Duck production promising

Nesting conditions improved in areas where ducks that eventually head to Texas spend their spring.

Good in Dakotas, fair in prairie Canada

Lone Star outdoor newS

Although the official numbers won’t be out until August, northern U.S. states and Canadian provinces showed promising amounts of water on the landscape, hopefully setting the stage for a good fall flight of waterfowl.

According to Delta Waterfowl’s prairie breeding condition map, good conditions remained throughout most of the Dakotas, Montana and Manitoba. The prairies of Saskatchewan and Alberta are drier, but most areas still rate fair for duck production.

Ducks Unlimited provided habitat estimates earlier this year, noting the central and eastern Dakotas received above-average to record amounts of late winter and spring precipitation, providing excellent habitat for breeding waterfowl. Conditions were less favorable in northeastern Montana, however.

In prairie Canada, the snowpack was average in much of Saskatchewan and south- western Manitoba. Spring precipitation also was low, reducing the amount of habitat for breeding waterfowl. Wetlands were in better condition in Ontario, where winter precipitation was above average.

North Dakota Game and Fish conducts its own breeding waterfowl and wetland survey, which revealed good to excellent conditions for breeding ducks. The wetland index was the seventh highest on record, and the total duck number was estimated at just above 3.4 million, a slight increase from 2022. Overall duck numbers were up, but mallards were down 10 percent from last year at 640,000, and bluewinged teal were down slightly but still totaled 925,000.

Increases were noted in redheads, canvasbacks and shovelers, along with a welcomed 40-percent increase in breeding pintail, bringing the breeding populations to numbers not seen since the 2000s.

The 2023 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey takes place in the northern U.S. and Canada from mid-May to mid-June. The results are expected to be released in August. The survey estimated the total duck population at 34.2 million in 2022.

Gamebird research center to open at Texas A&M University-Commerce

Thanks to a $1 million gift from Ted and Donna Lyon, a gamebird research and education facility is planned for a 2024 opening at Texas A&M University-Commerce, to be called the Ted and Donna Lyon Center for Gamebird Research.

Dr. Kelly Reyna, associate professor and director of the Quail Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University-Commerce, will serve as the gamebird center’s director.

The Lyons’ donation will support several gamebird research and education initiatives at Texas A&M University-Commerce, including separate endowments for constructing and operating the new center and funding gamebird research.

“The Lyons’ generous gift will create a world-class research facility and an endowed professorship that will position Texas A&M University-Commerce to recruit and retain high-quality faculty and provide resources to promote innovative gamebird research,” Reyna said. “Their gift will also establish the Ted and Donna Lyon Scholars program benefiting Texas A&M University-Commerce students who are committed to gamebird conservation and sustainability.”

The center will include a state-of-the-art quail research and production facility, a wetland research station, large classrooms and meeting spaces, wetland and upland nature trails, and office space for gamebird faculty and students.

Born and raised in Terrell, after high school Ted worked as a police officer and Donna worked as an executive assistant for Southwestern Bell. Later, he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) and a Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University School of Law and eventually began a successful law practice.

—Staff report

Statewide Quail Symposium set for Aug. 16-18

It has been four years since the last Statewide Quail Symposium was held in Abilene. The biennial event was put on hiatus two years ago, so quail enthusiasts are looking forward to updates on all things related to quail. The conference will bring quail experts together to discuss quail management, research updates and quail conservation.

“The symposium is open to anyone with an interest in quail, including landowners, land managers, hunters, students and naturalists” said Dr. Ryan O’Shaughnessy, Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation’s executive director.

The event, hosted by RPQRF, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas Wildlife Association, kicks off Aug. 16 with a tour of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, located between Roby and Snyder.

“We’ll showcase our habitat management practices and update participants on our research and outreach efforts,” O’Shaughnessy said. “We’ll see and discuss management techniques used on the property to optimize habitat for quail and work on plant identification skills with experts while out in the field.”

Participants will convene at the Abilene Convention Center August 16-18 for presentations from leading experts on quail management and research. Sessions will cover everything from hunting gear and technology to resources for landowners to improve and maintain habitat for quail. Speakers will include Dr. Bill Palmer, Research Director and President of Tall Timbers, Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation outreach director Dr. Dale Rollins and TPWD Upland Game Bird program leader John McLaughlin.

Participants may take advantage of discounted early registration by signing up before July 3 for $75 ($100 after). Student rates are $50 for early registration ($75 after). For more information, contact Dana Wright with RPQRF at dwright@quailresearch.org.

—RPQRF

More square feet

Continued from page 4 the range so people can hear what an AR with a suppressor sounds like,” Cote said.

The expanded Mumme’s Gun Room will have plenty to meet the needs of hunters and shooters.

“We have a lot of guns out,” Cote said. “The showroom is pretty big.”

Guns will include everything from rifles, shotguns and handguns to custom-made, high-end firearms. Brands of shotguns alone include Benelli, Beretta, Browning, Caesar Guerini, Winchester and Fabarms. And those needing ammunition need to make a point to head to Hondo.

“We now have an 80-foot section, four rows deep of ammo,” Cote said. “Some ammo is still tough to find.”

Delayed success

Continued from page 4

“Just like the other dozens of hunts for this ram, I sat there for five hours and never even saw him.”

Lively doesn’t like waking up early, but the thought of the old, ghost-like ram giving him the slip at first light sparked a fire.

“I checked the trail camera footage at 3:37 a.m. and there he was sleeping in the middle of the field with some ewes,” he said. “I was out the door by 3:45 and in the blind at 4:17. I had to walk in 800 yards without a flashlight in hopes of not disturbing the sleeping animals. The moonlight hit the blind perfectly, so I could make out the outline of the blind.”

His chance came at 6:04.

“There was just enough light in both my binoculars and riflescope to see him standing, walking towards the ewes that had already started to move out of the field,” Lively said. “I knew this might be my only chance, and I took the shot.”

The unique ram had broomed off the top right side of its horns. Lively had noticed the aoudad was trying to get corn from lower-placed feeders intended for deer, and the ram’s persistence caused the feeder to wear what looked like a crater in the horn.

“I could tell from the game camera photos that the hole was getting progressively larger, which added to the drive to hunt him before it totally broke off,” he said.

The ram weighed 277 pounds and its horns measured 33 and 31 inches.

Music video at the ranch

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“We were playing weatherman, watching thunderstorm cells,” he said. “Otherwise, I was just a fan taking pictures for the ranch. Tanya is a hoot; she is always singing or humming to herself. And, she got time to go see the giraffes.”

Normandin said Tucker showed her approachable side when he showed her a photo his father sent him.

“It was a photo of him with her record in 1978,” he said. “As soon as she saw it, she had me call my dad so she could thank him. Needless to say, my dad was tickled to death.”