12/31/2017 My first banded bird and the continued allure of wild Texas Quail

Results of the last hunt of 2017

In search of one last hunt in the old year, I drove to Paducah, TX at midnight on New Year’s eve. I checked into the surprisingly suitable Paducah Hunter’s Lodge which was all in under $60.

No pets allowed but it was 18 and snowing so I snuck dublin in through the window. The asshole shit on the floor. Twice. 

Since we didn’t get in until 4am, we slept til almost 10:30. After breakfast we were off to Matador WMA. 

I shot one quail within 30 minutes of arrival, and walked for almost 8 miles before I shot another. I saw plenty of Covey’s they were just busting way ahead of me. 

Also saw lots of dove and two very, very big deer. 

The high for the day was 21, but when I walked back to car, freezing my ass off, the temperature had fallen to 17. 

All in all it was worth the expense and effort just to get to see a half dozen coveys, bonus I got to shoot a couple of birds.

Drove back and it wasn’t until i was home that I noticed one of the birds was banded.

I called the number and found that wildlife biologists had banded the bird in August of this year to study quail disease.