Dr. Dale on Quail

Dr. Dale on Quail

The Rolling Plains Quail Research Foundation (RPQRF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focusing on one thing: understanding and managing bobwhite and scaled quail in West Texas. Everything we do centers around quail and quail hunting, as reflected by our mission: “To preserve Texas’ heritage of wild quail hunting for this, and future, generations.” The Foundation and its Research Ranch were established to provide a living laboratory to devise land management strategies for the benefit of quail and also as an exemplar property to demonstrate the best methodologies and techniques to other “students of quail.”

Episodes

Episode 72: Small Acreage Management . . . from 30,000 feet

April 18, 2025 • 72 mins
Join Dr. Dale and his guest Tyler Hamilton as they delve into a search for the holy grail in quail management: success on small acreages. Hamilton is a pilot for Southwest Airlines and offers some insightful perspectives based on his property in Dickens County. He’s also a graduate of the 2022 QuailMasters class. For previous sessions, see www.quailresearch.org/resources. Thanks to Gary Joiner at Texas Farm Bureau, Jonathan Vail ...
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Episode 71: Greg Dix: A student of Quail

March 19, 2025 • 68 mins
Greg Dix earned Top Student award in the 2024 QuailMasters class. Dix resides in Missouri and has a ravenous appetite for anything/everything about bobwhites. Join Greg and Dr. Dale for an interesting perspective on what it means (and takes) to be a “Student of Quail.” The next QuailMastersclass musters in March 2026.
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Episode 70: A Primer on Brush Sculpting

February 17, 2025 • 68 mins
“Brush sculpting” is the planned, selective control of brush to enhance wildlife habitat. Think of it as applied landscaping or feng shui. Join Dr. Dale and his special guest Rory Burroughs of Comprehensive Land Management as they provide an overview of the concept, and how to increase “useable space” for quails (and other wildlife) on your property.
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Episode 69: “Is All Quiet on the Eastern Front?”

January 16, 2025 • 66 mins
“Where have all the quail gone?” is a common lament, especially as one progresses east of the 99th meridian (essentially US 283). The rather acute decline in quail abundance in the eastern Rolling Plains (i.e., from Clay County southward to Coleman County) over the past 20 years is a head-scratcher. Predators, parasites, habitat change, and others are often cited as culprits. Join Dr. Dale and Justin as they dissect the situation.
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Episode 68: Ronnie Howard Reflects on South Texas

December 17, 2024 • 80 mins
Ronnie Howard has been an institution in the quail world in south Texas for over 30 years. Most of that time he was managing the San Tomas lease on the King Ranch. Join Ronnie and Dr. Dale as they retrace quail happenings in South Texas through a manager’s eyes and other wisdom gleaned from Ronnie's “San Tomas College of Knowledge.
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Episode 67: The Science of Scent

November 17, 2024 • 78 mins
Join Dr. Dale and his guest Dr. Michael Conover from Utah State University this month as they unravel perhaps the most romantic, and mysterious, aspect of hunting with pointing dogs, i.e., their ability to find, and point, game birds via olfaction. Dr. Conover recently published “Predator-Prey Dynamics: the Role of Olfaction” which is a thorough treatise of the origins of scent, and how wind currents, turbulence, and structures on ...
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Episode 66: Patternology

October 13, 2024 • 89 mins
"Patternology" is defined as "the scientific study of patterns." Join Dr. Dale and his guest Dr. Dan Foley as they discuss and dissect various patterns as they relate to quail management and quail hunting. Digest these ideas and weigh them against your own experiences afield.
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Episode 65: Guthery’s 8 Variables

September 18, 2024 • 87 mins
Ever submitted a blood or urine sample to your doctor to assess your well-being? Join Dr. Dale and his guest Dr. Brad Kubecka as they discuss certain reproductive parameters that play important roles in annual production. Using a 15-year data set from RPQRR, they will evaluate RPQRR’s “performance.” They’ll also discuss some “sensitivity analyses” that tease out which variables are most important if bobwhite populations are to inc...
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Episode 64: The Odyssey of QuailGuard Medicated Feed

August 22, 2024 • 69 mins
It’s been a long and winding road, but the first medicated feed for wild birds in the U.S. is now available. Join Dr. Dale and his special guests Dr. Ron Kendall, RPQRF’s past-resident Joe Crafton, and Dr. Ryan O'Shaughnessy as they share the research and development that resulted in the FDA’s labeling of QuailGuard™ for treating eyeworms and cecal worms in wild quail. QuailGuard is currently being stocked at feed stores across muc...
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Episode 63: What Can Texans Learn from Georgia?

July 15, 2024 • 68 mins
Join Dr. Dale and his guest Reggie Thackston from Thackston Wildlife Consulting LLC from the great state of Georgia. Thackston has been an inveterate “Student of Quail” for the past 40 years and has served state game agencies in Georgia, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, in addition to serving on the Board of Trustees for Tall Timbers Research Station in Florida. He is also a long-in-the-tooth quail hunter—his passion for the art and s...
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Episode 62: Making the Farm Bill Work for Bobwhites in West Texas

June 20, 2024 • 45 mins
Odds are you’ve sat through a meeting on various Farm Bill programs that began to sound like “acronym soup”—EQIP, CRP, GRIP, WHIP, LIP, and the list goes on. Undoubtedly dollars for conservation abound within the Farm Bill (and other incentive programs), but are you getting your fair share therefrom? Join Dr. Dale and RPQRR’s new ranch manager Mitchell Riggs as Riggs describes strategies for making the Farm Bill “all it can be” for...
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Episode 61: Quail Recovery Following Large-Scale Wildfires

May 20, 2024 • 65 mins
Join Dr. Dale this month and three special guests as they discuss how quail habitat (and abundance) are impacted by wildfires like those that raged in the Panhandle in late-February. His special guests include Becky Ruzicka (formerly with RPQRF), Chip Ruthven (TPW Project Leader for several WMAs in the Panhandle), and Jeff Bonner (retired TPW biologist stationed in Pampa). They discuss historical contexts and relevant management pr...
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Episode 60: Quail Management in the “Oil Patch”

April 11, 2024 • 67 mins
We often speak of “Leopold’s toolbox” and speak often of “axe, plow, cow, and fire,” and how these tools are the basis of our attempts at habitat management. But we should be reminded that these tools are not “one size fits all” and as managers we seek to use them as adjustable (ala “Crescent” wrenches) given various environmental constraints (e.g., rainfall). Join Dr. Dale and his guest Jesse Wood as they discuss the management of...
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Episode 59: Is All Quiet on the Eastern Front?

March 13, 2024 • 68 mins
This month’s guests are brothers Ty and Marc Bartoskewitz. Both are well-grounded in quail management in TX and currently manage ranches in Stephens and Shackelford counties, respectively. Given their interest, acumen, and budgets, I often refer to them as the “Great (Bob)White Hopes” for the eastern Rolling Plains. Join us on March 20 on how they approach various habitat concerns, and what they see as catalysts for the return of t...
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Episode 58: Sustained Yield in Quail Hunting

February 20, 2024 • 67 mins
This month’s guest is Dr. Abe Woodard with the East Foundation. Our topic is a “Quail 303” discussion of “sustained yield” of bobwhites in South Texas. We’ll discuss topics along the “hunter X covey interface” including hunting efficiency and crippling loss. Join us on February 20.
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Episode 57: Death from Above

January 19, 2024 • 70 mins
This month’s guest is Tyler Sladen of Albuquerque, NM. Tyler is a serious falconer who specializes in hunting quail with his Tiercel goshawk “Jimmy Dean.” Tag along with Tyler and Dr. Dale as they discuss the sport of falconry, and specifically hunting the quails of North America with raptors and bird dogs. Sladen, Jimmy Dean, and his corps of Setters have combined to take over 100 quail across nine states in 2023. As a Student of ...
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Episode 56: Ranchers with Bird Dogs

December 19, 2023 • 56 mins
One of the patterns I’ve noticed over the years is that ranchers with bird dogs are more often astute quail managers. No secret really, they ascribe to what I call “vocation and avocation.” Join us this month as I talk “cows and quail” with Charley Christensen of San Angelo. With bona fides in quail, cattle, and range management Christensen is well qualified to discuss trade-offs between cows and quail, and “where’s the beef?”
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Episode 55: Graziers Down Below: Desert Termites

November 19, 2023 • 63 mins
Perhaps you’ve never noticed a key herbivore that may be impacting your quail habitat. They’re desert termites, and odds are, there are millions beneath your feet . . . literally! Let’s just say they’re the “graziers down below.” Join me this month as my former colleague Dr. Darrell Ueckert and I get down and dirty on these arthropods. Ueckert, a rangeland entomologist and Professor Emeritus with TAMU, spent years studying these vo...
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Episode 54: Dr. Dale on Quail Podcast features “Barefoot Bob”

October 19, 2023 • 66 mins
I've met some interesting characters as I’ve traveled over west Texas for the past 40 years, but none more interesting than this month’s guest: Bob Richardson of Aspermont, aka “Barefoot Bob.” I usually refer to Bob as “the closest thing Texas has to Crocodile Dundee.” You won’t want to miss this opportunity to hear of Barefoot’s accomplishments and acumen. In addition to being an authority on feral hogs, rattlesnakes, and porcupi...
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Episode 53: Predation Management: Beyond Habitat

September 20, 2023 • 64 mins
Predator control is always a contentious topic. Dr. Dale’s guest this month is Mr. John Palarski with Tall Timbers Research Station. Join us as we delve into the “second line of defense” for dealing with predators, i.e., “beyond habitat.” Palarski recently completed his M.S. research at Tarleton State University and confronted predator control “up close and personal” at his study site in Erath County. Their conversation drills down...
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