T&J Farms - Gamebird, Miniature Horse and Exotics farm located in Lubbock, Texas, the heart of West Texas. Specilizing in ringneck pheasant, bobwhite quail, and chukar. Offering eggs, chicks and flight conditioned adults to the West Texas area for stocking, training and hunting clubs.
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| History of Bobwhite Quail |
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Native Americans utilized bobwhite quail for food, and as they changed from a hunter/gatherer to a more agrarian society, bobwhite numbers increased around cropped fields. In 1557, Hernando DeSoto’s expedition reportedly received a gift of wild turkeys and partridges (probably bobwhite quail) at a Native American village in what is now Georgia, comprising the earliest record of white man eating bobwhites. As European settlers carved small farms from vast forests, bobwhites became more common. Initially, bobwhites provided a subsistence food for settlers. Markets developed and hunting and trapping of quail were practiced from the early 1800s to the early 1900s. Market hunting eventually impacted numbers, and some northern states implemented quail game laws as early as the 1830s. Market hunting began later in the southern states. During the winter of 1905-06, over 500,000 bobwhites were shipped from Alabama to northern and eastern markets. Over time, quail sport hunting became known as a gentleman's pastime, but most all hunters willing to follow a pointing dog across fields and forties easily succumbed to its princely appearance, familiar call, challenging sport hunting opportunities and excellent table fare. Finding coveys was consistently possible, but not always easy. Birds held well for pointing dogs and their rapid, unpredictable flight provided a strong shooting challenge. Bird hunting provided rich social opportunities among hunters and a common bond of mutual accomplishment and affection between hunters and their dogs. Bobwhite numbers peaked during the mid-1800s in northern states and from around 1890 to the mid1940s in the Southeast, and then began a consistent and drastic decline. Over the last several decades and across their ranges, bobwhite quail and other game species associated with early forest succession and grasslands have declined to historically low population levels. In fact, over the past 20 years, northern bobwhite population numbers have declined by over 65%. In some states, the rate of decline has escalated from 1-2% per year during the 1960s and 1970s to over 5% per year during the 1980s and 1990s. The population decline has been attributed to many factors, including predators, pathogens and pesticides, but the primary cause is the cumulative effect of deteriorating bobwhite habitat due to land use changes. Advanced natural succession, intensive monoculture farming, exotic and invasive grasses, intensive timber management and declining use of prescribed burning have negatively impacted quail habitat. Source: quailforever.org |