1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,439 Speaker 1: Welcome to Backwoods University, a place where we focus on wildlife, 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: wild places and the people who dedicate their lives to 3 00:00:09,760 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: conserving both. I'm your host Lake Pickle. On this episode, 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: I want to tell you about the future of Bob 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,520 Speaker 1: white quail, what they need from the land to be 6 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: able to persist as a species, and more importantly, what 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:30,720 Speaker 1: they need from us. It's late winter and me and 8 00:00:30,760 --> 00:00:33,279 Speaker 1: my good friend Jordan Blissit are taking advantage of this 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: good crisp weather to go and light some woods on fire, 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: which is an aggressive way of saying we're going to 11 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: create some quail habitat. Is this first time you've been 12 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: able to burn in February? 13 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 2: Barn Tan Akers about two three weeks ago, and Isaiah, 14 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 2: the weather's been wonky. Place needs a fire for the 15 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 2: whole place for the most part. 16 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: Now you may be sitting there scratching your head, asking yourself, 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: did he just say they're going to go set some 18 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: woods on fire on purpose? So let me give you 19 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: a fun task to complete. Go to Google and search 20 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: nicknames for Bob white quail, and I will bet you 21 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,959 Speaker 1: one of the first names to pop up will be Firebird, 22 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: and that nickname wasn't just given. It was earned, earned 23 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: because Bob Whites evolved to live in habitats maintained by 24 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: frequent low intensity fire. 25 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 2: We're gonna start with the back and fire pretty much 26 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:30,560 Speaker 2: run it all the way down through there to give 27 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 2: us extra barrier, and then we can set a head 28 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 2: to run down this way. 29 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 1: So if we went with a drip torch dripping fire, 30 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: we set a blaze to the thirty five acre block 31 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: and stayed with it until we were sure that it 32 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: had burned completely through and was safely contained. This process 33 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: is called a prescribed fire or a prescribed burn. And 34 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: this is important because let's think about what we learned 35 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: on the last episode. We learned that we used to 36 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,400 Speaker 1: have a huge population of Bob White quail and the 37 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: many reasons why we almost wiped them out completely. The 38 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: bird that just won't give up. Remember, they're still hanging 39 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: around here, and I don't know about you, but I 40 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 1: would like to make sure that they hang around. And 41 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: this episode is all about that. The future of Bob 42 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,080 Speaker 1: White's and the things that we can do to make 43 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: sure that we never lose them, or the hunting culture altogether. 44 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 1: I think if we're gonna have an authentic discussion about 45 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: the future of Bob Whitequail. Then we need to talk 46 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: to folks who are actively making a. 47 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:39,079 Speaker 3: Future for Bob White Quail. 48 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,480 Speaker 1: To kick us off on this episode, it's time for 49 00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: y'all to meet someone special. His name is mister Jimmy 50 00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: Bryan and he's from West Point, Mississippi. Mister Jimmy saw 51 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:51,280 Speaker 1: the glory days and fall of Bob White first hand. 52 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: I find this perspective to be very valuable. He also 53 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,240 Speaker 1: has walked through the process of taking a piece of 54 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: land that was almost wiped of quail and quail habitat 55 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,239 Speaker 1: completely and restored it. And not just any piece of land, 56 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: but his family land, land that he grew up hunting on, 57 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: and land that means something to him. Here is mister Jimmy. 58 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 4: If you look at how we farmed when I was 59 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 4: a kid, he had a lot of small farmers. Well 60 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 4: have any small farmers left out here? Three or four 61 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,400 Speaker 4: people on all the land. Everybody had a garden. You 62 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 4: had two row four old planners, so you had small 63 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:30,800 Speaker 4: fields hedgerows around them. You had tenants in that garden 64 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 4: and just a natural habitat for quail. We didn't do 65 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 4: anything delivered for quail. God just gave him to us. 66 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 4: They took advantage of the you know, drain. I was 67 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 4: in high school and maybe proud of that. It seemed 68 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 4: like half of the folks in West Fort had dog 69 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 4: boxes and pickup trucks and dred to three times a week. 70 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 4: But I noticed after a year two folks talked about 71 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,119 Speaker 4: not as many birds, and in the seventies they said, 72 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 4: you know, we weren't have many birds anymore. By the eighties, 73 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 4: nobody had a bird dogs. When I started back hunting, 74 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 4: I don't found out I didn't have any birds that 75 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 4: a wagon. Then we might ride the wagon for uh 76 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 4: three hours to find two covers of books, kill two 77 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 4: or three birds, but it was just worth it. 78 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: Clearly, you don't have to hear much from mister Jimmy 79 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: to figure out quail hunting means a lot to him. 80 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: But I now want to know how he started the 81 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 1: process of restoring quail on his property. FYI, you're gonna 82 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: hear him mention someone named doctor Wes Berger. Doctor Berger 83 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: serves as the dean of the College of Forest Resources 84 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,640 Speaker 1: at Mississippi State University and is also a wildlife biologist 85 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: with an extensive background working with Bob Whites. 86 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,559 Speaker 4: I decided I needed to do something. So I called 87 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 4: doctor Westburger one day and it was probably twenty five 88 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 4: years ago, and I said, doctor Burger, I want to 89 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:52,480 Speaker 4: know what I need to do to bring quail back 90 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 4: to this product. He said, how many covies do you 91 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 4: know on this place? That's just one third or two 92 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 4: on to take a block. And I said, well, wes's 93 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 4: three or four with it, I know. He said, well, 94 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 4: we can populate this place if you do what I say. 95 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 4: We spent the whole day I got there. I said, well, Wes, 96 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 4: you're telling me I need to take it back to 97 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,360 Speaker 4: what it was in the fifties. He said, that's exactly right. 98 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: Take the property back to what it was in the 99 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:18,440 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties and the quail will return. I guess that 100 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 1: shouldn't be too surprising after learning what started to happen 101 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: in the country in the nineteen sixties and nineteen seventies, 102 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: but I want to know the details of it. What 103 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 1: did he actually do? 104 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 4: Then I started flatting the Little Lady grass and then 105 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 4: West started doing research over here on this CP thirty 106 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 4: three program planting buffers around greenfields. We signed up everything 107 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 4: would fit the program that had to be farmed for 108 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 4: the last three years, so had fitz rose around it. 109 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 4: They were growing up hedges, so I decided just cryptotops out, 110 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 4: make hedgerows. Put this grass buff out there. The until 111 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 4: I started seeing all kinds of birds, not quail, I 112 00:05:55,720 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 4: see redbirds, just the all kind of birds I've never 113 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 4: seen out here before. Then we started quail. I still 114 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 4: wasn't happy because I couldn't go out and find ten 115 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 4: covies of birds, and but well, I said, just be patient. 116 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 4: But the next year our numbers went up and he 117 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 4: started doing these covey counts, and at one point he 118 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:15,120 Speaker 4: said we had over the whole place sixty seventy covees. 119 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 4: To take a document and he said, we can extrapolate 120 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:19,919 Speaker 4: that into one hundred covies. I said, well, I'm not 121 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 4: going to believe it till I see it. And I 122 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 4: never didn't see it. But I did see a lot 123 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,000 Speaker 4: more birds. A lot of them were just covered the 124 00:06:26,040 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 4: four five. But we did have what was the huntable population. 125 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 4: So I've been well pleased that. You know, I won't 126 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 4: live long enough to do all the things I want 127 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 4: to do. But if you don't have something, you want 128 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 4: to do. Why do you need to be here? 129 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 3: You know? That's why I feel that's a good point. 130 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: Yeah, mister Jimmy's story about his land is one that 131 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: I can't help but be drawn to. He saw a 132 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: place that meant a lot to him become void of 133 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,479 Speaker 1: something he was passionate about, and it spurred him to 134 00:06:57,480 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: take action and do something about it. And that attitude alone, 135 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 1: I think is key for creating a future for Bob 136 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: White Quail. There's also one detail about Jimmy Bryant's story 137 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: that I've left out until now. His property, the one 138 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: that we've been talking about, is a place called Prairie Wildlife. 139 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: I've been out there myself and I've seen it with 140 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: my own eyes, and trust me, the work that they've 141 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: put into it is evident. But even more importantly, it 142 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: has become one of the biggest quail and wildlife research 143 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: centers in the Southeast. 144 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 4: I told Wes when yes, I said, I'm a name 145 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 4: miss Life as North because the more trucks Missigan State 146 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 4: Truck's here in the whole camp. But they've done every 147 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 4: kind of research in the world. Yeah, you know, quail, rats, butterflies, 148 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,880 Speaker 4: had folks from all over the world working for them. 149 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 4: They told me what is It's the best research they 150 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 4: ever got. It didn't cost me anything of them do this. 151 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 4: That's the reciprocal arrangement, you know. I get helped him 152 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 4: and they help me. But they've done all kinds of 153 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 4: research and been great partners. 154 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: It's a pretty incredible story. If you remember hearing from 155 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: doctor Martin McConnell in the last episode Pray Wildlife is 156 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: where he conducts a lot of research. And while we're 157 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: on the subject of research and biologist, let's switch gears. 158 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: We've heard about the future of Bob White from the 159 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: perspective of a hunter and a landowner, but now I 160 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: want to hear about it from a biologist. Doctor James 161 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: Martin is one of the most published and renowned quail 162 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,640 Speaker 1: biologist in the entire country. When I was tracking down 163 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: someone to talk to for this episode, the sentiment that 164 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: I got from pretty much everyone I talked to is 165 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 1: that James is kind of the guy when it comes 166 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: to Bob White, quail biology and research. So I couldn't 167 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,040 Speaker 1: think of anyone better to talk to about the future 168 00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: of Bob White quail than James. He also wrote an 169 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: article recently for Quail Forever titled Passion an Essential Ingredient 170 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: for Bob White Quail Management. I want to read you 171 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: an excerpt from this article because this is the first 172 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: thing that I asked him about. It goes like this. 173 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: A successful quail manager possesses numerous character traits such as knowledge, creativity, 174 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: in patience, a couple those with financial resources, a land base, 175 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,400 Speaker 1: and in time the dream of waving your hat when 176 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: old Sam goes on point can become a reality. But 177 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: having a deep rooted passion might be the glue that 178 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:18,680 Speaker 1: holds it all together. I read this entire article that 179 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 1: you wrote about passion and essential Ingredient for Bob White Management. 180 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:25,640 Speaker 3: Why do you think that is That's a great question. 181 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 5: I think we can louve passion and love together, and 182 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,800 Speaker 5: those two things you have to have it. It's an 183 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 5: expression of value or the value that we put towards 184 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:43,640 Speaker 5: the species, the habitat they in habit, and the people 185 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 5: that create that habitat, the dogs that are used to 186 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 5: find those birds, and the hunter that goes out there 187 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 5: with those dogs to find those birds. All that love 188 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,839 Speaker 5: and passion is how we're going to sustain the populations 189 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 5: we have and potentially increase the populations we have. 190 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 3: I think without people. 191 00:10:07,360 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 5: Falling in love with the bird, the dog, the habitat, 192 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 5: or the landscape, we're not going to be successful. 193 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:17,959 Speaker 1: Passion and love for the bird and its habitat are 194 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 1: essential to creating a future for bob white quail. And 195 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: that's not coming from me, that's coming from one of 196 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: the best quail biologists in the country. Keep this at 197 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: the top of mind, because later on we're going to 198 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: get more into the weeds of actual habitat. No pun intended, 199 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: but it all means nothing if we don't have passion 200 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: in love. I'm curious about what doctor Martin thinks is 201 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: the best way to generate this passion, or if that's 202 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: even possible. 203 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:49,200 Speaker 5: We have to continually provide folks an opportunity to hear them, 204 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,559 Speaker 5: to see them, to see a dog that is hunting 205 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 5: cover and finding the birds and interacting with the birds. 206 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,880 Speaker 3: And then you know, occasionally we get the harvest one. 207 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,880 Speaker 5: But that's really so far down the list of what 208 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:07,720 Speaker 5: we value as bird hunters and as bird conservationists. But 209 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 5: it's really about all those things together. It's kind of 210 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 5: like a triad. To me, the bird, the dog, the person. 211 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 5: All those things together is what it's going to take 212 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:20,680 Speaker 5: and to establish a foundation so we can go forward. 213 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: One of the things that Mark McConnell brought up, and 214 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,280 Speaker 1: interestingly enough, I've heard Steve Vanella say this same sort 215 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: of thing when talking about bison. So different species but 216 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: kind of a parallel challenge is Mark had an incident 217 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,199 Speaker 1: where he had some friends of his had a property 218 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: in Oklahoma. They were telling Mark about they were constantly 219 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: flushing coveys of quail as they were headed to their 220 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 1: deer sand and Mark was like, oh man, that's that's awesome. 221 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,280 Speaker 1: You're going to go in there and go hunt them? 222 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,680 Speaker 1: And they were like, you know, I guess we could. 223 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: I hadn't hadn't really thought about that, and I'd receive 224 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: when talked about bison, you know, knowe like that you 225 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: see a bison run across the road, you go, oh cool. 226 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: You know, It's not like if if I'm driving down 227 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: the highway and I see a strutting turkey out in 228 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: the field, where does my head go immediately? You know, 229 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: I always draw a parallel back to spring turkeys. Because 230 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: that was like the catalyst for kind of all of this. 231 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:13,559 Speaker 1: It all started for a love for spring turkey on 232 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: I think about the spring woods, I think about here 233 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: in a turkey gobble, and I think about the passion 234 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: that I grew for that particular animal and the habitat 235 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,679 Speaker 1: and the pursuit so much that I don't necessarily have 236 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: to go to what's the state I've never hunted before, Oregon. 237 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: I would like to go hunt turkeys in Oregon. But 238 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,880 Speaker 1: I don't have to go hunt turkeys in Oregon to 239 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 1: appreciate that turkeys are up there doing their thing right. 240 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: But I wonder if I had never found that spark, 241 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:45,600 Speaker 1: I wouldn't know to care about turkeys in Oregon. There 242 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: are some people they'd see a covey of quail and 243 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: they'll go, oh, that's cool. But connecting that to something 244 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: that they could hunt and pursue in a resource that 245 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: they could enjoy, some of that's been lost. 246 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 5: If you're of the generation I'm forty three I called 247 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 5: the tail end of bird hunting in the traditional sense, 248 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 5: you were born mid eighties or later, your grandparents and 249 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 5: your father or mother were unlikely to bird hunt, and 250 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:19,720 Speaker 5: so that's probably where the disconnection happened. If you're a 251 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 5: younger millennial and younger, then you've probably not been exposed 252 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,320 Speaker 5: to it. And then we're just a different society as well. 253 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:33,560 Speaker 5: I mean, even if you set aside quel population decline 254 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 5: and the decline of quell hunting, there's no doubt we've changed. 255 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 5: You know, there's been books written about the disconnection of 256 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 5: the child in the woods. There's just a lot more 257 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 5: distractions now. So even if you were lucky to have 258 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 5: someone in your circle that hunted or bird hunting, and 259 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 5: if you were close enough to huntable populations, there was 260 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 5: just a lot of other distractions to take you away 261 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 5: from that potential opportunity. And then we've also disconnected people 262 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 5: from the land. In the respect of the number of 263 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:12,040 Speaker 5: people that grew up working on a farm or even 264 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 5: working in the woods in some way declined as well. 265 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 5: We've disconnected ourselves from our food supply, from the production 266 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 5: of fiber and whatnot for the most part. I mean, 267 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 5: obviously there's people while they're still doing that, but if 268 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,440 Speaker 5: you're not interacting with the environment on a daily basis 269 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,400 Speaker 5: as part of your job or as part of your 270 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 5: way of life, you also lose it in that way too. 271 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 5: It's really hard for us to appreciate things we never see. 272 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 3: Or never hear. 273 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: It sounds to me that the idea of generating passion 274 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: is not an easy task, but not impossible. I now 275 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: want to shift the conversation a bit and begin to 276 00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: dive in with doctor Martin on what Bob White Quill 277 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:01,000 Speaker 1: actually needs to be able to persist and thrive on 278 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: a landscape. If someone said, Lake, I want you to 279 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: put episode one on how we used to have a 280 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: lot of quail and then we didn't. I want you 281 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: to put it in one sentence, and I'll give you 282 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: my one sentence, and you tell me if you think 283 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: I'm off base or not. The sentence I would say, 284 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,520 Speaker 1: we lost Bob White Quail because we lost Bob White Quail. 285 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: Habitat correct, and so moving forward, and when I'm learning 286 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: talking about the future of Bob Whites, I would say, 287 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: if we're going to have a future, a positive future for. 288 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,840 Speaker 3: Bob White Quail, then we got to have Bob white coil. 289 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 5: Habitat certainly, I mean that shouldn't be controversial. It's frankly 290 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 5: a fundamental law. By definition, habitat is the resources and 291 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 5: conditions that are necessary for the occurpacy and the survival 292 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 5: of a particular organism. So by definition, if you don't, 293 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,400 Speaker 5: I won't have habitat. You can't have this organism. It's 294 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,760 Speaker 5: really like the law of gravity for the I mean, 295 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 5: and maybe even stronger than that. Habitat is essential because 296 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,800 Speaker 5: by definition, without it, you can't have the organism. 297 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: Okay, So now we officially have essential item number two 298 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: to add to our list of things we need to 299 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: create a positive future for Bob white quail, number one 300 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:28,240 Speaker 1: being passionate love for the bird and number two being habitat. 301 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,560 Speaker 1: Habitat is non negotiable. Think about it, almost like trying 302 00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 1: to build a house without a foundation. You would not 303 00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: get very far, and even if you did, that house 304 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: would crumble and fall at the first bit of adversity. 305 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 1: A house needs a foundation, and a quail needs habitat. 306 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: So now that we know the importance of habitat, I 307 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: think it's equally important that we learn what good quality 308 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:53,880 Speaker 1: habitat for Bob White quail actually is. 309 00:16:56,240 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 5: Just to keep it simple, we'll break it down the 310 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 5: four parts. I'll need four basic things. They need shrub cover. Okay, 311 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 5: And we're a little loose with our language and the 312 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 5: conservation world about calling quail a grass and bird. And 313 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 5: I guess folks a little bit of a false impression 314 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 5: of what quail are. They're either a facultative grass and 315 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,800 Speaker 5: bird or a shrub obligate bird. Both of those things 316 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:23,280 Speaker 5: mean that they need some shrubs, and they also need 317 00:17:23,320 --> 00:17:27,440 Speaker 5: some grass. Okay, but the shrub is super important because 318 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 5: that's going to provide escape cover from hawks, thermal cover 319 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 5: during cold events, is going to provide thermal cover doing 320 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,919 Speaker 5: very hot events weather events, and if you're out in 321 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 5: South Texas, that shrub cover is really important from a 322 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,680 Speaker 5: shape perspective. And then some shrubs obviously provide food as well. 323 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 5: So what I mean by shrubs is pretty much any 324 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 5: kind of woody vegetation that is below say, your shoulders 325 00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 5: and about the size of an old Volkswagen. And then 326 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 5: you need forbes. To a lot of people, that would 327 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,040 Speaker 5: be just the weeds. That would be things like ragweed 328 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,160 Speaker 5: and partures pea and wooly croton and things like that. 329 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 5: And what those plants provide are food via seed. So 330 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,879 Speaker 5: an additional plot of providing seeds, they're gonna provide substraight 331 00:18:13,960 --> 00:18:14,720 Speaker 5: for insects. 332 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:17,080 Speaker 3: Next, we need some grass cover. 333 00:18:17,560 --> 00:18:20,919 Speaker 5: That grass cover needs to be in the form of 334 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:22,240 Speaker 5: bunches so that. 335 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,800 Speaker 3: It's not forming a mate. 336 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 5: So those species that form mats are like permuta grass, 337 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 5: the hay grass. So we want those bunch forming grasses 338 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 5: like big blue stem, little blue stem, what have you, 339 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:37,280 Speaker 5: but we don't want a ton of it. And then 340 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:38,880 Speaker 5: the last thing is bareground. 341 00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 3: Unlike a lot of. 342 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 5: Other galliforms quail or weak scratching birds, you, as a 343 00:18:44,040 --> 00:18:45,880 Speaker 5: turkey hunter, know that if you go in the wood 344 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,239 Speaker 5: and you see a lot of leaves peeled back and 345 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:52,120 Speaker 5: a lot of bare ground showing that probably a flock 346 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 5: of turkeys has come to there. 347 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 3: You're not gonna see that with quail. 348 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:58,720 Speaker 5: And so they need that bare ground to have access 349 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:01,080 Speaker 5: to those seas that are following from those. 350 00:19:00,960 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 1: Four All right, now we're getting somewhere. I hope y'all 351 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 1: are writing this down, because this is some good information, 352 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: good Bob White. Quail habitat consists of four things. Number 353 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 1: one shrub cover, number two forbes or weeds as most 354 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: folks call them, Number three grass cover, and number four 355 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: bare ground. So we have the key ingredients. But just 356 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: like having all the materials to build a house doesn't 357 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: magically turn those materials into a house. It's got to 358 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,679 Speaker 1: be built. We now have to learn what to do 359 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: with these ingredients of quail habitat. 360 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 5: So those four things need to be present in close 361 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 5: proximity to each other. So if we were to go 362 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:45,960 Speaker 5: out anywhere and throw a baseball or saw ball in 363 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 5: into direction and wherever that ball land, we should be 364 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:55,680 Speaker 5: close within feet of each one of those components. Imagine 365 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:59,320 Speaker 5: yourself in a wide open landscape and you're in a spot, 366 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 5: and then you throw one hundred baseballs. If you do 367 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 5: that across a thousand different spots across a county, if 368 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 5: more times than not those baseballs are landing in this 369 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 5: quail cover, then we're gonna have quail. If we do 370 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 5: that and we're only hit and cover quail cover on 371 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 5: a few of those spots, we're not going to have quail. 372 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:21,479 Speaker 3: You can't just have it in one spot. You had 373 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 3: to have it in a lot of spots, and the. 374 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,879 Speaker 5: Cumulative effect of all that vegetation together is habitat for quail. 375 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,119 Speaker 1: That example really helps tie back to something that we 376 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: hit on pretty hard in episode one. We talked about 377 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,879 Speaker 1: simplified landscape. I feel like every time I hear the 378 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:42,480 Speaker 1: word monoculture, it's tied to a negative association to an 379 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: effect on wildlife. 380 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:45,879 Speaker 5: That is the opposite of what we want to do. 381 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:51,160 Speaker 5: For most wildlife species. We want to have a diverse 382 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 5: plant community with a timing of sea production and fruit 383 00:20:56,400 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 5: production that is spread across the entire year. So those 384 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,200 Speaker 5: two things are at oddsite with each other. Be very 385 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 5: hard if farmers had to go out there and harvest corn, 386 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 5: for example, if all the ears were ripe on different 387 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,520 Speaker 5: days in different weeks. Right, But from a quail perspective, 388 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:15,960 Speaker 5: we need plants that are going to produce food in June, July, August, September, 389 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,679 Speaker 5: et cetera. And so the plant community needs to be 390 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 5: diverse enough that is producing food twelve months out of 391 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 5: the year and cover twelve months out of the year 392 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,360 Speaker 5: and thermal cover twelve months out of the year. Monotypic 393 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 5: plant communities can't do that. The question then becomes how 394 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,680 Speaker 5: do we get it? How do we create those resources 395 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,639 Speaker 5: and conditions. If we could wave a magic wand that 396 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:40,520 Speaker 5: would be great, but that's just not going to happen. 397 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: That is the million covey question. We understand what we need, 398 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: but how do we go about getting it? What are 399 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: the chances of us getting in. Maybe it's hoping for 400 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,520 Speaker 1: more landowners like Jimmy Bryan and Wilbert Primos to come 401 00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: along and willingly put forth the effort and resources to 402 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: put quel habitat and quail back on their property. Maybe 403 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,920 Speaker 1: it's conservation organizations like Quail Forever, who's done great work 404 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,640 Speaker 1: over the last twenty years spreading the story of quail 405 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,400 Speaker 1: and improving habitat on literally millions of acres. Maybe it's 406 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:16,920 Speaker 1: government incentive programs to aid landowners. Maybe it's a combination 407 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: of all of it. Here's one thing I do know, 408 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: A guy like doctor James Martin doesn't get the reputation 409 00:22:22,600 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: he has without going through the trenches. He told me 410 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,959 Speaker 1: he's been focused almost exclusively on quail for over twenty years. 411 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,840 Speaker 1: That's twenty plus years of field work, research, working with landowners, 412 00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:38,440 Speaker 1: and gaining a whole lot of perspective. In the research 413 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,360 Speaker 1: and conversations I had leading up to this episode, I 414 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 1: heard Bob White quail hunters referred to as hopeless romantics 415 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: and dreamers. But I want to know where James's attitude 416 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:50,880 Speaker 1: has been from when he started quail work up until now. 417 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,159 Speaker 5: I would say it's a roller coaster with a positive trend. 418 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 3: It's one of those coasters that. 419 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:04,119 Speaker 5: We haven't looked back around to the end yet, but 420 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 5: we're still on the upper trajectory. There's highs and lows, 421 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:14,119 Speaker 5: for sure. I've seen several cycles now of various emphasis 422 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:17,600 Speaker 5: put on quail by state agencies and federal government, and 423 00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,440 Speaker 5: so you ride those highs and waves of the availability 424 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 5: of financial resources. But the constant, and I wouldn't have 425 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,439 Speaker 5: said this maybe twenty years ago, but the constant is 426 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 5: the hunting aspect. 427 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 3: The constant motivating. 428 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:36,080 Speaker 5: Factor is there's still people out there really enjoy running 429 00:23:36,119 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 5: dogs on quail. And again not necessarily the harvest part, 430 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 5: but that part is always kind of the juice and 431 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 5: the roller coaster, and it keeps us going, and it 432 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 5: keeps state agencies going. 433 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:51,800 Speaker 3: We're still heading in the right direction. 434 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:54,120 Speaker 5: I think it does no good to be negative, right, 435 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 5: I mean, it's we are we face the realities we 436 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 5: know constraint, but we also know in this paper is 437 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 5: not published yet, but they're conservatively over six million quail 438 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 5: still in the United States, which is, you know, it 439 00:24:13,400 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 5: doesn't compare to probably the tens of millions that we're 440 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:18,159 Speaker 5: here in nineteen sixty. 441 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,400 Speaker 3: But let's just move on past that. 442 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 5: You know, this is what we have now, and then 443 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:26,960 Speaker 5: there's plenty to work with. We're fortunate in this country 444 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:30,119 Speaker 5: where we still have a lot of land. I've worked 445 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,919 Speaker 5: in other countries where every stitch of it is used 446 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,719 Speaker 5: for some type of production agriculture, or at least very 447 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:39,160 Speaker 5: little of it it's available for wildlock conservation. 448 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 3: We still have a lot of land available to us. 449 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,560 Speaker 5: We still have a culture that's in existence, that is 450 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 5: on life support, but it is in existence about hunting quail, 451 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 5: and so those ingredients we can build up ponds, and 452 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 5: so we always got to keep that in forefront of 453 00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:58,320 Speaker 5: our mind. 454 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: Okay, let's do a quick recap before we go into 455 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,199 Speaker 1: the grand finale. We learn what the process was like 456 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,480 Speaker 1: for a landowner to take a property void of Bob 457 00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: white quail in their habitat and restore it. We learned 458 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,639 Speaker 1: that an absolute essential ingredient for a positive future for 459 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: Bob white quail is passion. We learned in greater detail 460 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,560 Speaker 1: what Bob white quail habitat actually is, and that having 461 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: that habatat on the landscape is non negotiable if we 462 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: want to have quail. And we learned that the general 463 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: attitude towards Bob white Quail persistence over the past two 464 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: decades has been a roller coaster with an overall positive trajectory. 465 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,399 Speaker 1: My friends, we have danced all around the subject of 466 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: what the future of Bob white Quail is. But the 467 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:44,720 Speaker 1: time for dancing is over, and now I'm going to 468 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 1: be direct. I'm going to ask doctor James Martin what 469 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 1: he believes the future of Bob white Quail is. 470 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:57,120 Speaker 5: What is the future Bob white Quail? Well, I can 471 00:25:57,160 --> 00:26:01,920 Speaker 5: tell you this. I would not have exposed my children, 472 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,879 Speaker 5: and I'm gonna get emotional talk about this. I would 473 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 5: not have exposed my children to bird dolls and bird 474 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,159 Speaker 5: hunting if I knew it was a dead end. I 475 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,159 Speaker 5: know the passion that I have for it, and I 476 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:22,200 Speaker 5: couldn't imagine dangling that carrot and that love in front 477 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 5: of them knowing that it might go away. That only 478 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,920 Speaker 5: leads to a broken heart. Being a father will change 479 00:26:29,960 --> 00:26:34,960 Speaker 5: you instantly. It will make you never to want to 480 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 5: break your children's heart. 481 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 3: I think any parent has that. So I thought about it. 482 00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:44,119 Speaker 5: I mean I had a conscious conversation with myself, like 483 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,120 Speaker 5: it was internal, you know, but it was conscious about 484 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:49,800 Speaker 5: if you take him you can't take it from him. 485 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 5: It's like you would never expose your kids to baseball 486 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,119 Speaker 5: if you knew the game was not going to exist 487 00:26:57,160 --> 00:27:01,560 Speaker 5: in ten years. So the best hope I can give you, 488 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,120 Speaker 5: or the best display of my hope, is that I've 489 00:27:06,119 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 5: taken my ten year old son, Bertha. 490 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,000 Speaker 1: I want to thank all of you for listening to 491 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:16,359 Speaker 1: Backwoods University as well as Bear Grease in this Country Life, 492 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: and I want to give a big shout out to 493 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,159 Speaker 1: Onyx Hunt for making this podcast possible. If you like 494 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,880 Speaker 1: this episode, share it with a friend, and make sure 495 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 1: you come back for the next one. Because if this 496 00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: podcast was a quail hunt and we've only flushed two 497 00:27:28,119 --> 00:27:30,560 Speaker 1: covees so far and the dog's already back on point, 498 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:33,640 Speaker 1: we're just getting started. We'll see y'all next time.