Its early June and it’s too thick already! With the spring rains, sunny days, and warm

Temperatures, most of the countryside has turned into a jungle of green vegetation. Most would applaud this as food plots are sprouting, but others with a keen eye for quality habitat begin to think it’s time for a disturbance. 

In a blink of an eye, we went straight to unusable habitat for a turkey poult in most places.  Can you pin point an area where a turkey poult would survive on your farm? Sure, fawns have plenty of cover and young forage, but your goals stated you wanted deer and turkey, not deer and accidentally having turkeys. 

It’s time to get serious about improving your land.  Get more out of the property, think and okay outside of the box. Creation has no box, it does what it wants, when it wants, how it wants. We should manage in the same way! 

Many times in our travels and consulting across the country we find landowners who are having their best success from accidental projects. These results can range from seeing more turkeys with poults in a field that had been over grazed with cows to more deer using a food plot area because we let it grow up in weeds. There are many projects that have great goals and plans but fall into a barrel of mediocracy. 

During this podcast we discuss the difference between planning results and accidental success to hopefully help listeners see which side of the aisle they're on.  It's okay if you find yourself having these results occasionally but don't make a living on them! 

We always enjoy working with landowners who have multi-species in mind when it comes to their management and farm goals. On a recent consultation, the landowner was a huge upland game bird enthusiast. So, as part of the plan, we began laying out plans to improve the property specified in the uplands for Sharptail Grouse. 

Most of the uplands in eastern Montana were still native ranges, which area combination of tall and short grass prairies and sagebrush. This landscape is arid but often has a cattle lease factored into the equation. So, cattle management is critical to ensure proper habitat necessities for the Sharptail Grouse are met. Mainly we need to focus on residual cover, brood-rearing cover, and shrubs! 

Be sure to listen closely even if you will never pull the trigger on a grouse. The finer points and connection with the land and wildlife covered during this podcast is top-notch. 
 

This past week, we spent the week working in Eastern Montana. This is not the vision that comes to mind when thinking about hunting whitetails.  Most people envision an eastern U.S.  ridge top with oaks or fenceline rut hunts in Kansas. However, the adaptive nature of the whitetail deer and human intervention of agriculture in the river bottoms of East Montana create some great hunting opportunities. But, just because there is great hunting, that does not mean there is great habitat and we are about to explain why during this podcast! 

With that being said, the big 4 components of a whitetail's needs are explained in relation to the western landscape that receives only 14-15 inches of rain annually. Expansive river bottoms are where whitetails make their living. Most of these areas are suffocated by smooth brome and towering Cottonwoods. This combination drastically reduces cover and foraging opportunities. We however have a plan to remedy this! By sticking to our land management principles, we are going to put the cover and forage back where and how it needs to be placed. 

Be sure to follow along as we discuss improving the habitat for whitetails in a western landscape. 

If we've heard it once, we've heard it a thousand times! A green understory doesn't mean that it is desirable vegetation that will produce food or cover for the game species you are looking to promote. You have to know what you are looking at to accurately make that evaluation. 

During this podcast, we adjust our lens to look at habitat critically. It's time, to be honest, and really ask yourself, is the vegetation growing in my understory helping or hurting my cause. You have to be able to ID plants to make this observation worthwhile. So once you know what you are looking at, you can begin to determine just how much room for improvement there is. We've seen sites where 50% or more of the plants growing within reach for deer were non-native invasive species. This isn't good! 

Be sure you know what you are looking at! If you want to optimize your recreational property, you have to begin by listening to this podcast.  

When it comes to make decisions on your farm for habitat improvement, game management, land ethics, etc there should be a form of checks and balances. These principles will help you decide on whether or not the project you were thinking about doing really is the best practice. 

Be ready to take some notes on this podcast as we chat about our  four habitat principles according to Land & Legacy. These principles should be at the forefront of every project on your farm. How does your screening plans measure up in the principle of land management? You're considering a 50 acre monoculture planting? Sorry that won't make the cut as healthy habitat management according to the principles of land management. 

During this podcast, Kyle and Matt discuss a recent consultation trip to SE Kansas. This property was located at the point in which the Cross Timbers region meets the tall grass prairie. There were lots of great opportunities to create quality habitat for deer, but we ran into a predicament! 

This podcast is a great example of we find the balance between habitat restoration practices and accomplishing a very hunt able property! Natural resource management is paramount and at the forefront at how we work with each farm. But we are forced to compromise this to a small degree sometimes when the property in full restoration mode will not accomplish to landowners' goals. Clearly defined goals are super important when we find ourselves in this situation. 

If you are wondering how to balance native restoration practices and hunt ability, give this podcast a listen! 
 

Here is your buyer's guide for recreational property. This a step-by-step guide to preparing you for a land purchase. We are joined by Whitetail Properties agent Ben Richardson of northern Alabama. Ben is an incredible resource for anyone purchasing land and he has some wonderful tips for the first-time recreational buyer. 

During the podcast, we break down what buyers should be prepared for from loans, goals, desires, buying and closing timelines, and strategies to get started in buying hunting property. This podcast is long overdue but necessary as we encourage all who are interested in buying land to do your research but most importantly, you need to start.  

Becoming a landowner can be a long process, however being prepared is the best advice we can give. Be sure to give this podcast a listen if you want to begin buying land. 

We're discussing our food plot strategies for this spring planting and how we're trying new things! Over the years we've never been scared to try new things while never forgetting what's worked. One thing is true , the Heritage blend from Stratton seed company is a killer spring food plot blend, but we always like to try something new. 

We've grown to love perennial food plots for year round usage but there is a portion of the fall when standing grain is dynamite. We're looking to put standing grain and perennial clovers together and see what happens! 

This week we discuss the wild turkey with Frank Loncarich and hear about his spring season. It was a slow spring for a lot of hunters this year with lower turkey populations and cold, windy weather.  There are many variables in creating a slow spring when it came to filling tags and hearing gobbles. 

We also discuss the new regulation changes in Missouri for trapping. They're similar to Arkansas regulations and you know how well those helped the population there! ha! If you can't tell we have lots of questions for the department and who's making these decisions.