Don't Overthink it!

Open up any magazine or get on YouTube and you will see someone proclaiming the next magic bullet for your hunting property. Whether it’s a new seed blend “proven” to grow bigger deer, a feeder that boost your quail population or a new tactic that is 10x better than the tactic they were shoving down your throat last month. I appreciate these people trying to improve the experiences we have in the field, and I am sure most of them mean well but constant bombardment with new tips and tricks can lead the end user to a major state of confusion. Keep it simple.

When I enter a property for the first time, I am looking for the three components that every animal on this earth needs: food, water, shelter. Yes, admittedly, there are nuance to each of these, especially when it comes to what the main species is that the landowner is managing for but for all intents and purposes, these are the key features that make up different wildlife habitat.

(Habitat is just that- food water and shelter necessary for a specific species. There is no such thing as early successional habitat or forest habitat or whatever other type of ______ habitat someone throws out there. There are different components of vegetation structure, diversity and composition over a certain special scale that make up, lets say, deer habitat. And a different set of components of vegetation structure, diversity and composition over a different special scale that make up turkey or quail or bear habitat. I digress.)

Chances are, you know your property well. You know where the deer can be caught feeding in early bow season, where the hot travel routes are during the rut and where you can find that covey of quail in the fall or that gobbler putting on a dance in the spring. Now think of where you don’t see them. Ask yourself why? What can you do to improve those areas? If your property is lacking food and you feel like its reached it nutritional carrying capacity, start there. If your surrounded by food sources like in a big agricultural setting than maybe this isn’t an issue and increasing bedding cover would be more beneficial to hold deer on your property. You might be seeing fewer turkeys because those forest stand openings that occurred after your last bad storm that were once patches of early successional plant communities have started to close in with new seedlings from the surrounding trees.

Whatever the reason for the “dead zones” on your property, I encourage you to re-evaluate your property with a fresh set of eyes this year. Find those areas and make a management decision based off what your property lacks and implement that decision. Don’t get caught up in whether it’s the

newest trick in the book or what seed blend is the best. For example, you have a 20 acre parcel that has a creek running through it and adequate bedding but its really lacking a food component. Instead of worrying about what seed blend to run or whether to clear and plant a food plot vs thinning and burning, ask yourself what you can do this year to make progress. Maybe you can only put in a couple days of work so you clear out some of those historical opening that are overrun with saplings and allow the native seedbank to take over for a year or two until you can put in that food plot you’ve been dreaming about.

Most of the time, doing something is better than doing nothing. What I am saying is, don’t think that if you need a several hundred-acre parcel and pristine food plots to improve the wildlife on your property and your experiences when you go afield. Become a student of wildlife. Whatever species you are managing for, learn what they need and analyze your property to determine where it is lacking. Make the decision and implement that decision. Don’t overthink it!