Posted: 3/20/07
Quail Forever to hold first
banquet here
It has been almost 50 years since the last Bobwhite quail was hunted in Minnesota. But if a group of wildlife enthusiasts has its way, quail numbers will increase enough in the coming years to allow the bird to be hunted for sport once again.
This Saturday night, the first Quail Forever banquet in Minnesota will be held at Good Times. The group is an offshoot of the Pheasants Forever organization, and will be promoting ways to increase habitat for the birds in this area.
Thurman Tucker has been a fan of all birds in general, and the Bob-white in particular, for more than 30 years. Bobwhites, he said, are interesting birds. Most intriguing, he said, is the summer whistle of the Bobwhite, which sounds like its name. The birds are small, about 8-11 inches in length, and weigh less than half a pound. They resemble the Hungarian partridge, except that the Bobwhite has a stripe around its eyes which is white in males and buff in females. The males also have a black collar. In this area, the terms Bobwhite and quail can be used interchangeably. The birds are not usually seen in an open area.
At Saturdayís banquet, an important announcement will be made regarding the reopening of the quail reason. Tucker said the local organization has been working with the DNR to improve quail numbers with the hope that a quail season can be reinstated in 2014. A number of yearly goals need to be met to reach that goal, he said.
ë"We are going to put our muscle together and make it happen," he said.
In order to improve habitat, special incentives are offered to farmers to set aside land for the quail. Houston and Fillmore Counties are the only counties in the state to offer those incentives. The program is called CP-33.
"We really, really need that," said Tucker, adding that Minnesota only has about 500 acres that can be allocated to CP-33.
Although it is hard to estimate numbers of Bobwhite with a high degree of accuracy, experts believe that there are fewer than 1,000 of the birds in the state, and between 80 and 90 percent of them are located in Houston County.
Ralph Tuck of the Houston County Soil and Water Conservatin Service explained that unlike CRP, the land that is enrolled in CP-33 does not have to be erodible, but there must be an FSA crop history on the land. There are more incentives for the CP-33 program as well, including a $100 per acre signing bonus. Of course, the program is not for the entire farm, but sets aside buffer strips next to woods and encourages the planting of native grasses to provide quail habitat.
Locally, the SWCD offers an additional incentive of 25 quail chicks to a landowner who signs up for the program.
Saturdayís banquet will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by a program and dinner at 7:30. A number of guns and other merchandise will be given away as prizes. All net profits will stay with the chapter for projects to improve quail habitat.
For ticket information, call 725-5558.
Caledonia Argus
314 West Lincoln St.
P.O. Box 227
Caledonia, MN 55921-0227
507/724-3475
E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com