Old habits die hard. This saying is so fitting for many landowners. We've all heard the lines that most hunters murmur when they just simply accept poor quality hunting. Most excuses revolve around poor genetics, bad soils, and the region of the country. These factors are not limitations, just guidelines for the ways you should manage your farm. Stop using excuses, embrace change, and implement sound techniques. 

As we approach the beginning of habitat management season, it is time to start getting ready to embrace change. You have to prepare for things to look different if you want a property to hunt differently. However, you cannot do that until you have first allowed your mindset to be influenced and ultimately changed. Education and knowledge is the catalyst of change, not the excuses we've all heard before, such as, well he's just a mountain buck, or they don't get much bigger around here, or we don't grow big deer cause we have bad soil, or even we don't grow big deer cause we don't have crops in our area. 

Start the habitat management season with one for forward, embrace the change and prepare for it! 

Throughout this deer season Hunter Johnson has had the privilege of visiting over 40 top notch deer clubs while following his tracking dog Lanky. Tune in as he and Thomas Baldridge discuss what these properties all have in common and how these clubs are able to produce and hold big mature bucks every year.

Are you a private landowner or do you aspire to become one? The value of owning land is difficult to comprehend and write about, so this week we dive deep into the raw meaning, emotions, value, and feelings regarding recreational land ownership. 

Neil Hauger is a Whitetail Properties Agent, he has seen it all when it comes to land ownership. He’s assisted hundreds of new and veteran landowners. As a landowner himself, he shares great insight and perspective on all things land. 

If you want to nerd out on LAND the give this podcast a listen and a share. When you’re done, go checkout all the listings on the Whitetail Properties website! 

Do you have a deer tag still? If you do, listen up!  There is still a lot of great hunting season left. After the peak of the rut, it seems hunters' interests just die off. However, we are discussing why some of the best of the hunting season is still in front of us with the post-rut and late-season food hunts. 

The back half of the rut is often missed out on, wether hunters are tired from grinding it out through early-mid November or the buck they were pursuing was already harvested or gone MIA. The last remaining does to breed get bucks back on their feet cruising and working scrapes, so get back out there and don't miss this movement. In addition, as soon the post-rut winds down, you still have the transition to food sources to hunt over. As the temperatures drop, the feeding activity increases. So be watching weather fronts and have your trail cameras over scrapes on the edges of the desired late-season food sources. Bucks need the calories during this time of the year, therefore it provides some incredible hunting opportunities. 

Thanks for listening to this week's podcast! We hope you stick it out and get within range of a mature buck in the weeks to come. #ForLoveoftheLand 

“It won’t work!” We constantly hear this from cattle farmers across the country. Tune in with us as we join Ryan Parker Quail Forever, Grasslands Coordinating Wildlife Biologist.

We discuss grazing natives and the benefits to cattle and wildlife.  Folks don’t know why it won’t work but they know they’ve never seen it done. Did the Buffalo graze fescue to be healthy? What did cattle farmers do before fescue and Bermuda grass got here?

We're back at the woodlands this week discussing the recent success that was had on a 5.5 year old buck we called the Big Ten. We watched this buck grow up! He's gone from a triple beamed 3.5 buck to a giant 10 point buck. This is just another great buck that is a product of habitat ad trigger management, 

This week we have a remarkable story for you and a returning guest to the Land & Legacy podcast. Mike Hinkle is a client and great friend. He is also a dedicated land manager, hunter, and conservationist. 

Mike recently harvested a new record deer for his property in North Missouri and is here to share the story of the hunt, but more importantly, the journey to get here. A popular podcast Mike joined us on was Cut, Burn, Repeat. After the success this year we can confirm again that this recipe of simple land management practices is the recipe for success. There is nothing flashing here beyond the message of consistency in implementing sound natural resource management techniques. This will yield results that elevate you beyond the neighborhood's average. 

We have said it for years, there is no silver bullet here. If you want success, you have to be diligent and intentional with your land management. Stick to the plan, and the results will follow. 

“It won’t work!” We constantly hear this from cattle farmers across the country. Tune in with us as we join Ryan Parker Quail Forever, Grasslands Coordinating Wildlife Biologist.

We discuss grazing natives and the benefits to cattle and wildlife.  Folks don’t know why it won’t work but they know they’ve never seen it done. Did the Buffalo graze fescue to be healthy? What did cattle farmers do before fescue and Bermuda grass got here?

 

This podcast may hit home for you or encourage you, but you will for sure feel something. It’s the middle of deer season and the results of other success is all around you. Big buck after big buck as your scroll through social media, but the question is are changing your standards at this point or looking for validation?

“The mentality that something far less desirable is better than the possibility of nothing is a direct reflection of the need for validation” We are here to remind people that stick to your standards. There is no reason to settle or feel shame for not filling a tag. A season without a harvest should be reflected on, not justified by settling or minimizing a buck less than your intended goal. 

A tag filled or not does not qualify you as a hunter. No ones life will change if you don’t harvest a deer this year. Keep things in perspective, keep the home life healthy and go have fun, learn, and listen while outdoors this season. 

Finding time to improve your farm while having kids and living nearly four hours away can be very difficult, and Jay Dirks won't try to tell you any different, but there is a way! 

Jay is a Land & Legacy client from way back and he's seen his property change completely! From timber thinning, burning, and more timber cutting the place has come alive!