I was invited to go out and run my dogs with Chris E Sunday. He bought some birds, and brought his Ranger. All I had to do was show up. He has a couple of really nice britts which came from Ronnie Smith. He brought a friend named Jim who had his first ever Britt. I asked Jim where he planned to hunt this year, and he replied that he was going to the Chaparral WMA, and planned to camp out.

Have any of you ever been? Heard anything about the bird count down there this year?

Bill, I had some friends dove hunting at Cotulla, which is close and they said the saw lots of quail, this is also the area I have had other good reports from.

In 1987 The state opened the Chap early ( I think last 2 weekends if October) because of the great number of birds that season.
I went down to hunt and got there about 3 pm. Quail hunters everywhere camped out just to the NE of the headquarters, dogs tied to every spot and looked like many spots to camp. Extreamly hot and hunters in short pants hunting Quail. I believe hunters took 1500 birds that Weekend.
From I- 35 out to the Chap entrance which is 8-10 miles we counted 16 bunches of Quail on the way out. It was just unbelieveable!

What dates is the Chap open for quail this year?

why is it only open a few weekends a season? i went there when i first moved to texas in jan of 05. it stunk. hardly anyone was checking out quail at the end of the day

Oct 29-31 and Jan 7-9. And FYI, I see it will also be open for Dove on both dates.

Oh and note that last season they closed the Jan quail hunt dates due to low numbers. The early season they only had about a dozen quail harvested total.

Found this.

http://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2010/sep/ed_1/

Quail
Last season was dreadful in most areas of Texas. Two summers without rain reduced quail populations to maybe enough to fill a Volkswagen. The Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in South Texas — often one of the better bobwhite hunting areas — even suspended hunting because of lack of birds and fear of losing more. Then the drought broke, and hopes rose. But like Rome, a quail nation cannot be rebuilt in a day. Or even a season. Evan McCoy, on the Kerr WMA, describes it like this: “We should see some tremendous hatches this spring and summer, but we may not be working with a large carryover of birds from last spring (2009) when conditions were poor.” Without enough mamas and papas, it will take more than one season for the birds to rebound. But at least it’s a start. This spring, the ground cover is thick with forbs and grasses, which will make great habitat for nesting and feeding. Numerous insects will also be available, and that’s critical for young birds. Eric Garza in Hebbronville predicts that “bobwhite quail are likely to be in lower numbers unless we get multiple hatches.” But multiple hatches on a year like this are a distinct possibility. David Forrester, in LaGrange, says what biologists in most parts of Texas are saying: “We have experienced above-average moisture over the winter, which bodes well for quail production this spring and summer.” Charlie Newberry, in Henrietta, however, is “cautiously optimistic.” “Landowners in this area have been experiencing poor recruitment,” he says. “Quail numbers have been on a decline for several years.” The Chaparral area hasn’t recovered yet, either. Tarrant, in Alpine, says that after a few subpar years, expect scaled quail populations to bounce back some this year. Most of West Texas received good winter/spring moisture, which should provide plenty of forbs. This, coupled with adequate cover, will bode well for blues throughout most of the Trans-Pecos. Increased soil moisture should also help Gambel’s quail populations along the Rio Grande, and hunters pursuing this unique game bird could be pleasantly surprised.

I have heard that the politicans in Austin hunt the Chap on other dates. I don't know why TPWL won't open it up more than a few weekends if one has the public land permit.
Sure should after deer season. Gov. Perry might be getting all the good weekends to hunt.

I really doubt this. Those guys can hunt anywhere in the state. People gush all over themselves to have a governer on their ranch. Some even invite vice presidents.

I doubt this too. There is almost always some kind of scheduled hunting, or other public use going on every day during the fall/winter.

I would imagine the reason it is only two weekends this year is because of last years drought. Not counting youth hunts, last year there were 5 Quail hunt periods scheduled with the last one cancelled due to only 13 Quail being reported taken by hunters during the previous hunts. It is probably a trade off between allowing public hunting opportunity and giving the birds time to rebound.

From the press report last year.
" Early-season quail hunts on the area have been relatively unsuccessful — with only 13 quail harvested during the 48 days of hunter opportunity offered through mid-December, Chaparral staff said. Additional harvest pressure on the remaining quail, some of which have yet to fledge, could have detrimental effects on brood stock survival in an already depleted population."

So in a bad year they were open for 48 days and this year which has been a lot better moisture wise only a handful of day?

Perhaps they just have not rebounded enough from the fire and drought to take the pressure. As well the 48 day quote does not add up to how many quail hunting days they had. I think the writer may have taken that count from how many days the area was open for any hunting last year. I don't know, but I do know they have had a rough three years with the Quail out there.
If you would like to call and ask. And do please let us know what they say.
Phone: (830) 676-3413
Contact: David Synatzske

2007 From Dale Rollins Blog

http://agrilifeblogs.tamu.edu/mt/quail/2007/02/tpwd-wmas-confirm-quail-bust.html

David Synatske is manager of "the Chap" and provided the following harvest figures:
"We killed 17 birds with 509 hunters in the first three weekends and 16 birds with 73 hunters weekend before last so the 33 total is our lowest on record for the Chap although probably not the lowest bird/hunter. All 16 birds on the last weekend were adult birds so it confirmed the absolute failure of a hatch at all on the Chap this year. It's going to take a couple of years of ideal conditions to recoup from this. The 1984 harvest of 39 quail came back to a harvest of 12,000 Plus in 1987 but I don't know that we can count on three ideal years like 85-87."

2008 The fire that burned 95% of the WMA.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/outdoors/tompkins/5652206.html

The immediate future of the Chaparral WMA's public hunting program will be much diminished in the wake of the wildfire. TPWD officials said if the area receives enough rain to produce a good croton, the Chaparral might be able to host dove hunts this autumn. But other public hunting options appear doubtful.

2009 The press release and closed hunt.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20091228b

AUSTIN, Texas — Upcoming public hunts on the Chaparral Wildlife Management Area set for Jan. 8-10, 2010, will be limited to doves only due to drought impacts on quail populations.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists are concerned about resident bobwhite quail numbers due to the devastating effects of this summer’s drought. According to Chaparral WMA staff, early-season quail hunts on the area have been relatively unsuccessful with only 13 quail harvested during the 48 days of hunter opportunity offered through about mid December.
Additional harvest pressure on the remaining quail population, some of whom have yet to fledge, could have detrimental effects on brood stock survival in an already depleted population.

2010 Hunting Forcast.

http://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2010/sep/ed_1/

Chaparral Wildlife Management Area in South Texas — often one of the better bobwhite hunting areas — even suspended hunting because of lack of birds and fear of losing more. Then the drought broke, and hopes rose. But like Rome, a quail nation cannot be rebuilt in a day. ......... The Chaparral area hasn’t recovered yet, either.

Some even invite vice presidents.

lol

We went this past weekend for youth/adult weekend. There seem to be pretty good numbers of quail and the coveys are ranging between 15 / 20.. The cover is extremely thick with lost of grass and stickers. Although there are some good area to hunt you will want to probably go 1 day early to scout around for good places.

We ended up with 22 quail and 1 dove. And I am a proud dad since my 11 year old son got his first quail.. And did an awesome job on the gun safety part.. Quail are a safety nightmare.. ( been shot once already )

good luck!!! Limits can be gotten this year.

Wow am so there thanks Jademan! Looks like am canceling my Halloween stuff.

Would love to see some pictures of the youth hunt.

I will post some when I get home tonight.. It was a blast.. Good luck to all that go..

Awesome! Looking forward to the pics.

I asked the manager of the Chap last year about all the dates they had scheduled. he told me they are required to give their recommendations in February for the next season. Based on the previous season, the booked every weekend in November plus the January weekends.

Last Summers heat and drought led to a total lack of insect life for the baby quail, which led to the dieing , thus poor hunting for all. ( his word pretty much )

So , based on what they saw last season, the are having 2 weekend this year. If this years is good , then I would guess next year might see another hunt or 2 or at least a couple of extra days added.

They cannot kick the gates open and just let you in there. Too many will chase a covey down to the last bird and not leave any for seed.

The Choke Canyon area has more days to hunt and far fewer birds .

I have his report for this year and it sounds decent.

I'm a little confused. Is it open for quail hunting, just for the opening weekend, or for all of next week.

Bill, this year the Chap has quail hunts opening weekend and again the 2nd weekend of January only.

Personally, me and mine always seem to find more in January. Well, except for '08 when Colt got bit. That opening day was great. Nine coveys from 8:00 to 11:00 that morning and three that evening til he ran over that snake.

Bobby,
thanks for the info on how they set the number of hunt dates.

Bill,
Here is the page from the APH book with the hunt dates.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/hun...0_0112a_153.pdf

I won't get there for the opener (I'll be much closer to home); but I've already made plans to be there in January.

ran over that snake?