Beef, Brush, and Bobwhites: Quail Management in Cattle Country

Chapter 12. Management Examples

Management examples Chapter 12 SO FAR, ALL WE have done regarding bobwhite management is talk the talk. We have discussed how to manage brush and grazing, how to correct habitat deficiencies, and how to manage harvest. Now it is time to walk the walk. In this chapter we highlight 4 Texas landowners who have used the practices and principles described earlier to create usable space for bobwhites and increase bobwhite populations. Texas is a big state, varied in weather, soils, and management challenges. These managers have adapted practices and techniques in creative and unique ways to reflect their particular circumstances and personality . We have included management examples from the Rio Grande and Rolling Plains to capture the diversity in management approaches that lead to strong bobwhite populations. rio Grande Plains Vivoritas Ranch Ed Austin, owner of the Vivoritas Ranch (about 8,500 acres) in Jim Hogg County, has a remarkable bobwhite management program. It results in habitat with the proper structure, an abundance of native foods, and a “crazy-quilt” pattern of cover. Jim Hogg County averages about 23 inches of annual rainfall. This may seem a bit low, but the rain peaks at critical times. The average for April through June is about 8 inches, which creates great breeding conditions for bobwhites. Rain in September through November averages 7.1 inches, which stimulates winter greens important for the prebreeding diet. Thus, nearly 65% of the rain falls at periods crucial for bobwhites, especially in areas with long growing seasons (305 days in Jim Hogg County). The soils have loamy surfaces with deep reddish or mottled clayey subsoils. They support a diverse brush community, including mesquite, lime pricklyash (Zanthoxylum hirsutum), brasil, and more than 10 other species. Cattle were removed from the ranch in 1993. Austin maintains the proper habitat structure for bobwhites through discing and prescribed fire. He cleared brush strips about 15 feet wide throughout the ranch. These cleared strips are spaced about 0.2−0.3 mile apart and run north-south and east-west. This crisscross pattern results in a checkerboard of square-shaped patches that lend 194 chapter twelve themselves to habitat management. The patches range in size from about 50 to 100 acres. All the strips are disced from about mid-February through mid-March. In addition to creating brood habitat, they function as fire guards. Austin selects about 35–40 habitat patches to burn every year, with new habitat patches selected each year. Prescribed burns are conducted from mid-March through mid-April. The prescribed-burn plan is designed such that different-age burns are in close proximity to one another. For example, at the junction of 4 habitat patches, there may be a 1-year, 2-year, 3-year, and 4-year-old burn. It takes about 4–6 years before a patch is burned again. Thus, about 15% of the ranch has undergone recent disturbance in any given year. The high level of disturbance accomplishes 2 objectives. First, it prevents the buildup of dense grasses and grass litter, which is a potential problem because there is no cattle grazing. Second, it creates ideal habitat structure for bobwhites. The soil is bare at the surface but is shaded by the canopies of plants. Bobwhites, Figure 12.2. (a) Habitat patches are burned on a 4–6-year rotation. The patch on the right side of the road has not been burned, whereas the one on the left side has. (b) A landscape view of the unburned patch. Note the denser grass cover, which provides adequate nesting cover. (c) A landscape view of the burned patch. It has adequate bare ground and plenty of forbs. It represents good foraging habitat. (Photographs by Fidel Hernández) (b) (c) Management Examples 195 therefore, can move about and find seeds easily. Because there is no grazing, mid- and tall grasses dominate the landscape and provide well-distributed nesting cover. Prescribed burning and discing also stimulate bobwhite food plants. On these recently disturbed areas, croton, milk pea, and partridge pea are abundant. In the older patches, perennial forbs such as widow’s tears (Commelina erecta), an important wildlife food plant, abound. In addition to this intensive and extensive management, water is provided in the form of standing pools, fed from nearby windmills. These pools of water are spaced about every quarter mile. Supplemental food (milo) is spread along disced strips only when harsh winter weather...