Monday, August 01, 2011
Management Is a God Thing
Genesis 3:23… “therefore the LORD God sent him (Adam) out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.”
From the popularity of game management today, it’s obvious that we hunters have an innate desire to manage the land and its wildlife. Have you ever wondered what is behind that desire to work the land and improve its production? Well, it’s not new with us today. It goes all the way back to the beginning of man’s existence. When God sent Adam out of the Garden of Eden, He instructed him to “cultivate the ground.” Every time I’m on my tractor, I think about that verse. There’s something about working the ground that appeals to men. It runs deep. It goes to the heart of our goal-oriented nature; the cause and effect motivation that so drives us men. Even Solomon, described as the wisest man in the Old Testament, when he wanted to “enlarge his works” (Ecclesiastes 2:4-7), he planted vineyards, made gardens and parks, planted all kinds of fruit trees, made ponds of water, and possessed flocks and herds. He managed the land!
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Shed Hunting Adventures
The popularity of shed hunting during the off-season has absolutely gone off the charts in recent years. Today, a high a percentage of modern-day hunters and deer managers make at least some attempt to look for the shed antlers from the bucks they’ve been hunting and admiring. Some have gotten passionate and even obsessive about finding sheds. Numerous hunters and non-hunters alike now spend a considerable amount of time each spring searching for those elusive treasures. I know dozens of avid hunters who regularly find 20 to 30 sheds a year. I also know a number of “fanatical” shed hunters who, having been bitten by the incurable shed hunting bug, regularly find up to several hundred sheds a year!
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Posted by
Duncan Dobie on 08/01 at 01:51 AM
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Saturday, July 23, 2011
Six Helpful Trail Camera Tips
It is summertime and buck pictures are to flooding the Internet forums. Beam and tine length are now at the front of discussions and some are even throwing out score predictions already. As the pictures pour in, it inspires others to get out their cameras and take to the woods. Running trail cameras during the off season has become extremely popular and for lack of a better word, it is addictive! Some are running one or two cameras while others are running 10+ cameras. And as technology moves forward with advancements, cameras are becoming smaller, more affordable and more interesting. Therefore, guys are adding more cameras to their arsenal at an alarming rate. So as the trail camera season begins to unfold, here are some important and valuable trail camera tips that will help you prepare for a better, safer trail camera season.
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Posted by
Mali Vujanic on 07/23 at 07:34 PM
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Monday, July 18, 2011
Management Goals & Possibilities
 Photo By Hardy Jackson |
I’ve got a question for you. Can management really improve your hunting? You bet it can! And, one of the best things about management is that it’s like a well-stocked cafeteria, there’s something in it for everyone!
At one end of the spectrum are the simple things, like laying off the trigger on young bucks or taking that doe that’s on your license to help hold numbers down or growing a small food plot on the “Back 40” just to attract deer or putting out a mineral lick.
At the other extreme are the full-blown programs aimed at growing more and bigger bucks. This may include all-out herd management – like aggressively controlling doe numbers, predator control to enhance reproduction and limiting the number of bucks harvested and only taking the right ones at the right age – and an ambitious nutritional program targeted at vastly improving the food supply through natural habitat improvement, food plots and/or supplemental feeding.
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Understanding Deer Talk
I was seven years old, squirrel hunting on my grandfather’s land in north-central Iowa when I heard my first white-tailed deer snort. I had just entered a small woodlot and was searching the treetops looking for a bushy tail. All of a sudden I heard a loud snort, startling me and causing me to take a step backwards. Instinctively, I shouldered my .22 rifle and looked for the source of the strange sound. I was surprised to see two does staring back at me from the next ridge. Just as I saw them, they turned, flagged their white tails and bounded up and over the ridge.
Why do white-tailed deer snort and flag their tails? Do does flag their tails or snort more often than bucks? Can does identify their fawns by sound alone? What are the social functions of the different deer vocalizations? These are just some of the questions scientists have tried to answer in their pursuits toward deciphering the many different vocalizations and forms of communication made by deer.
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Friday, July 15, 2011
Big Bucks on Small Tracts – A Profile Of Success
For years, conventional wisdom had it that you had to have thousands of acres to have an effective management program for quality deer. That all changed with the development of the year-round food-plot strategy. The success now being realized on small tracts is rewriting the books! And, you can take advantage of this revolutionary new strategy where you hunt.
I visited just such a cutting-edge small tract in Middle Georgia owned by my friend Steve Grinnell. His 400-acre farm is loaded with big bucks and boss turkeys…all because of food plots.
What’s his program? About 15 percent, or 60 acres, of his farm is in year-round food plots ranging in size from 1 to 10 acres. Most are 3 to 5 acres. As with any serious quality buck program, he lets his bucks live long enough to get big, meaning he holds off the trigger until they reach at least 3.5 years of age. He works hard to provide year-round nutrition.
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Posted by
David Morris on 07/15 at 12:26 AM
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Friday, July 01, 2011
Why Management?
Hi, I’m David Morris. Are you tired of seeing mostly does and only the occasional buck … and then, he’s a little fellow? Are you interested in seeing more and bigger bucks WHERE YOU HUNT? If the answer is “YES,” then you’re ready for management.
Now, I know you’re probably thinking, I’m a deer hunter; not a deer manager. Well, the truth is: If you hunt deer, you ARE a deer manager. You see, every time you decide to shoot or not to shoot a deer, you’re making a management decision…for the good or for the bad. Management is, after all, anything you do to impact a deer herd – from manipulating native habitat to planting food plots to feeding high-protein pellets to culling inferior bucks to shooting does to hold numbers down. If you want your management decisions to be good ones, you need solid information. In this series, we’re going to try to provide that information…or at least raise the right questions so you can seek out the right answers.
Management is really about ways to change the playing field to improve your hunting lot. What can I do, you ask? My place is small, or I’m on a lease and can only do so much. I don’t have thousands of acres like the big guys do.
Well, no matter what your hunting situation, there are things you can do to put more and bigger bucks in front of you. Whether you own land, lease or hunt by invitation, you can do something to help…thus becoming part of the solution instead of the problem. From just making good decisions on the deer you harvest or simple attraction to all-out herd management or full-blown nutritional programs, you have options that will improve your hunting situation and outdoor enjoyment.
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Herd Management
Carrying Capacity
The number of individuals of a species that a property and its resources can support. The carrying capacity for whitetails and other wildlife species can be greatly increased with food plots and proper habitat management
Population modeling
By collecting and analyzing the data from helicopter surveys, trail cameras, hunter observation, and harvest, Tecomate Wildlife Biologists can accurately asses deer herd dynamics including the sex ratio, population density, recruitment rate, and age structure.
Harvest management
Tecomate Wildlife Biologists can help you set the criteria for harvest restrictions and needs in your program. These criteria can relate to the harvest of mature trophy deer, immature bucks, management bucks, and does.
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