Conditions here in the Southern Rolling Plains of Texas are pretty Damn tough....
I am in the ranch office looking out my windows at a less than picturesque landscape....
I throw about as much $money$ at this place as is possible and remain solvent enough to afford new shells and proper single malt, but you can NOT buy Rain....That is the component that we are missing for this nesting season...
The ranch has taken on a much better look this past week following a 2.1" rainfall event last Monday..... That is the most rain we have had since last October. Prior to that I had recorded only 6" for the calendar year.
I have been away from the ranch a great deal this summer (by design) but I have sighted only 3 broods, one with 4 chicks, one with 6, and one with 7. Survival rates are unknown at this time.....This will be a year of shooting a few to work dogs and hoping conditions improve enough to give us a rebound in 2019. They have remarkable rejuvenation capabilities when well managed habitat is given timely rainfall. This is the same property that I shot 79 limits off of in the 2016 Boom year.
The bright spot is that 3 inches of rain in the past 3 weeks will bring my native sunflowers around and provide a decent Dove season it appears.....
