There they were, just a few short paragraphs thrown in at the end of a much longer story about elk hunting in Arkansas. It seems as though more elk were bagged last season in Arkansas than ever before. Which is the good news. (Unless you're an elk.)
But at the same meeting in which the state's Game and Fish Commission discussed the elk hunt, one Don McKenzie also spoke--and was duly quoted in your Democrat-Gazette. Which is where the article ended, and this debate started up again.
Don McKenzie directs the National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, and he wasn't happy to hear that the quail population has been dropping in state after state. Including this one. Nor is he alone.
Those of us who remember calling bobwhites up to the back porch in the steamy Arkansas summers miss those birds. Something has happened to them, and there are a lot theories about just what.
"Bobwhite hunting is a part of life in the South," Mr. McKenzie told the commission. "It's as much a part of life in the South as barbecue, NASCAR, fried catfish and SEC football. In our generation we're letting that tradition slip through the cracks."
Most of us would surely agree with him. But at that point, the agreement may stop.
Rex Nelson--that old troublemaker--posted Don McKenzie's remarks on Facebook the other day, and quail lovers all but fell over themselves sending in responses.
Some say it's the state's habitat, or lack of it, that's been driving the quail away.
Really? We don't buy it.
Then it's the number of predators out there, all eating these little birds.
Predators have nothing to do with it.
This debate is scarcely new. Back before Christmas, over there on the facing op-ed page, Voices carried a guest column from Richard Mason, a former president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation, who suggested we didn't have enough predators out there, or at least not enough of the right kinds.
If faulty memory serves, Mr. Mason noted that, over the years, Arkies have killed off a number of the large cats, bears and wolves. Which paved the way for the smaller predators (think possum, raccoons and skunks) to multiply. And those smaller predators take a toll on quail eggs. Mr. Mason suggested we'd be doing the quail a favor by restocking wolves and cougars.
There's another school of thought out there that blames the decline of the quail population on all the corn that deer hunters put out for Bambi and family, claiming it sickens the quail. (It happens that corn feeders became popular about the time the quail in Arkansas disappeared.)
What's the real reason you have a hard time finding a covey of quail these days? Probably a mix of all-of-the-above.
What's the answer? Our suggestion: Allow the Game and Fish Commission to do its thing, assuming the commission is interested in making quail and their preservation a priority. Just consider what deer-hunting and turkey-hunting--and non-existent elk hunting--were like 40 years ago. And compare that with what they are today. The conclusion is clear: The rest of us would be wise to let the pros at the commission handle this. They tend to know their business, which is game and fish.
We know a young man in his mid-20s. He's a big outdoor type. He spends a good deal of his free time in the woods or on the lake. He's as Arkansas as they come. And last fall was the first time in his life he ever saw a quail. He didn't even know what the critter was.
That's a crying shame.
Mr. McKenzie said it best: We're letting a tradition slip through our hands. Here's hoping the state's Game and Fish Commission can make things right again. The most the rest of us can do is argue about the subject, and that just isn't enough.
Editorial on 03/02/2015