Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference August 1-2, 2002 Sul Ross State University Alpine, Texas Edited by: Louis A. Harveson, Patricia M. Harveson, and Calvin Richardson Recommended Citation Formats: Entire volume: Harveson, L. A., P. M. Harveson, and C. Richardson. eds. 2002. Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference. Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas. For individual papers: Richardson, C. 2002. Comparison of deer survey techniques in west Texas. Pages 62- 72 in L. A. Harveson, P. M. Harveson, and C. Richardson, eds. Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference. Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas. © 2002. Sul Ross State University P.O. Box C-16 Alpine, TX 79832 PROCEEDINGS OF THE TRANS-PECOS WILDLIFE CONFERENCE TABLE OF CONTENTS PLENARY: MANAGING WEST TEXAS WILDLIFE ........................................................................... 2 TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE'S PRIVATE LANDS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM...................................................3 UPLAND GAME BIRD MANAGEMENT............................................................................................. 8 ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF GAMBEL’S QUAIL IN TEXAS ..............................................................9 ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT OF MONTEZUMA QUAIL ........................................................................11 IMPROVING WILD TURKEY HABITAT ON YOUR RANCH ........................................................................15 PANEL DICUSSION: CAN WE MAINTAIN BLUE QUAIL NUMBERS DURING DROUGHT? .........................21 BIG GAME MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................................... 28 FACTORS AFFECTING PRONGHORN ANTELOPE POPULATIONS IN TRANS-PECOS, TEXAS......................29 FACTORS AFFECTING MULE DEER NUMBERS IN WEST TEXAS..............................................................37 HISTORY, STATUS, ECOLOGY, AND MANAGEMENT OF DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP IN TEXAS .................41 BASIC DEER NUTRITION .........................................................................................................................46 NON-NATIVE UNGULATES IN THE TRANS-PECOS REGION OF TEXAS ....................................................53 COMPARISON OF DEER SURVEY TECHNIQUES IN WEST TEXAS .............................................................61 SEASONAL DEER FEEDING......................................................................................................................72 RANCHING IN THE DESERT .....................................................................................................................81 PANEL DISCUSSION: DEER AND SUPPLEMENTAL FEEDING-PRO’S & CON’S..........................................88 HABITAT MANAGEMENT AND RANGELAND IMPROVEMENTS..................................................... 93 WAS THE TRANS-PECOS A GRASSLAND? PAST, PRESENT, AND POTENTIAL..........................................94 DOES FIRE HAVE A ROLE IN THE CHIHUAHUAN DESERT? .....................................................................98 WATER CONSERVATION FOR RESTORATION OF WILDLIFE HABITATS.................................................101 BRUSH CONTROL STRATEGIES FOR SELECTED SPECIES IN THE TRANS-PECOS REGION OF TEXAS .....115 LANDOWNER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS-STATE ....................................................................................126 LANDOWNER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS-FEDERAL ................................................................................129 PREDATOR ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT................................................................................ 134 INTERPRETING THE IMPACT OF PREDATION ON WILDLIFE...................................................................135 MANAGING COYOTE IMPACTS ON NATIVE WILDLIFE POPULATIONS ..................................................142 MOUNTAIN LIONS, DEER AND PREDATOR CONTROL ...........................................................................148 PANEL DISCUSSION: PREDATION-THE PROBLEM OR A SYMPTOM?......................................................152 2 Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference Plenary: Managing West Texas Wildlife Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference 3 TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE'S PRIVATE LANDS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM CALVIN RICHARDSON, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4500 W. Illinois, Suite 203, Midland, TX 79703; [email protected] The Wildlife Division of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) is known by many landowners and land managers in West Texas for its Wildlife Management Areas (Elephant Mountain, Black Gap, Sierra Diablo, Ocotillo), pronghorn permit issuance program, and responsibilities associated with game regulations. Considerably fewer land managers are familiar with TPWD's Private Lands Assistance Program. Through this program, TPWD biologists provide free technical assistance to landowners. Technical assistance may involve deer surveys (helicopter or spotlight), harvest management, wildlife habitat recommendations, cost-share and financial incentive programs, and assistance in applying for a wildlife management tax valuation. The technical assistance may involve a single ranch visit or, depending on the needs of the landowner, assistance may involve repeated ranch visits over several years. With regard to survey activities, the assistance effort is normally conducted on a one-time basis for educational purposes. The land manager is responsible for surveys in subsequent years, although the assisting biologist can continue to provide annual harvest recommendations based upon survey data and harvest records provided by the land manager. Depending on landowner preference, assistance may be in the form of verbal recommendations, written recommendations, or a written management plan. Prior to entering a ranch and providing technical assistance, biologists must provide the landowner with a form that is to be signed by the landowner requesting assistance. This 1-page form simply provides written permission for the biologist to come onto the ranch and provide the type of management assistance that is of interest to the landowner. More importantly, the form describes (in bold print) a relatively new law enacted in September 1995 that concerns "privacy of information." This piece of legislation (HB 2012) has greatly assisted the landowner, and has indirectly assisted TPWD biologists. The important benefit of this law is that it provides for privacy of information that West Texas landowners value while providing the assisting biologist with a clear mandate regarding any information collected (e.g., survey data) and any plant or animal species observed. More specifically, any information collected in response to a landowner request for technical assistance is strictly "confidential and may not be disclosed." The only time this information could ever be used or released is through written permission by the landowner. As a Technical Guidance Biologist for the Trans-Pecos, one of my primary responsibilities is providing technical assistance for private landowners across the 16 counties shown on the attached map. Assistance may involve big game surveys, harvest recommendations, maintenance of harvest records, and habitat recommendations that may involve water distribution, grazing management, predator management, supplemental feeding, brush management, riparian management, prescribed fire, and many other practices. In addition to their other duties, local TPWD biologists are available to provide technical assistance in their 4 Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference areas of responsibility. Some of these additional duties include state wildlife surveys, harvest data collection, regulation development and revision, research, permit issuance, and public education. TPWD Private Lands Biologist, Philip Dickerson (Midland), performs many of these same duties and provides technical assistance on a district-wide basis concerning cost-share and financial incentive programs. These are described in detail in these proceedings in the manuscript "Landowner Assistance Programs for Habitat Improvement." TPWD Wildlife Diversity Biologist, Dave Holdermann (Alpine), provides technical assistance on a district-wide basis concerning rare species of animals and plants. Lois Balin (El Paso) is the Urban Biologist and provides technical assistance regarding urban wildlife issues. She also assists local state and city parks with habitat improvement projects. Mike Hobson is the District Supervisor and is stationed in Alpine. Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference 5 TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Counties of Responsibility for Trans-Pecos District Biologists El Paso Loving Winkler Ector Midland Hudspeth Culberson Philip Dickerson Lois Balin Ward Urban Biologist Misty Sumner Crane Upton Reeves Billy Tarrant Pecos Jeff Davis Scott Mitchell Mike Sullins Terrell Brewster Presidio Tim Bone District-wide Responsibility Calvin Richardson Mike Hobson Dave Holdermann Technical Guidance Biologist District Supervisor Wildlife Diversity Biologist Midland Alpine Alpine 6 Proceedings of the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference SOURCES OF TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TPWD Wildlife Division - District 1 Brewster County Midland, Ector, Upton, Crane, Ward, Winkler, Loving Tim Bone Philip Dickerson 109 S. Cockrell 4500 W. Illinois, Suite 203 Alpine, TX 79830 Midland, TX 79703 Phone: (915) 837-2051 Phone: (915) 520-1581 Fax: (915) 837-5987 Fax: (915) 520-1570 e-mail: