Habitat Management
“Our primary goal is to provide hunting habitat along with sanctuary.”
While the staff at Hall’s Bayou Ranch strives to pamper our members in order to give them the greatest hunting experiences possible, our two highest priorities are always the land and the animals. We consider the responsibility of our stewardship of the land, flora, and fauna our highest duty. Our enhancements have created a diverse, thriving ecosystem.
The Ranch has adopted a policy that all decisions on operations shall be made to maximize the benefits to ecological systems. This policy has lead to an incredible synergy, which has been as beneficial to our farming and ranching activities as it has been to hunting.
An example of the implementation of this policy is the 160-acre reservoir pictured above. It is primarily used to capture the run-off from rice fields. The captured water can then be used to water our second crop, which saves us that expense. (Of course, the run-off from the second crop gets recaptured.) During the winter, the reservoir not only serves as a roosting area on its own, but also supplies water to other ponds if needed.
The Ranch contains 4000 acres of the Texas Gulf Coast’s finest
fresh- and salt-water marshes. In addition, there are over 35
man-made fresh-water structures, with that number increasing
annually. Every field has either an existing or planned fresh-water
project.
Grazing pasture (fallow fields) are flooded at the proper time to
both promote better grasses the next year and to offer the fowl a
feast upon arrival. This helps our cattle ranchers as much as it
does the birds.
We maintain a planting program of domestic and wild indigenous
plants to serve as a food source for fowl and other animals. We do
not harvest the second crop of rice and milo; instead, we leave it
as a food source for the birds. “If you set the table, the birds
will come.”
We are actively involved in following Ducks Unlimited’s guidance on
proper habitat management. Just prior to flooding, we disc portions
of each field. This ensures that there will be clear areas in the
structure for the waterfowl as well as areas with grasses extending
past the water level. The discing is coordinated with with the
flooding schedule so that the grasses do not have an opportunity to
reestablish themselves. The flooding of individual fields is timed
so that the schedule lasts for the entire winter. In this manner we
assure that there will always be fresh habitat available as new
species arrive according to their migration schedule. In simpler
words, we time our discing and flooding for the maximum gain for the
waterfowl.
It is Ranch policy to create and maintain equal areas for hunting and sanctuary. There are two permanent Roosting Ponds totaling over 500 acres where hunting is never allowed. The rest of the Ranch is divided into named areas. We continually rotate these areas between “open” (hunting allowed) and “closed” (no hunting) states to meet the requirements of our sanctuary rule. We also do not allow hunting in any individual area more than one day per week. These policies not only protect the wildlife, but also ensure that our hunters will have a large, flourishing population of game in whatever area they hunt.
Maintaining a thriving ecosystem requires both planning and hard work. We believe that our efforts have paid off beyond our expectations. In 2001, a biological survey found 23,000 birds on one 400-acre field.