HOME
Scaled quail research hopes to pave way for the bird’s Rolling Plains comeback
By Russell Graves
After a night’s rain, the red dirt Knox County ranch roads in which Becky Ruzicka drives are a bit soft, even muddy in places.
Undaunted, she drives her Kawasaki Mule through the barbed wire gate and past cedars and mesquite trees, all the while watching a GPS unit that tells her the position of each quail surrogator she has stationed on the vast Texas rangelands.
“Through this research we hope to determine the effectiveness of using translocation as a tool to reestablish scaled quail populations within the Rolling Plains,” she explains while gathering up needed equipment before we make a short walk through the brush to the first location where she’ll release a bevy of birds.
“Specifically,” she contends, “this study is designed to help us identify best practices for scaled quail translocation.” As part of Texas A&M University’s Reversing the Decline of Quail in Texas initiative and a continuation of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch (RPQRR)’s Operation Transfusion project, she hopes to unlock the secrets that, to date, have prohibited scaled quail from inhabiting every niche of their historical range in Texas.
According to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department maps, the historic range of scaled quail is generally on a line that extends a couple of counties east of the 100th meridian (roughly US 83).
To read more pick up a copy of the September 2016 NTFR issue.
By Krista Lucas Wynn
Each year, when the professional rodeo season wraps on Sept. 30, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women’s Professional Rodeo Association announce the Nutrena Horse of the Year, presented by the American Quarter Horse Association, in each event. This is a prestigious award, voted on by the members of the associations. To be named Horse of the Year by fellow competitors is a high honor only a few achieve.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Heather Welper
Husband and wife duo, Heather and Calvin Welper, are the Co-Owners and Operators or Two C Livestock, located in Valley View, Texas.
The pair’s operation has a show cattle focus where they raise and sell purebred heifers of all breeds and club calf Hereford steers.
When it comes to show cattle, the Welpers know a thing or two including how to prepare for the cold winter months and the Texas major show season run.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Tony Dean
Snow on the Mountain is an annual forb that is part of our landscape almost every year.
It is adapted to most of Texas and grows north to Montana and Minnesota and south to Mexico.
Although is seems to be most adapted to clay soils, this plant can be found on a wide variety of soil and moisture conditions.
To read more, pick up a copy of the November edition of North Texas Farm & Ranch magazine, available digitally and in print. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
-
Country Lifestyles2 years agoScott & Stacey Schumacher: A Growth Mindset
-
Country Lifestyles8 years agoStyle Your Profile – What your style cowboy hat says about you and new trends in 2017
-
HOME8 years agoGrazing North Texas – Wilman Lovegrass
-
Equine1 year agoThe Will to Win
-
Country Lifestyles5 years agoAmber Crawford, Breakaway Roper
-
Outdoor10 years agoButtercup or Primrose?
-
Country Lifestyles9 years agoJune 2016 Profile – The man behind the mic: Bob Tallman
-
Country Lifestyles8 years agoDecember 2016 Profile, Rusty Riddle – The Riddle Way