Real life approach for small landowners to improve wildlife and habitat on your land.
It all started on 40 acres in Ripley County, Missouri and then to 80 acres in in Bollinger County Missouri.
Real life approach for small landowners to improve wildlife and habitat on your land.
Not one activity by itself can stand alone to improve habitat and wildlife but all the above approach is needed in the modern day!
The ATV, Chainsaw, Disk, Fire, Trapping and Gun
Can significantly improve wildlife on your property.
Rabbits are the landowners Canary in the Coal Mine for great habitat. The abundance of prey species, the abundance of predator species will follow. Everything must be managed.
Actively Managing Your Land Will:
•Give you personal satisfaction
•Increase your wildlife viewing opportunities
•Attract turkeys and other wildlife to your property at times when you want to have them there
•Enhance the value of your property
•Improve your hunting
Things to consider!
Food, Water and Cover
•Establishing Food Plots.
•Forest Management for Timber and Wildlife.
•Planting Orchards and Forest Openings.
Water Sources
Writing a management plan for your property is not difficult. A management plan will benefit you by helping establish priorities, develop timelines for management, identify areas where you can improve management, and help develop annual budgets.
If you decide to write your own management plan, follow these simple guidelines. These plans are often no more than three to four pages long.
The following items must be covered in your management plan:
•Obtain a good working map of your property. The best type of map to use is an aerial photograph. These maps can usually be found online.
A topographical map or even a hand sketch will also work.
Outline on the map the major habitat types. Habitat types can include planted pine forests, bottomland hardwood forests, power and gas right-of-ways, pastures, wildlife openings and upland hardwood forests.
• Mark on the map the location of property boundaries, roads, water sources and buildings.
• Determine the number of acres in each habitat type. This information is best listed as an attachment to the map. This will help a landowner establish management recommendations and determine annual budgets.
Describe what you are doing on your property to help wildlife. These activities can include creating and planting openings, planting and leaving standing crops, thinning pine stands, and using prescribed fire.
Be sure to include a timetable for future management on your land.
• Describe how you are managing your timber. List where and when you are planning to thin or clear-cut timber. Also describe existing or planned timber stand improvement cuts.
Habitat Enhancement Projects Require Planning
Look carefully at available habitat on nearby properties
Decide what your objective is going to be
Be realistic- think about your finances and your time
Describe how your property is hunted. List the number of hunters that hunt the property and any specific goals you have: quality deer management, harvest of adult gobblers only, limited number of hunters on the property at one time, etc.
All Food Plots
•Require planning
•Will be successful if you run soil tests and add adequate lime and fertilizer
•Will grow well with proper soil preparation
•Only one step between soil and whitetail
Getting Started
Soil nutrition is EVERYTHING!
Nutrients to Soil to Plant to Deer
Nutrients = lime and fertilizer
Soil Test = Cheap Knowledge
Corrects soil acidity ph can limit growth.
Supplies Ca and Mg.
Improves N fixation.
Improves nutrient availability.
Reduces nutrient leaching.
Improves efficacy of herbicides.
Food Plots
•Corn
•Forage Sorghum
•Triticale
•Wheat and Rye
•Oats
•Sunflowers
•Forage Soybeans
•Brassica
Food Plots can provide
food and cover.
Attracts turkeys, deer and other wildlife summer, fall, winter and spring.
Corn and Sorghum
•Stand up to winter weather
•Grow tall enough to remain above snow
•Provide a good source of winter food
•Must be planted in large (2 acre+) plots to stay ahead of deer
Food Plots
•Triticale, Wheat and Rye planted in September attract game in the fall and spring
•Sunflowers receive heavy use in early fall
•Oats are used by hens with broods in summer and fall
Clover Food Plots
The base to almost all food plots.
Attract turkeys and other wildlife in summer, fall and spring
Require less maintenance and effort than some food plots
Remain productive for five to seven years with proper care
Food Plots Clover
Planted alone or with other small grains
Attract turkeys and other wildlife in summer, fall and spring Require less maintenance and effort than annual food plots Remain productive for five to seven years with proper care
Food Plots Clover
Triticale Center
and
Clover Edge
Food Plots
Brassica an excellent food source for deer in the fall and winter
Land Management Basics
•Wildlife Habitat:
•Quality Winter Habitat and Food Sources
•Good Nesting, Fawning and Brood Habitat
Quality Winter Habitat Can Be:
•Forested South-facing Slopes with Spring Seeps
•Agricultural Fields with Waste Grain
•Shrubby Field Edges
•Planted Winter Food Plots, especially standing corn
High quality and quantity forage
Quality Brood Habitat Consists Of:
•Small fields adjacent to the forest edge
•Relatively short grasses and legumes
•Occasional overhead cover
•Lots of insect and weed seeds
•Water sources nearby.
Wild Turkeys and other wildlife can be attracted to your land
•Using Annual Food Plots
•Using Perennial Food Plots
•Planting and Maintaining Permanent Food sources Such as Trees and Shrubs
•Effectively Managing Your Forest for Mast Producing Tree Species
•Providing Quite Water Sources
•Trap predators
Missouri Wild Turkey Habitat Initiative
FREE TO ALL
LANDOWNERS, HUNTERS AND CONSERVATIONIST
https://www.northamericanwildlifeandhabitat.com/missouri-wild-turkey-habitat-initiative.html
Some Material by be dated but habitat management for Wild Turkey has existed for the past 30 plus years.
Timber Management
Can Improve Wildlife Habitat
AREA 51
SANCTUARY INCREASE
Quantity and Quality of Deer
Timber Management Can Provide Cover for Wildlife
Timber Management can release seed bank increasing food sources and cover on your property.
Timber Management can increase browse for wildlife and increase both quality and population.
Timber Stand Improvements,
Line of Site Cuts and Edge Feathering are all activities that can be done over time.
Prescribed Burns is one type Land Management Techniques.
Prescribed Burns workshop and Prescribed Fire plan is highly recommended
Gloves, Face Mask, Weed Torch, Small Propane Canister, Sprayer, Extra Water, Leaf Blower, Forestry Helmet with hearing protectors and steel full-face screen. Big Leaf Rack are great tools to have.
Micro Burns to create one big area can be accomplished.
Quite Remote Water Sources Benefit Many Species and Oasis for all Wildlife.
Quite Remote Water Sources Benefit Many Species and Oasis for all Wildlife.
Deeper than wider less surface area less evaporation, year round water source.
Nice slopes for run off to fill when it rains.
Quite Remote Water Sources Benefit Many Species and Oasis for all Wildlife.
Treat area just like another food plot.
Permanent Food Sources Benefit Many Species
•A variety of trees and shrubs can be planted
•Among the best are Crabapples, Apple Trees, Hybrid Chestnuts, Wild Plum, Pear, Flowering Dogwood and Black Cherry
Grass in Orchards take away tree growth.
LEARN ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF HERBICIDE’S OVER MOWING
Trees in photo planted at same time have but half have benefited from herbicide.
Mulch and Landscape Fabric can help tree growth.
A Variety of Hard and Soft Mast Producing Trees is Important
•The variety will assure that something “hits” in most years
•Variety will attract a wider range of species
•Variety will assure that some mast producers will survive insect or disease outbreaks
Only YOU know what your Deer Population is.
½ inch pulling or not pulling the trigger is an important management tool you have.
HERD MANAGEMENT can increase Quantity and Quality of Deer
Herd Management - Determining the appropriate number of deer to harvest by sex and age is essential. Some areas, deer populations may be low, at or above habitat levels.
DEER MANAGEMENT
HABITAT MANAGEMENT
Habitat Management - Improving available nutrition is another important cornerstone of Deer Management. The diet of a healthy herd should contain 12 to 18 percent protein and adequate levels of calcium, phosphorous, and other important nutrients.
DEER MANAGEMENT
HUNTER MANAGEMENT
Hunter Management - Hunter management is a critical, yet often difficult aspect of Deer Management. Education is the key. Hunters must fully understand both the benefits and costs.
DEER MANAGEMENT
HERD
MONITORING
Herd Monitoring - Herd monitoring is the final step. Two types of data are commonly collected - harvest data and observation data. Harvest data should be collected from every deer taken or found dead on a property. Commonly collected harvest data include sex, age, weight, antler measurements, and reproductive information.
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
HERD AND FLOCK
MONITORING
helps identify local declines in wildlife population
Manage the Wildlife on Your Property
•Keep records of your annual harvest and observations of all wildlife.
•Make sure you harvest an adequate number of Whitetail Does.
•Pass on Younger Bucks and Hens.
•Make your harvest limits more restrictive.
•Trap furbearers for predator management.
Remember Antlers are EXTRA.
Deer do not need antlers to survive.
Keeping human and predator pressure off your bucks during
June, July and August.
Remember Antlers are Extra - Research buck was Bitten by Rattlesnake at the start of antler growth
Antlers are Extra
Antler Growth slows as all the deer energy is put into survival
Antlers are Extra
Antler Growth slows as all the deer energy is put into survival
Antlers are Extra
Deer energy was put into survival, and antler growth complete.
It’s simple!
You must participate in methods (Habitat and Trapping). To save more hens to nest, lay eggs, and raise broods, to help more eggs survive and hatch and for more poults survive. Than the predators, nest predators from land and air, snakes, birds of prey and weather kills. Trap, Trap and Trap more!!!!
Triple your impact on wildlife population.
The most comprehensive wildlife management strategy today! Most properties are going to require not only habitat management but very likely some level of predator control. 1. Pulling the trigger or not, 2. Increase and maintain your habitat on your property, 3. Trap, trap then trap some more. YOU can make a difference and only YOU can decide. Increasing the Flock and Herd one season at a time.
You can only control what you do! Trap, Trap and Trap More!
Learn more about the History of the Raccoon, Opossum, Skunk and Coyote
https://www.northamericanwildlifeandhabitat.com/raccoon-history.html
COYOTE Did you know the estimated 380,000 combined wolves, cougars and black bears in the United States aren’t even close to the population of the modern-day coyotes. Coyotes are now known to inhabit all 48 states in the contiguous United States, which could not be said just 20 years ago.
Coyotes can live up to 12 years and mating occurs in February and March with a gestation period of 63 days. Litters average 8 or 9 pups.
Female Coyote Effects – 1 - Female Coyote has the potential to live 6 years in wild and have 36 pups in 6 years, and if only 18 of the pups live in those 6 years and only 3 of those are female coyotes. In 6 years, that is 126 coyotes were added to the population.
YOU can't control Weather.
YOU can't control Acorn production.
YOU can't control Game and Fish Regulations.
YOU can't control poor habitat management on public lands.
YOU can’t control Forest Service burns during nesting season.
YOU can't control the greed of conservation groups.
YOU can't control other hunters.
YOU can’t control neighbor’s habitat / predator management.
YOU can't control birds of prey.
YOU can't control snakes.
Got to let all that go.
You can only control what you do! Trap, Trap and Trap More!
The No. 1 Nest Predator - Research going back to 1948 by biologist across the nation, has the same results. Raccoon is always the answer.
POWER of the EGG.
https://www.northamericanwildlifeandhabitat.com/power-of-the-egg.html
The total North American yearly average harvest of more than 4.4 million pelts in the 1980s makes the raccoon harvest the most valuable of all North American furbearers.
2023 - International source - The harvest of raccoon for United States fur value is the lowest it has ever been, less than 100,000 and could be far less.
Skunk coats were often marketed as “American Sable” by the garment industry. After labeling legislation was passed, skunk coats were not popular. The price of pelts and subsequent harvest of skunks dropped drastically during the early 1940s.
You think you know Opossum is just another EGG EATER with a population 2 or 3 times more than Raccoons
Check out this website for additional wildlife and land management information.
www.northamericanwildlifeandhabitat.com
THANK YOU
Enjoyed what you have read – You can get more.
WHITETAIL DEER MANAGEMENT & THE WEEKEND HUNTER: Real Life Approach for Whitetail Deer Management as a Small Landowner
Paperback: 165 pages – Order Online - www.amazon.com/dp/1977081738
Enjoyed what you have read – Learn more about the Chernobyl Raccoon Egg
Cap for Dog Proof Raccoon Traps.
https://www.northamericanwildlifeandhabitat.com/chernobyl-raccoon-egg.html
Have a Safe and Successful Season!
Thanks for your time. Allen “horntagger” Morris
