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The Quail Comeback
By Russell Graves
After a banner year across Texas’ quail lands, spring brought optimism. Each morning in the haunts where wild bobwhite quail are found, male bobwhites incessantly cry their familiar call in search for a mate. It’s a comforting and hopeful sound if you are a quail hunter. The hope is that the male finds a female with which to mate and populate the brush with dozens of new baby quail.
Throughout much of Texas, spring rains have been ample enough to give bloom to a host of seed-producing plants and a hatch of bugs that are essential sources of protein for young chicks. While the volume of rain that’s fallen this spring is paltry compared to 2015, it’s generous when you compare it to the long term drought that plagued the state in the early part of the decade, a drought that decimated bobwhite populations to the point that some die-hard hunters wondered if they’d ever return.
Silas Ragsdale was one of those hunters. “This has always been a good quail place up until a few years ago when the birds started to disappear,” lamented Ragsdale, speaking of his quail hunting spread located near Hedley in the southeastern Texas Panhandle. “They were never really completely gone over the past few years, but their numbers were noticeably scarce.”
On his first day back in the field this past season, Ragsdale already had a renewed optimism in regards to the future of bobwhite quail. The birds, it seemed were back and his worries were assuaged—at least for now.
To read more pick up a copy of the November 2016 NTFR issue or call 940-872-5922 to subscribe.
One of my professors out at Texas Tech University always told us that we aren’t just raising cattle, we’re raising grass, because without grass there is no cattle business. The same applies to most livestock species and crops we seek to raise- without good land management, no good yield can grow.
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 Barry Whitworth, DVM, MPH
With the prolonged drought, most pastures in Oklahoma end up in poor condition. With the lack of available forage, animals may go in search of alternative foods.
If oak trees are in the pastures, acorns may be a favorite meal for some livestock in the fall. This may result in oak poisoning.
Oak leaves, twigs, buds, and acorns may be toxic to some animals when consumed.
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
There are a handful of grasses on North Texas grazing lands ranchers need to know, not because they are highly desirable, but rather because they are not of much value. I call them “decom” plants, which is am acronym for “Don’t Ever Count On Me.” Silver bluestem is a “decom” grass.
Silver bluestem is a perennial which grows in all areas of Texas. It can survive in almost all soil types, and in full sun conditions or in semi shade. It grows up to three feet tall and is easily recognized with the presence of the white fuzzy seed head. Also, one of the identifying characteristics of Silver bluestem is a bend in the stems at each node, causing the plants to take on a rounded shape as they mature.
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.
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