Deer/Plot Management
Deer/Plot Management will be articles and information to help you better understand how to prepare and manage your land.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Seasonal Nutritional Needs of the Whitetail
In order to formulate a nutritional strategy (plan) for whitetails, it is necessary to know their seasonal nutritional needs. Biologists and scientists can get into tedious detail on this subject, but from the game manager’s standpoint, it’s really quite simple.
From a timing standpoint, bucks and does have quite similar nutritional needs, but for very different reasons. Basically, they both have two distinct periods with specific nutritional requirements – during one period, they require protein; during the other, carbohydrates. Generally, when bucks have the highest need for protein, so do does.
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Increasing Your Successfulness in Harvesting a Mature Buck on a Small Property
Reality. Life. Whatever you want to call it, it has definitely found its way into my world this year. Up until this year I have always had a work schedule that was flexible enough that I could take off when ever I wanted to spend in the woods. This flexible work schedule has allowed me to hunt more than the average Joe, therefore giving me the opportunity to be more successful as well. This year, however, has been a different story. With the Lord’s leadership, my wife (Emily) and I decided for her to stay at home with our now 20 month old daughter, Anna Grace. This decision meant having to work more and hunt less in order to make ends meet.
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Monday, January 02, 2012
The Nuts and Bolts oF Food-Source Managament
Simple is always best. And as we look at the nuts and bolts of food-source management, I hope and believe that you’ll think the whole thing is simple, perhaps even obvious. If so, then it’s got a chance of flying when you take the concept to the field. I really think the beauty of the strategy lies in its simplicity and logic. Well, let’s now get right into the heart of food-source management – its nutritional side. The goal here is to explain how and why it works and layout the seasonal nutritional needs of the whitetail so the whole thing makes complete sense.
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Monday, December 19, 2011
Keys to Planting & Growing Quality Food Plots
Food plots are like many other things in life – you get out of them what you put into them. True, you can haphazardly scratch out a food plot and attract a few deer, but for really good plots, the kind that both attracts deer and provides nutrition, you’ve got to do it right. To help with that, we offer “8 Keys To Quality Food Plots.”
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Monday, December 05, 2011
It All Starts, When it Ends: Considering Winter AND Spring Nutrition while Planting Fall Hunting Plo
A high quality food plot program does not start or end. It’s a year-round effort, and with some planning you can ensure your short-term objectives are met at the same time you achieve long-term nutrition and attraction goals. I’ve made two key observations while working with clients on their food plots in the last 10 years.
1. Where’s the food plot?
One of the first things my clients do is take me to their favorite “food plots.” When we jump out of the truck or off the ATV we’re standing in what I would classify as an “opening” at best. Sure, regularly mowed “openings” naturally provide many forbs and legumes; however, they typically end up becoming dominated by less desirable, and often invasive, grasses. I’m here to tell you these openings are operating at less than 10 percent of their potential. Many of these property owners never fully understand what they were missing out on until we develop their first high quality food plot for them. In fact, we’re developing strategic food plot programs for every property we manage because of the results we’re experiencing. If your food plot program is not operating at 100 percent of its full potential you should expect the same from your bucks.
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Choosing The Right Plants For Your Plots
It would be hard to imagine a better food plot than a really good stand of Tecomate Lablab, but does that mean Lablab is always the best food plot choice? No, it does not! Different plants do different things. You have to “prescribe” the right thing for the job. Let’s see what goes into that.
First, when buying seed, consider value, not just price. Don’t be fooled by bag size. Bigger is not necessarily better. Some of the best wildlife plantings, like clovers and chicory, come in small bags and have very low planting rates. An 8-pound bag of Tecomate Monster Mix, which consists of clover and chicory, for instance, plants a full acre. It would take 130 pounds of oats to do plant that same acre! Think in terms of cost/acre not cost/bag or cost/pound. Some big, cheap bags of seed aren’t bargains at all when you consider what how much it takes to plant an acre and what you really get.
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Monday, November 21, 2011
HELICOPTER SURVEYS AND DEER HARVESTS RATES
As the helicopter moved closer the “whir” from the blades became almost deafening. Leaves and tree branches began to sway and dust began to fly in all directions. Occasionally, the rotor or the skids from the helicopter would graze the tops of the mesquite trees. I huddled closer to the trunk of the mesquite tree knowing a buck would be bolting by me at any second.
Suddenly, there he was! He jumped a prickly pear and ran by me only feet away. The buck crashed into our net and became hopelessly entangled. Immediately, I scrambled to my feet and hurried over to the buck. As I closed the gap the buck regained his footing. He started to back out of the net, shaking his head in an attempt to free his antlers.
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Identifying Your Food Plot Acreage Needs
I’m often asked by people who want to start a food plot program, “How many acres of food plots do I need and how many plots?” Of course, the answers will depend on your particular situation, but some general guidelines developed from years of research will help you begin figuring out what’s best for you.
Let’s start with the total food plot acreage you need. If just attracting deer is your main goal, planting 2 to 3 percent of your property in food plots will get the job done. But if you want both attraction and nutrition, you’ll need 5 to 8 percent of your property in food plots, depending on how many deer you want to support.
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