A Thriving Habitat

Quail hunter numbers have followed the quail population in decline, Kubecka said. “If you look at some of the trends for the Rolling Plains, we're down 85 percent in hunters just within the last 25 to 30 years.” Hunters provide more than 95 percent of funding for RPQRF and many other conservation efforts.

Article by ELLEN H. BRISENDINE

Things are changing at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, Roby, Texas. New buildings, a new executive director and a well-known leader in a new role indicate the ranch is gearing up for several more years of providing useful information to landowners, managers and hunters about all things quail.

A new 6,400-square-foot headquarters will allow the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation (RPQRF), the ranch's owner, to keep doing its important work—supporting its constituents by conducting research and educating all who seek knowledge about quail, quail hunting and strengthening the community of quail enthusiasts.

RPQRF’s mission is to preserve Texas’ heritage of wild quail hunting for this, and future, generations. Brad Kubecka, named executive director in June 2021, intends to continue meeting this mission by making sure the work is relevant to those constituents.

RPQRF was founded in 2007 by Dr. Dale Rollins with the generosity of the Richard King Mellon Foundation and the Conservation Fund.

Rollins is an internationally recognized authority on quail, having served a distinguished and productive career as professor and Extension wildlife specialist for Texas AgriLife Extension, based in San Angelo, from 1987 to 2013. He retired from that career in August 2013 but returned as the program coordinator for Texas A&M’s Reversing the Quail Decline initiative.

Rollins served as the Foundation’s executive director until 2021, when he moved to the position of director of outreach for RPQRF, doing what he always seems to love best—reaching out to landowners, hunters and the world about quail.

Kubecka began his years with RPQRF as an intern in 2013 while earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management at Tarleton State University. He continued working with Rollins and the ranch while studying for his Master of Science in Range and Wildlife Management at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

Kubecka has served on the graduate committee for RPQRF’s Erath County bobwhite translocation and helped establish the Western Pineywoods Quail Program, a Tall Timbers regional quail program based in East Texas.

Kubecka earned his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia while serving as western game bird director with Tall Timbers, a Florida-based land trust recognized as the home of the study of fire ecology and an advocate of prescribed fire for land management. It is also recognized as one of the nation’s leading land trusts.

Kubecka, originally from Flatonia, Texas, did not grow up quail hunting. But meeting Rollins sparked his interest in the birds. Rollins helped Kubecka find his first two bird dogs.

Photo by Russell A. Graves

“My whole academic upbringing was in Texas with Texas quail in South Texas and West Texas. I decided for my Ph.D. that I was either going to do something completely different and stay in Texas or move somewhere completely different and do something similar,” he said. “But I had a passion for game birds, and specifically quail,” and found an opportunity to continue his education and his passion by sharing his time with Tall Timbers and RPQRF.

This move to the Southeastern U.S. for his Ph.D. studies has broadened Kubecka’s perspective on quail management and quail science, he said. “These experiences—seeing the different ecosystems in which the birds can grow, and the different management techniques the landowners use to grow healthy quail populations in environments that are completely different from Texas—have been incredibly helpful and are giving me a deeper understanding of quail management.”

Dr. Dale Rollins is the new director of outreach for RPQRF, doing what he always seems to love best—reaching out to landowners, hunters and the world about quail. Rollins served as the Foundation’s executive director from its beginning in 2007 to 2021.

CONSTITUENTS AND CORE AREA

Given the name, Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, it’s clear the core area of interest for the RPQRF's research and outreach is the Rolling Plains ecoregion of West Texas and up into the Panhandle. The ranch at Roby is conveniently situated northwest of Abilene.

Landowners and quail managers are part of the constituents the staff serves, as are hunters. Kubecka said, “Our mission specifically includes the preservation of wild quail hunting. We have a lot of hunters who lease land in West Texas, and we have the public land hunters—the folks who visit the Matador Wildlife Management Area and other WMAs in the region. They don't have a lease and they don't own land, but they are devoted quail hunters.”

This variety of constituents provides Kubecka and the RPQRF staff a variety of opinions and perspectives. “Such a dynamic constituency really drives the research and work we do,” he said.

Those questions keep Kubecka aware of the challenges the landowners are facing. If one landowner has a quail issue, probably others have the same or similar problem. “There are common denominators across the Rolling Plains and things that we can help (landowners) with,” he said.

RPQRF staff are involved in a number of research projects at any given time such as supplemental feeding, and the continuing translocation projects with Scaled Quail in Kent County and Northern Bobwhite Quail in Erath County. Research details can be found on their website, www.quailresearch.org.

Brad Kubecka stepped into the executive director role at Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation in June 2021.

STAFF LEADERSHIP TEAM

Among the many things happening at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch near Roby is the construction of a new headquarters building that began the summer of 2021. Present at the groundbreaking were (left to right) Joe Crafton, Board president; Brad Kubeck, RPQRF executive director; Stephen Howard, director; Jay Stine, executive director of the Quail Coalition; Dr. Dale Rollins, RPQRF director of outreach, and; Gary Cooney, director.

Photo Courtesy of David Sams

Thanks to support from private donors and the Park Cities Quail Coalition, the Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation will have new headquarters facilities where the team can continue research, host students, offer space for meetings and conferences, and much more. “We are excited to have the new facility being built at the ranch. We have training sessions, workshops and all sorts of events already on the calendar,” Kubecka said.

One such project is helping landowners develop methods to control prickly pear in Texas wintergrass communities. “I don’t want to overshadow any of our other research efforts, but this one is a good example of relevant research for landowners,” he explained.

“Those communities are quite pervasive across the Rolling Plains, in particular Texas wintergrass. We know more than just one person has this issue, so this is the kind of problem we work on,” he said.

Quail use prickly pear for nesting and a food source. “But once it gets to a certain point, prickly pear can become detrimental, which is not good for quail because it could stifle other, more desirable plants,” he said.

Recalling the two components of a successful quail management program— knowing how to grow birds and

knowing how to hunt them—Kubecka said, “Excessive prickly pear tends to be despised by dog trainers and owners, because of the possible injuries to the dogs and its tendency to limit areas where dogs can hunt.”

Wintergrass can also injure dogs. “When dogs are running, they can get the awns from the wintergrass in their nose, and it becomes problematic. Quail will use wintergrass for nesting, up to a certain point, but once it becomes homogeneous and dense across the landscape, it becomes an issue,” he said.

Another variable in researching prickly pear and wintergrass management is just that—variety. “The landowners might have the same goals to grow quail, but every property is different. Their tools are different. One person might have a roller chopper and their neighbor might have another piece of equipment.”

What’s more, different landowners have different budgets, he acknowledged. “We are learning a lot from the landowners and managers because they are innovative in how they accomplish the same goal,” and how they use the many tools and options to reach their goal.

RPQRF researchers widely share the information and answers they find, “either in the form of publications, technical publications, by podcast and on social media,” Kubecka said. “We provide information through several outlets. We can say, ‘Here is a pervasive problem that we know occurs across most of the Rolling Plains. If this happens to be a problem on your ranch, this is what we found to be a possible pragmatic solution.’"

If the amount of acreage calls for it, helicopter surveys can be very effective at estimating wildlife populations out on the ranch. Kubecka and his team have other techniques suited for ranches of various acreages.

Phot by Russell Graves

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Joe Crafton – President Gary Cooney – Director Dan Craine – Director Pete Delkus – Director Dwayne Elmore – Director Russell Gordy – Director Stephen Howard – Director Raymond Morrow – Director Steve Snell – Director Rick Snipes – Director Justin Trail – Director

Continuing research, starting new research, reinstating popular educational programs and statewide educational meetings, collaborating with other quail research initiatives around the country, building a new headquarters building, and developing an endowed chair—the RPQRF group has a tremendous amount of work to accomplish, and they are excited.

Photo by Joseph Richards

RPQRF’s regional quail monitoring program is another way Kubecka and his team gather and share relevant information to the landowners and hunters.

“I think this project will help us develop a sense of community in the Rolling Plains,” Kubecka said, because the Foundation staff will be in contact with area landowners throughout the year to help identify limiting factors within and among ranches and help identify potential solutions through its research.

“Our research is driven by what the managers, hunters, and public land users think is important. The only way to know what's relevant is to get on the ground and start talking with folks and consistently be out there on the range,” he said.

STUDYING THE HUNTER EXPERIENCE

“Our mission is to preserve wild quail hunting for this, and future, generations,” Kubecka said. “One part of the equation is growing the birds and knowing something about them. The other part of it is hunt success and driving that tradition. Also, when we learn a little bit more about the hunting process from a scientific standpoint, that always seems relevant to our constituents. So, there's going to be some hunting research coming up,” he said.

Quail hunter numbers have followed the quail population in decline, Kubecka said. “If you look at some of the trends for the Rolling Plains, we're down 85 percent in hunters just within the last 25 to 30 years.” Hunters provide more than 95 percent of funding for RPQRF and many other conservation efforts.

While working on his research at Texas A&M UniversityKingsville, Kubecka evaluated tools used to estimate quail populations. “You might think it would be easy to count the number of wild animals in a system, but inevitably, we fail to detect a large portion of the population,” he said.

Research is the basic purpose of the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch at Roby, Texas. Visit www.quailresearch.org to learn what this group of scientists and their supporters are working on

Photo by Jonathan Vail

Managing for quail can also mean managing for successful hunts. Brad Kubecka, executive director of the RPQRF, said researchers at the ranch at Roby are helping landowners manage the environment to reduce possible injuries to hunting and herding dogs, such as awns from winter grass or spines from prickly pear.

Photo by Brad Kubecka

“For my master's degree, we looked at different indices— spring call counts, fall covey counts, roadside surveys, helicopter surveys, banding of birds, things of that nature. We found the best estimators for land managers are helicopters surveys on large-acreage rangelands. Of course, helicopter surveys aren't very practical for smaller acreages. The next best tool was the fall covey counts.”

Once the landowner has a good population estimate, Kubecka said research prescribes about 15 percent annual harvest. “There is a misconception that quail harvest management doesn't matter,” he said, but it does. “If you estimated 1,000 birds on a property, you would want to limit harvest to 150 birds,” he said, and reminds managers to include crippling losses in that harvest limit. “You could conservatively harvest 10 percent and assume about 5 percent margin for crippling loss. That seems to be fairly sustainable.”

Photo by Joseph Richards

FOUNDATION GROWTH AND GOALS

With 15 years in the bag, one might consider the RPQRF to be an established entity, but Kubecka sees untapped potential and room to grow.

One of the most exciting things in the works is the new headquarters. According to its website, the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch's quail habitat is opulent. The 1940s farmhouse and shipping container facility that houses the RPQRF? Not so opulent. That is changing thanks to the support of private donors and the Park Cities Quail Coalition

The new buildings will be the James R. Currie Research Center with laboratory, staff offices and meeting space; the Park Cities Quail Coalition Education Center for hosting students, field day attendees, meetings, conferences, and more.; and The Gordy Family Guest Lodge with kitchen and living space for up to 12 overnight visitors.

“We are excited to have the new facility being built at the ranch. We have training sessions, workshops and all sorts of events already on the calendar,” Kubecka said.

They are also launching a campaign to secure an endowed chair for quail research and management—to be named in honor of Rollins.

“I believe a lot of people would entertain the idea of donating to that endowment fund to thank Dr. Rollins for all the work he has done for landowners and quail managers in the study of quail. And I know many of our constituents appreciate his work starting the research ranch at Roby,” Kubecka said.

RPQRF leaders also intend to continue the QuailMasters program, a 12-day educational program in quail management. “And we will continue the statewide quail symposium, the newsletters, podcasts, things that Dr. Rollins was able to kickstart,” he said.

Continuing research, starting new research, reinstating popular educational programs and statewide educational meetings, collaborating with other quail research initiatives around the country, building a new headquarters building, and developing an endowed chair—the RPQRF group has a tremendous amount of work to accomplish, and they are excited.

“There is absolutely the vision for this foundation to continue for the long term. Because of that vision, in my mind, we’re in a growth phase,” Kubecka said. “Keep an eye on our social media and our newsletters for updates, because that's where we will be releasing the news on the cool stuff we’re doing at Roby.”

RPQRF staff are involved in a number of research projects at any given time such as supplemental feeding, and the continuing translocation projects with Scaled Quail in Kent County and Northern Bobwhite Quail in Erath County. Research details can be found on their website, www.quailresearch.org.

Photo by Joseph Richards