Five Question Friday: Sara Bales-Lyda

Five Question Friday with Sara Bales-Lyda. Bales-Lyda is QF's Regional Wildlife Biologist in Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and Louisiana.

QF: What's been your finest moment working for Quail Forever?

SB: I don't have one moment in particular. I have many moments of working with dedicated, passionate volunteers and seeing the satisfaction on their faces when they accomplish their goals as Quail Forever chapters - that is what keeps me going each day.

QF: What's your trusty shotgun of choice?

SB: I shoot a Kahn 20-gauge over/under. But my gun of choice would be a 20 gauge side-by-side. A Weatherby wouldn't hurt! There isn't a more classic or beautiful gun than a side-by-side.

QF: Could you describe your upbringing that led you to love the outdoors?

SB: I am extremely fortunate to have grown up on a hunting plantation in the South Carolina Low Country. My father was the wildlife and forestry manager for the 19,000-acre plantation. I grew up in a place where feral hogs could - and did - move through the yard in one night and have it prepped for a good garden! I spent the summers (before working was cool) catching fish, shrimp, and blue crabs. During winter I tagged along with the hunters or checked in at the skinning shed to log in the take for the day. I couldn't tell you a favorite part of growing up in a place like that. The call of the Canada geese flying over the river past our house each morning rivals the first notes of the Chuck-wills-widows calling on an early spring evening for my favorite sounds related to growing up. But the afternoons playing videographer for my brother as he stalked feral hogs with his longbow; and early spring mornings sitting beneath a huge live oak while my dad called in the big gobblers; and the days riding horses through the bottomland hardwoods with my mom - those experiences helped me become the biologist I am today. By the time I was in high school, I knew that Wildlife Ecology was the field for me.

QF: What magazine subscription can't you live without?

SB: Aside from Quail and Pheasants Forever Journals of Upland Conservation, Covey Rise keeps me in the loop. I also enjoy reading Adventure magazine because I love to experience new places.

QF: Who will win this season of American Idol?

SB: American Idol? I don't watch it. 24 is the one show I must see every week.

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