This grant is primarily a sub-award to oklahoma state university

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) received a $1,096,350.08 Formula Grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 2 under the Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education and Safety federal grant program (CFDA 15.611). The award period is from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026.

The funding will support projects using an integrated pest management approach to better understand the drivers of northern bobwhite quail populations in Oklahoma, especially the impacts of extreme weather and potential harvest scenarios. Oklahoma State University, as a sub-awardee, will develop population modeling tools to inform ODWC's management strategies and harvest regulations. Additionally, ODWC seeks to understand the impact of hunting on bobwhite populations with a focus on late-season harvest effects. Data collection will include gathering detailed hunter effort data and harvest information through band returns in part at the Packsaddle and Beaver wildlife management areas, with potential expansion to other western areas.

Odwc will provide minimal field assistance as needed. We propose to use an IPM approach to better understand the drivers of bobwhite populations, especially extreme weather and potential harvest scenarios, and use this information to develop population modeling tools to better inform odwc management strategies and harvest regulations for bobwhite. Additionally, odwc is interested in understanding the impact of harvest on bobwhite populations with a particular focus on impacts of late season harvest. We propose to collect more detailed information on hunter effort (e.g., timing and intensity of hunter effort, temporal and spatial distribution of hunter effort) by collecting hunter activity data and harvest through band return data. Objectives 1-3 will rely on previously collected data from packsaddle and beaver wmas and data collected from other sources so the geographic location will be oklahoma state university campus. Data collection for objective 4 will include packsaddle WMA in ellis county, beaver WMA in beaver county, and potentially other western wmas.