 |  |  |  |  |  |
 |  |  |  |  |
My fellow Quail hunters,
We apologize for not updating our site the past two seasons but the hunting has been so good
that we were completely booked in advance of both seasons. However, on March 6th, 2017,
everything changed. The devastating Starbuck Fire which started in Oklahoma, just South of our
ranch burned almost our entire county. The fire consumed over 350,000 acres in one
afternoon!!!!! Many of our friends lost everything and most ranchers that had cow-calf
operations tragically lost all of their herds. The town of Ashland where Amy and I live was
evacuated the first day of the fire and it blew right through the little town of Englewood where our
hunters stay and burned over a third of the dwellings. You can view just how much destruction
this fire caused to our area if you Google (Starbuck Fire Kansas Maps). Fortunately Greg and
Pixie Goodnight's home and his Dad and Mom's home were both spared thanks to the efforts of
the local volunteer firemen cutting firebreaks around them, as was our rental unit where our
hunters stay.
This fire has had both short term and long term affects on our Quail Stock. In the short term we
had a rather small hatch this season. So far, all of our customers have gone away happy, but
were told to expect less action. And we have been able to lease additional ground to spread out
our efforts. Interestingly those areas that didn't burn have the same marginal results in regards
to quail numbers. It looked by the amount of moisture we had in the spring, combined with a cool
summer that it should have been an excellent season, but really hasn't been for allowing the quail
populations to regenerate to prefire numbers.
In the long run the fire will help us, it burned piles of dead wood and debris that were caused by
the drought of 2011, and rejuvenated the orbs and plants the quail thrive on. We had an
outstanding crop of ragweed this year and the fire also really knocked back the prickly pear
cactus which had really expanded during the drought. If the weather pattern that we have enjoyed
these last three seasons holds and we get good timely moisture in the spring and a cool summer,
next season could be a very good one. We have updated our pictures and have included a couple
of new packages on the web site.
After perusing our web site please give us a call if you have any questions or just want to talk bird
dogs or Quail hunting..................Capt. Cal Robinson
We apologize for not updating our site the past two seasons but the hunting has been so good
that we were completely booked in advance of both seasons. However, on March 6th, 2017,
everything changed. The devastating Starbuck Fire which started in Oklahoma, just South of our
ranch burned almost our entire county. The fire consumed over 350,000 acres in one
afternoon!!!!! Many of our friends lost everything and most ranchers that had cow-calf
operations tragically lost all of their herds. The town of Ashland where Amy and I live was
evacuated the first day of the fire and it blew right through the little town of Englewood where our
hunters stay and burned over a third of the dwellings. You can view just how much destruction
this fire caused to our area if you Google (Starbuck Fire Kansas Maps). Fortunately Greg and
Pixie Goodnight's home and his Dad and Mom's home were both spared thanks to the efforts of
the local volunteer firemen cutting firebreaks around them, as was our rental unit where our
hunters stay.
This fire has had both short term and long term affects on our Quail Stock. In the short term we
had a rather small hatch this season. So far, all of our customers have gone away happy, but
were told to expect less action. And we have been able to lease additional ground to spread out
our efforts. Interestingly those areas that didn't burn have the same marginal results in regards
to quail numbers. It looked by the amount of moisture we had in the spring, combined with a cool
summer that it should have been an excellent season, but really hasn't been for allowing the quail
populations to regenerate to prefire numbers.
In the long run the fire will help us, it burned piles of dead wood and debris that were caused by
the drought of 2011, and rejuvenated the orbs and plants the quail thrive on. We had an
outstanding crop of ragweed this year and the fire also really knocked back the prickly pear
cactus which had really expanded during the drought. If the weather pattern that we have enjoyed
these last three seasons holds and we get good timely moisture in the spring and a cool summer,
next season could be a very good one. We have updated our pictures and have included a couple
of new packages on the web site.
After perusing our web site please give us a call if you have any questions or just want to talk bird
dogs or Quail hunting..................Capt. Cal Robinson
| Calvin Watching the fire race toward Englewood about a mile west of town. |
Some of the tree rows and
property losses an hour or so
after the fire swept through
property losses an hour or so
after the fire swept through