat evaluation and quail management.
Discussion topics and presenters will include:
– Key Plants for Quail, Dr. Dale Rollins, retired AgriLife Extension wildlife specialist at San Angelo and current executive director of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch at Roby.
– Evaluating Quail Habitat – Smart Phone App, Becky Ruzicka, AgriLife Extension wildlife associate at Dallas.
– Softball Habitat Evaluation Technique, Rollins.
– Texas Quail Index – Why and How, Ruzicka
– Are Wild Turkeys Velociraptors on Quail Chicks?, Brad Kubecka, Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch.
– Oil Field and Quail Management, Keith Boone, ranch manager.
Following a noon lunch, the program will continue with Kubecka speaking on Economic Impacts of Quail Hunting – Show Me the Money.
The event will wrap up with a discussion on research updates, including:
– Texas A&M AgriLife’s Quail Decline Initiative, Ruzicka.
– Quail-Tech Alliance, Dr. Brad Dabbert, Texas Tech University, Lubbock.
– Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, Rollins.
Directions to get to the Mesa Vista Ranch are: from Miami take Farm-to-Market Road 283 to State Highway 70, turn north and go 2 miles to the large rock entrance sign that says Mesa Vista Ranch on the left; from Pampa, take State Highway 70 north about 32 miles to the large rock entrance sign that says Mesa Vista Ranch on the west side of the road.
For more information, contact Wilkes at 806-868-3191 or mcwilkes@ag.tamu.edu .
-30-