Front Row: L to R Joe Crafton, Marcia Zimmermann, Ladd Weber, Back row: Mike O'Neil, Mickey Wardlaw, Tom Stephenson, Chip Martin, Matt Perry-Miller, Stephen Hill, Bubba Wood, Dale Rollins, Rusty Rice, Rocky Evans, John Weston, Bruce Klingman
PCQU presents a $550,000 check to the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch
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Beneficiaries: Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch  The Bobwhite Brigade  |
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Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch
Mission “To sustain Texas’ wild quail hunting heritage for this and future generations”
The idea for a quail research ranch in West Texas was hatched around the tailgateof a pickup after a successful quail hunt in 2005. And while the 2005 season was a great one for us, we knew that you didn’t have to move very far east before quail and quail hunting were only memories. It took almost two years for what was a casual conversation among bird hunters to become a reality. In October of 2006, The Conservation Fund made possible the purchase of a 4,700 acre ranch in Fisher County, and the deed was transferred in late 2007 to the newly formed nonprofit Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation.
The RPQRR will be used as a research and demonstration facility to foster our understanding and management of bobwhite and scaled quail. Our work began in earnest in March 2007 as we trapped, leg-banded, and radio-collared quail. At the same time we initiated a census count by helicopter, and later in May call counts. We’re also evaluating the role of bird dogs equipped with GPS collars as a count technique. The future holds much promise. We are constantly gaining new friends, and new students of quail. It is our intent that bird dogs and shotguns will always be primary in our research and education efforts.
Park Cities Quail Unlimited came into being almost simultaneously with the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch. Your adopting the RPQRR as the primary beneficiary of your considerable fund raising effort last year provided much needed financial assistance, as well as emotional support. Future efforts will push us even further toward our goal of an endowment that will insure our mission. Thank you Park Cities Quail Unlimited, and thank you Boone Pickens. We hope you will come visit and see what we have planned.
Dale Rollins, Ph.D.
Director
Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch
More information is available at http://www.teamquail.tamu.edu/
Photos of the May 21, 2008 Check Presentation Collectors Covey
Click on photo to enlarge
