Our Achievements:

• A 2004 return to the 8-bird daily bag limit for Mearns’ quail.
  Thank you, Commissioners for listening to the hunters who want a quality hunt and sustainable harvests.
• Special Arizona Game & Fish 2003-2004 Mearns' Quail Hunter Opinion Survey.
  We convinced the Game & Fish that your opinion counts in better management of these premier birds for which Arizona is famous.



• A 2003 reduction in the Mearns quail daily bag limit from 15 to 10 birds/day.
  Thank you Arizona Game & Fish Commissioners!



• Provided a public forum by persuading the Arizona Game & Fish Department to host their first Quail Symposium in October 2002 with renowned quail experts from Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona. Considerable up-to-date quail management research has flooded in since making contacts with these experts; no more reliance on 30-40 year old research!!



• Persuaded the Game & Fish of the need for more quail harvest data from a larger sample of quail hunters.
  This led an additional 3,000 Small Game Questionnaires mailed to licensed hunters, a Quail Opinion Poll sent to nearly 7,000 bird hunters, plus two more wing collection barrels installed in the field.



• Entered into a collaborative agreement with Game & Fish for them to use our survey boxes to collect wing data plus distribute and collect the special Mearns' Quail Hunter Opinion Survey.
  We have numerous collection sites distributed in the field to collect data from a larger population of hunters when they are in the field versus post season surveys from Game & Fish which get a very small response (50 to 100 hunters).



• Supplied Game & Fish with harvest data and hunter opinions from our survey of Mearns quail hunters for seasons 2001-2002 and 2002-2003.
  Our survey boxes collected harvest data and hunter opinions on quail management and habitat when they were in the field for more comprehensive information. More informative was gathered than post season surveys Game & Fish collects.



• Persuaded the Arizona Game & Fish to lock their wing barrels to encourage hunter participation plus put more wing barrels in the field (increased from 4 to 6).



• Persuaded Arizona Game & Fish to revise the questions on the wing envelopes for more comprehensive harvest data.