What Are Your Birds Worth?

$4554.00 worth of scaled quail, Midland, Texas 2007.

If you're a Texas quail hunter, then it's exactly $253 apiece.

I've been rolling this number around in my head for about three months now, and I'm not sure what to think.  The figure, compiled by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service, is certainly a lot to ponder.

The study indicates that in Texas, the average quail hunter spent just over $8600 for roughly nine days of quail hunting during the 2010-2011 season (the year before Texas birds really nosedived.)  Texas, as many of you know, is a pay-to-play state -- there's virtually zero public land, which means very expensive leases, which many times go into the five-figure stratosphere.  So that's probably a number that skews the figure.

I'll let Dr. Rollins and his cohorts' study speak for itself, but it raises some interesting questions, namely:

• Nine days?  Really, guys?  If I'm going to drop some serious coin on a Texas quail lease, even if I live in Kansas, I'm spending more than nine damned days hunting them.  I spend more than a cumulative nine days a year shaving, for the love of God!  I've never cared how many I kill, but nine days concerns the hell out of me -- for a portion of the world blessed with what is the best (yet dwindling) quail habitat on this planet.


• According to the study, the number of Texas resident hunters has plummeted 79 percent since 1981.  Frightening, but I guess I can't blame folks.  It's an expensive sport, and in a where racks and beards matter, shooting something not much bigger than a songbird apparently isn't as cool or as worthwhile in our time-strapped, measuring stick society.


• How does the price of a quail -- or a decent season of quail -- compare to what a trophy deer hunter spends in Texas?  High fence or low fence, a deer outfitter commands thousands of bucks (pun intended) for the privilege to shoot a decent-sized trophy.  That's one animal.  And the success rate I'm guessing are a lot higher than the probability of shooting a decent day's worth of quail (to say nothing of a Texas limit).  So are the economics really in favor of a bird dogger?


• What will gas prices do to this equation?  With most Texas quail hunters (read: urban) at least three hours from decent Bob country, will it cease to be worth the effort?  Or will it increasingly be the domain of the well-heeled?  Sad stuff.

And then, of course, I think about my own season.  I shot exactly two quail in Kansas this season.  It was on "free" public land, and I'm grateful for those birds.  But when you add up the numbers -- gas, lodging, bird dog expenses, vacation time -- well, you get the picture.  I might as well have taped some balsa wings on gold bullion bars and shot them in my backyard. Putting a price on our avocation is indeed a slippery slope.

Yet I soldier on, undeterred, as I'm sure most of you do.  After all, you can't put a price on happiness.  

My wife will read this, after all.

Pheasant Fest 2012: Winning Hearts and Minds, One Kid At A Time

Most of you are aware that Pheasants Forever hosted their annual Pheasant Fest in Kansas City this past weekend.  For those unaware, it's an outdoor trade show that features all things related to hunting and conservation -- bird dogs, guns, and everything else related.  By any account, it was a success, drawing more than 22,000 people over three days.  That's impressive, given that KC was as far south as The Fest has ever ventured -- not to mention that the weather was ridiculously nice, which probably kept a few people outside.

But I've got another, more personal, way to measure the festival's impact.  Saturday morning, I took my 11-year-old son Jack to the show, and let him bring along one of his classmates -- we'll call him Justin.  While Jack's outdoor experience rivals almost any kid of his age, Justin wasn't at all familiar with hunting, shooting, or bird dogs.  I could tell on the drive downtown that he had no idea of what to expect from the show.

After arriving, the boys and I cruised the aisles.  We pet bird dogs and we handled shotguns -- a first for Justin.  After about 30 minutes (and a few "rules" admonishments), I let them wander the hall alone while I conducted some business.  A couple hours later, we met up for lunch.  The boys were ebullient.  They told me about the shooting galleries and fishing games, and showed me the autographs they got from the young men who would represent the U.S. on our Olympic skeet team.  They had collected stacks of catalogs and brochures from vendors.  (Jack was a little bummed he couldn't find Larry Potterfield to autograph his Midway USA master catalog that he lugged to the show, but that's another story...)

Anyhow, I had planned on taking them home after lunch, but we went back for more.  Two hours later, we were descending the escalator, smiles on all our faces.  And then Justin turned to me with a question.

"Do you think I could take a hunter's safety course with Jack this spring?"

That's when I saw Pheasant Fest from a different perspective -- the view of a non-hunting kid who had truly gotten excited about a new thrill.  It's a thrill that I've never lost, but it's one I've almost come to take for granted.

The kids are home from school today (Presidents Day, you know).  But I can't wait to hear what Justin says to Jack tomorrow in class.  Hopefully, he's still as excited about hunting as he was on Saturday.  Hopefully, he'll talk his dad into shooting with us some afternoon this spring.

And maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to show Justin the thrill of a rooster flush or covey rise next fall.

My Life As A Turkey: You Must Watch This.

If you're a hunter, nature lover, or motion photography buff, do yourself a favor and watch the magnificent PBS documentary, "My Life As A Turkey."  It's some of the best TV I've seen in years.

Hell, come to think of it, if you're NOT a lover of nature, you owe it to yourself even more to watch this, so you can understand why the rest of us are obsessed with the natural world.

Disclosure.  I'm not a TV guy, and I had no idea this was on the tube.  I'm in a motel room in Hays, Kansas by myself, scouting birds for a buddy who's arriving tomorrow.  Sitting on the bed, eating Long John Silver's (don't judge), flipping through the boob tube.  And turkeys - wild turkeys - are on PBS.  Cool, I'll watch that for 30 seconds or so.

And for the next 40 minutes (I caught it late), I was mesmerized.  The storyline isn't new - man bonds with animals, learns much about them, learns more about himself and the human condition.  But holy hell was it well done.

It was interesting, beautiful, funny, and sad, often all at once.  The cinematography was extraordinary - so much so that I'm waiting for the inevitable follow-up "The Making of Turkey Man." 

Whatever.  It's must see TV for the outdoor set, and it'll certainly make me think about that rooster or bob that I'm fixing to draw a bead on tomorrow.  Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving.

p.s. As I grabbed the link for the series, I see that the PBS site has crashed.  I'm guessing it's because of the interest in this program.

Gimme Back My Bullets, EPA

Ok, guys, here's a real quick, painless way to write your Senators and Representative and encourage them to prevent the EPA from adopting a complete ban on lead ammunition.

They're using the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 as their basis, except the law specifically calls out ammo as exempt from the rules.  Make no mistake --the Obama-appointed people behind this proposal are more interested in a de-facto gun ban than saving any kind of wildlife.  Not only that, but there's never been any legitimate, peer-reviewed study that I've found that connects wildlife mortality to the ingestion of lead.

The NSSF has the full story here, and you can send an email or letter to your elected officials here.  Do it now -- the whole shebang takes less than a minute, and it could help save the future of our sport.

The New QU

When I arrived home from work yesterday evening, a new (and very different-looking) Quail Unlimited magazine was sitting on the counter.  Gone was the cheesy cursive masthead logo, and gone was the terrible, amateurish cover photo that usually adorned the increasingly thin magazine.

It was replaced by a rather hefty book with an updated logo (even though the stylized quail head looks a bit like a pissed off chicken) and a lovely photo of a covey rise by esteemed outdoor photographer Terry Allen.

The magazine -- and ,much of the organization itself -- is now administered by Steve Smith and Village Press, the same guys that publish and edit Pointing Dog Journal, among other titles.  I haven't had much of a chance to read the magazine, but in flipping through it, I'm betting it's going to stay a little longer in my "reading library" than the old QU magazines.

While I'm still not quite ready to throw my money -- and sweat equity -- at the organization again, this step is nonetheless promising.  Mr. Smith can put together a magazine, and more importantly, Village Press has mailing lists and marketing savvy that just may help save this once-proud conservation group.

The Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation: Will It Fly?

This just in to the Scampwalker newsdesk... the fledgling Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation is making a plea to join its cause in this newly-minted press release. (Thanks to an alert reader for sending it my way.)

Read the text for yourself, but to me it appears like this document is heavy on throwing barbs at Quail Unlimited, yet short on details about how it intends to curb the demise of the bobwhite quail. To be fair, it's hard to blame the QUWF's founder, Craig Alderman, for being bitter towards an organization that fired him (even if opinions vary widely about exactly where and how to spread the blame). But if this upstart club is going to be successful, it would seem to me it would be smarter to outline the positive goals of the group instead of settling old scores.

So... on one hand, we've got a QU on life support, hoping to regain some badly-needed credibility. On the other hand, we've got an unproven QUWF struggling to get off the ground. Neither option appears promising, particularly in this stumbling economy.

Thankfully, there's a door number three. I'm finishing up some research and will report on that shortly.

Quail Unlimited: Fun Times In Albany

As I write this, dozens of outdoor industry leaders, conservationists, landowners, hunters and assorted muckety-mucks are descending on Albany, Georgia for the Annual Quail Unlimited Conservation Celebrity Event.

Formerly known as the "Celebrity Hunt," the event has traditionally been QU's biggest single fundraiser. This year, it's quite a feat that they've been able to even pull off the shindig. For the past year or so, the organization has been mired in financial turmoil, most of the leadership ousted, their headquarters up for sale, and their print magazine on hiatus.

Traditionally, the annual celebrity event has been a way for QU to recognize its sponsors and treat its major benefactors to a leisurely weekend of plantation hunting with actors, athletes, and politicians, most of whom are quail hunters too.

This year, I imagine things won't be quite as laid-back. New QU president Bill Bowles (formerly of Wynfield Plantation and currently of Quail Country, two of the finest Georgia plantations out there) is inviting any member to this years wing-ding.  While the openness is commendable, I suspect that during private conversations, he's getting a testy earful from sponsors, the board of directors and state chairmen.  I hope so, actually.

Nevertheless, I wish Mr. Bowles the best of luck. I firmly believe that as sportsmen, we should choose at least one conservation organization that we can support for the benefit of the wildlife that we care so deeply about.

I fear however (pardon the pun) that the QU bird has already flown the coop. While a few big-name sponsors -- the lifeblood of funding for any conservation organization -- are holding fast to QU, others have left. Dozens of chapters, many of them historically the strongest in the QU arsenal, have dissolved their affiliation with QU or disbanded altogether. Quail Forever, an affiliate of Pheasants Forever, has gained momentum and chapters. And handful of refugees from QU have formed the Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation, but as far as I can tell, it has yet to take hold.

Hopefully, good will come out of all of this. I've always been of the opinion that we've had too many national "boutique" conservation groups that are segmented to one specific species of animal. All of these different groups compete for a sportsman's dollar, spending precious resources on advertising, recruiting, and administration costs. If I were king (a scary thought indeed) there would be one national group (perhaps the NSSF?) that lobbies the government on national and regional issues that affect sportsmen and gun owners. That would leave state and local groups to focus on conserving and improving habitat in their local area.

It's a grassroots idea, and one that the existing conservation organizations probably wouldn't much care for. But who needs another DU gun case or PF hat? Nix the overhead and administration, and put those dollars to work for the critters that are most important to us locally.

A Pollyanna approach? Perhaps. But there are legitimate signs that this philosophy is already working. More on that later, so stay tuned.

Quail Unlimited Apparently Isn't.

Shortly after I moved to Kansas City, I was short on hunting buddies.  I don't mind hunting alone now and then (in fact sometimes it's incredibly therapeutic), but it's usually more fun to share it with someone.  So I decided to join a conservation organization, in hopes of finding some like-minded souls to chase tail (of the winged variety).

I probably could have joined any of the various organizations, but I picked Quail Unlimited (Chapter 13, now a fitting name), mainly because it catered to the species of bird I enjoy hunting most.  It was a good experience -- I met some good hunting partners and I was even drafted into a stint on the local Board of Directors.  I got a great deal of satisfaction spending time and money helping to grow the organization -- both nationally and locally.  I even got the rare treat of attending the Celebrity Hunt one year on a south Georgia plantation.

A couple of months ago, I began receiving emails and phone calls from friends and associates that filled me in on the bad juju going on at QU National.  Rocky Evans, one of the founders of QU and longtime President, had resigned under pressure.  Craig Alderman, a PR/marketing hack and career journeyman in the outdoor industry, was elevated to prez.

Accusations of debt, mismanagment, misappropriation, foreclosure, graft, and other skullduggery are rampant.  QU apparently no longer owns its sprawling South Carolina HQ anymore, and I got an email today urging me to join the Quail and Upland Wildlife Federation, the supposed phoenix destined to rise from the QU ashes. 

Thanks, but I'll keep my hand on my wallet.  I'm pissed off for QU wasting my time, money, and credibility for the better part of a decade.  I'm even more pissed off that the regional directors, wildlife biologists, hunters, and conservationists are left holding the bag for this gross mismanagement by a bunch of selfish assholes that found a profit center in charity.

And mostly, I'm pissed off that the bird that needs it most is once again the ultimate loser.

Save The CRP

If you're not a farmer or hunter, then chances are you've never heard of the Conservation Reserve Program, better known as CRP. It its essence, it's a USDA program that incentivizes farmers to convert highly erodible cropland or other environmentally vulnerable acreage to grassland, trees, filter strips, or bottomland buffers. For more than 20 years, this program has been a major force in reducing soil erosion, enhancing water supplies, improving water quality, mitigating flood control, and increasing wildlife habitat of all varieties.

In my estimation, it's a poster child for how government and the private sector ought to work. But today, the program is in jeopardy. According to Pheasants Forever, over 4.2 million acres have expired, and over the next five years, another 21 million more acres are slated to expire. The reasons for this exodus from CRP are varied, but an increase in grain prices (thanks in part to increased ethanol demand) is certainly a significant culprit.

Although CRP was reauthorized in the current farm bill, its success will depend on the rules for implementation. As it stands, there is no provision for a new CRP general signup to re-enroll or replace acres that have expired. Without allowing for new enrollment, we'll continue to lose these vital acres. Of course, someone -- the taxpayer -- has to pay to put these new acres into CRP. But this is an investment in the future.

I've never been accused of being a tax-and-spend liberal, but the CRP program is almost universally hailed as a success. If you've ever walked a section of CRP, the quality of land and wildlife diversity is self-evident. Whether you're a hunter, conservationist, or environmentalist, this is one program we can all get behind. To weigh in on the issue, contact your Congressman, email CRPcomments@tecinc.com, or click here to read more.