Story by Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News. Photo from Park Cities Quail Coalition
Most knew T. Boone Pickens as an energy-business tycoon, a supporter of Oklahoma State University where the football stadium bears his name, or a man with a Texas-style quote for nearly every situation.
Hunters and conservationists, though, knew Pickens as an avid lover of wild species — especially the bobwhite quail.
Pickens died Sept. 11 in Dallas of natural causes.
“Be willing to make decisions,” he said. “That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the “ready-aim-aim-aim-aim” syndrome. You must be willing to fire.”
T. Boone Pickens
At Park Cities Quail, the Lifetime Sportsman Award was named after Pickens.
Joe Crafton, one of the founders of Park Cities Quail, said:
“We lost a good man and a good friend today. It was a joy to get to know Boone Pickens over the past 12 years. He had a double share of charisma, smarts, generosity and fun. There was none other like him and he will be missed.”
At the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch, which Pickens and Park Cities Quail supported, executive director Dale Rollins said:
“A heart-felt salute and “well done” to T. Boone Pickens, likely the best-known advocate for the bird and sport we all love.”
Pickens was an annual attendee at the Park Cities Quail fundraiser each year, often offering a quail-hunting trip to his Mesa Vista Ranch in the Texas Panhandle, including a trip on his private jet.
The ranch, now for sale, encompasses 100 square miles in the Texas Panhandle with 25 miles of frontage on the Canadian River that Pickens said, “offers the world’s best quail hunting.”
Pickens’ conservation efforts on the ranch established him as a leader in conservation practices that are now followed across the country.
Pickens, always one to provide a colorful quote for nearly every situation, offered his top piece of advice to apply to business and to life.
“Be willing to make decisions,” he said. “That’s the most important quality in a good leader. Don’t fall victim to what I call the “ready-aim-aim-aim-aim” syndrome. You must be willing to fire.”
