Above: Quail Forever National Board Member Joe Hosmer (far left) poses with additional Quail Forever supporters after leading a successful campaign to preserve quail hunting traditions in the Lone Star State.
Grassroots effort assures that sportsmen and women in Texas's best quail range keep their traditional bird hunting window open
On Thursday morning, March 22, Quail Forever National Board Member Joe Hosmer represented both Quail Forever and the Texas Quail Coalition at a public meeting of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission regarding a proposed statewide hunting proclamation that had the potential to drastically limit quail hunting opportunities throughout Texas.
The proposed change by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) was to make general deer season dates uniform across the state. The plan would have extended deer season dates by two weeks in the north deer zone, affecting 226 of the state’s 254 counties and overlapping with prime quail hunting dates for residents and non-residents alike.
The potential result was clear: two fewer weeks to hunt quail in most of Texas’s prime bobwhite and scaled quail range; and reduced opportunity to recruit new hunters to the magic of quail hunting. As such, “The Habitat Organization” rallied its supporters in the form of an Action Alert to all Quail Forever members asking for assistance with a public comment period starting on Monday, March 19th, in opposition to the new hunting proclamation.
Quail Forever members and supporters, along with members of the Texas Quail Coalition and other passionate upland hunters, submitted 253 comments opposing the proposed change during a three-day window of public commentary.
At the end of the meeting, the TPWD Commission voted unanimously not to adopt the proposed season structure change.
“TPWD has been an outstanding partner with, and supporter of, Quail Forever. We appreciated the opportunity to respectfully and publicly comment on this proposal directly to commissioners of the Department, and we applaud TPWD for ultimately protecting the interests and longtime heritage of quail hunting in the Lone Star State,” said Howard Vincent, president and CEO of Quail Forever.
“Quail Coalition’s mission is to preserve our wild quail hunting heritage," added
Jay Stine, Executive Director of the Quail Coalition. "We are pleased that the concerns of our membership were heard by the commission in consideration of this proposal. Recruiting and retaining quail hunters is vital to the future of our sport, and we are appreciative of this decision."