Blogs, Resources & Articles
Most recent entries
Tecomate Forums
Recent Tecomate Forum Posts
Syndicate
Join our Mailing List
Tecomate’s Complete Story
How it began...
 Tecomate's David Morris (left) and Dr. Gary Schwarz |
"In the country's most intensively managed state, Dr. Gary (Schwarz, co-owner and founder of Tecomate Seed) is Texas' undisputed leader in food-plot-based nutrition. His ascension to that position took time, creativity, hard work and a lot of experimenting, often in the face of steadfast insistence that what he was trying to do with food plots would not work. … (But) as Gary has proven, does it ever work! In recent years, Gary's nutritional program on El Tecomate (Ranch) has produced buck after buck winning top honors in Texas' many big buck contests. His success has even been documented through scientific studies that compared the body and antler size of his bucks to those of neighboring leaseholders who have the same herd management strategy but no nutritional program beyond natural habitat management. The results have been nothing short of startling. In a three-year comparison of mature bucks, Gary's bucks averaged 20 B&C points larger and 26 pounds heavier than those of like ages on neighboring leases! Twenty B&C points - that's the difference between a 140 and a 160 or a 150 and a 170! To a trophy hunter, that's all the difference in the world! … Today, (many years later) the difference is even greater … all because of food-source management. Gary's success with food plots on Tecomate drew so much attention that he was literally forced into starting a seed company to help others obtain both the … seeds and the expertise … necessary to put food plots to work on their property. Thus was born the Tecomate Seed Company. … Since its inception in 1993, Tecomate Seed Company has led the charge in food-plot management in Texas."
Excerpted from the July 1999 issue of North American Whitetail magazine.
A revolutionary new management strategy …
What Gary started back in 1993 helped open an exciting new chapter in whitetail management history. Lead by Tecomate, food-plot-based nutritional management was introduced to an eager market and soon the whitetail management scene was literally revolutionized. Managers were introduced to an entirely new strategy that allowed them to take control of management on their property and greatly increase the size and number of their deer in ways never before possible.
Going national …
Not even Texas was big enough to hold the good news of Tecomate’s paradigm-shifting management strategy. Managers all over were clamoring for information about what Tecomate was up to. So, the company took steps to take its message and products to the whole country. That process began when nationally renowned whitetail manager, hunter and author David Morris joined the Tecomate team. David's industry experience includes 20 years as owner/manager of Georgia's famous Burnt Pine Plantation and 20 years as the executive publisher/owner of Game & Fish Publications and North American Whitetail magazine. While at Burnt Pine, David conducted pioneering work on food plot management for whitetails. That work was continued on Whitetail magazine's deer research facility, Steve Vaughn's Fort Perry Plantation, which, along with Tecomate Ranch, is recognized as the place where food-plot-based nutrition came of age. David currently owns and manages whitetail ranches in Montana and Texas, both of which serve as proving grounds for the Tecomate Food Plot Program.
The best with the best …
Tecomate made yet another big step toward better serving the national whitetail market when the company entered into a joint venture with Barenbrug International, the largest privately owned seed company in the world. With access to worldwide seed markets, research and products and as the undisputed leader in forage research and production in such places as Argentina, Uruguay, U.S., Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, Barenbrug brought unmatched seed-sourcing to Tecomate.
The right tool for success …
But, it didn’t end there. In our ongoing efforts to help our customers achieve even more success as managers, Tecomate purchased Plotmaster, the manufacturer of the now-famous all-in-one food plot planting implement by the same name that makes anybody a better farmer. With the user-friendly Plotmaster, Tecomate customers were able to grow better plots than ever before and enjoy even more success implementing the incredibly effective Tecomate Food Plot System … also known simply as the Tecomate Wildlife System.
What is the Tecomate Food Plot System?
 The Tecomate Food Plot System has ushered in a new era in wildlife management, one in which landowners themselves are empowered to greatly improve their wildlife populations and habitat and increase their hunting success and outdoor enjoyment. The concept is simple: By planting the right plants in the right way, food plots can be used to grow more and bigger bucks; attract and hold deer in a specific area; and relieve pressure on the native habitat so that it actually improves … to the benefit of all wildlife species!
Quality, year-round nutrition is the key to a healthy deer herd and large body and antler size. Natural habitat, with its seasonal and yearly fluctuations, does not supply a consistent source of nutritious forage. To make matters worse, overcrowding in many areas has nearly eliminated the most nutritious native plants. However, food plots can change everything and restore the nutritional plane to all new heights. The impact can be astounding! Of course, the level of success depends on your land, food plot acreage, what you plant, farming quality and commitment. And, the beauty of the Tecomate Food Plot System is that you have choices. You can select from a wide menu of management options, from a basic program aimed only at attracting deer to an intensive Tecomate program designed to greatly increase the nutrition available to deer.
But know this: With the right food plot program, it is possible to increase the number of deer on your property two or threefold, and even more, while increasing their size and health far beyond that possible on the most ideal native habitat. Plus, because deer shift from the less desirable native browse to the more preferred and nutritious food plot plants, the native habitat can actually improve! And, the attraction of food plots concentrates game for viewing and hunting and actually causes deer to reduce their home range, keeping them at home. Now, that’s a win-win scenario anyway you look at it!
Our experience and knowledge become front and center …
 Photo By Hardy Jackson |
With the success of the Tecomate Food Plot System, countless managers began to ask Tecomate for direct help in implementing the program on their properties. Soon, most of our time was spent “consulting” with customers across the nation. It became apparent that perhaps our greatest “product” was the knowledge and experience we had growing food plots and big bucks. Again, we were forced into a new business aspect by the big bucks we were growing. This time that business was wildlife consulting. After a search far and wide for the just the right biologist, we hired Rans Thomas to head up the Tecomate Consulting Team, which now consists of a nationwide network of Tecomate Pro Staff Biologists. Tecomate’s biologists work with landowners/managers across the country on every aspect of land and wildlife management, centered around the Tecomate Food Plot System.
The Foxworthy connection …
When you are growing more and bigger bucks than ever thought possible, not only on your own showcase/research properties but also on your customers’ places across the nation, you attract attention – lots of it. One of the people who took notice of what we were doing was famed comedian and sportsman Jeff Foxworthy. Jeff’s first interest was in hunting giant bucks on our showcase ranches, El Tecomate and El Cazador, to see for himself what all the hullabaloo was about. He came … and shot a couple of book-class bucks and had his eyes opened to a management strategy that he immediately saw as THE answer for management in his native Georgia. In time, Jeff became the national spokesman for Tecomate and bought his own farm in Georgia and put it under the Tecomate System … and promptly grew some of the largest bucks in Georgia!
Tecomate today - doing what we do best …
With the consulting business underway, a change was in the air for Tecomate. Not only did the calls for wildlife consulting greatly increase, but we began getting more and more requests to help find, evaluate and buy properties to be managed under the Tecomate System. Gradually, our business emphasis began to shift. Consulting, disseminating information and buying, developing and selling “Tecomate” properties began to rival our seed and wildlife products business. In time, we were once again “forced” into another business – land sales and development, supported by our consulting division.
In order to give our full time and attention to what we realized was the ultimate extension of the unique knowledge and experience we had gained over the years – the real estate and consulting business – we made a couple of major business moves to assure the continued success of our seed and Plotmaster business. One, we sold Tecomate Seed, or at least most of it, to the best folks in the country to handle it – our seed supply partners, Barenbrug. Two, we placed the Plotmaster and equipment business in a separate company, Plotmaster Systems, LLC, and placed it under the management of Plotmaster founder, Blaine Burley. This freed up Tecomate to concentrate on its new “core” business – real estate and consulting, where we feel we can best use our knowledge and experience to benefit our customers and help many of them realize their dreams of owning and managing their own land.
 Photo By Hardy Jackson |
With the shift in Tecomate’s focus to land and consulting, we made a couple of other changes to better serve this market. One, we brought our friend and biggest advocate, Jeff Foxworthy, in as a business partner and put him to work on our new TV show, The Bucks of Tecomate. Two, we sought out one of the best and most visionary real estate and development professionals in the country, Rick Olson, to head up this new venture. Now after a long and, frankly, necessary journey, we embark on what we believe will be our most exciting and rewarding venture, and we come into it with the experience, knowledge, personnel and unique perspective that can only be gained by time and having “been there, done that!” Tecomate is now, more than ever before, better able to help people across the country realize the ultimate outdoor dream – that of owning and managing their own property! We look forward to helping YOU realize your deer hunting dreams!
|
|
|
 |
