News Release

New quota system for Babcock/Webb WMA quail hunters

November 8, 2007
Contact: Gary Morse, 863-648-3200

Significant changes to the quota hunt system for quail will occur this coming season on the Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb Wildlife Management Area (WMA), in Charlotte County.  These changes, made by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), help distribute quail hunting pressure more evenly among the four quail hunt zones.  The changes are part of an ongoing study on how hunting pressure affects quail populations.

Traditionally, the harvest of quail had not been viewed as a limiting factor on bobwhite quail populations. As a result of changing regional landscapes, it is now believed that harvest plays a part in the annual survival and reproduction rates of native quail.

To gather data for the study, the FWC has established a season limit of 852 quota permits for quail hunting on Babcock/Webb WMA.  Each of the four zones – A, B, C and D – will issue a maximum of 213 permits during the season.  If a zone maximum of 213 permits is reached, no more quail hunting permits will be issued for that zone for the remainder of the season. 

Quota permits for the four zones will be issued at the check station each on a first-come, first-served basis.  To distribute hunting pressure as evenly as possible across zones, there is a “soft” quota of 10 daily permits per zone.  Hunters will have their choice of any of the four zones until at least 10 daily permits have been issued for each.  Once the “soft” quota is reached in all four zones, the next hunter or hunting party in line will be permitted to choose from the zones with the fewest number of daily quail permits issued, until all hunters are issued a daily quail permit.  Hunters will not be permitted to change zones during a given day, because it would defeat the purpose of distributing harvest pressure evenly.

There will be no fixed daily limits on the number of hunters, so no hunter will be turned away until the season quota of 852 is reached.  At that point, all zones will be closed to quail hunting.  However, all hunters present at the check station prior to 8 a.m. on the day the season quota is reached will be issued a daily quail permit to hunt quail that final day.

The research project, initiated in 2002, creates a scientific basis for regulating harvest on the WMA.  The new quota system will provide information about the relation between harvest, mortality and annual survival rates of bobwhite quail.  A data-driven approach for establishing quail hunting regulations will enhance the FWC’s ability to develop an adaptive approach to quail management on public lands.

For more information on hunting quail at Fred C. Babcock/Cecil M. Webb WMA, visit MyFWC.com, click on “Hunting,” then “2007-2008 Individual WMA Regulations and Maps.”