Clearly, quail hunting is an economically important sport and industry in Texas. With the advent and growth of lease hunting, many landowners were able to maintain the economic viability of their ranches by making lease hunting and the habitat management that supports it a primary focus, equal to or exceeding traditional livestock production. To the extent that quail hunting supports the lease-hunting enterprise, it shares in the support of large numbers of rural Texans maintaining their land ownership and livelihoods. The service aspects of the quail hunting industry have experienced phenomenal growth, especially over the last two decades. For the most part, this rapid growth in demand for services has been fueled by the increased popularity of corporate entertainment. The continued urbanization and increases in income of the Texas population-including quail hunters-have also contributed to the trend. The growth of services associated with quail hunting has provided new employment opportunities in both the rural quail hunting areas and urban settings. It should be noted, however, that like employment in most service industries, especially those associated with the provision of entertainment, the employment is seasonal, oft en less than full-time even in the peak of demand, and quite susceptible to signifi cant reductions in demand when the general economy experiences a downturn. Copyright 2007 by Leonard Alfred Brennan Manufactured in the United States of America All rights reserved.
