This podcast is upfront and honest about the ways we all can be UNITED in the management of the wild turkey and its resources. For years now researchers like Dr. Mike Chamberlain and his colleagues have been doing their best to pinpoint reasons for the decline many folks have been seeing of the wild turkey. We know more now than we did 5 years ago, so we are we still seeing declines, why aren't we collaboratively joining in the fight and making the necessary changes. 

There are a lot of factors that are contributing to the wild turkey decline, which means that are many different ways we can all contribute, so in this podcast, we break down the role that State Game agencies play, public land managers, hunters or conservationists, and landowners. Most everybody will fall into one of these categories and we clearly define what each group can do. With a united front and action taken, we can reverse the direction of the wild turkey. 

We hope you enjoy the podcast, please share with those who are ready to take action! 

This week, we lay the groundwork for some great content coming soon to the Land & Legacy Podcast. Chainsaw Chad is co-hosting this Wild Turkey series with Matt as they interview many folks from different land management perspectives across the country. 

We encourage everyone to stay open-minded as they listen to this series. If we are all going to learn and do the best for our natural resources, we are going to have to work together to accomplish it and do so, unitedly. We also need call on all private landowners, it's our shoulders where the bulk of this load is being carried. The wild turkey is our resource to manage, so let's do it with pride and passion as we walk in step with one another. 

Be ready for some great interviews with many different professionals! We hope you enjoy the content and education. 
 

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During this podcast, we chat with Garret Armstrong of Whitetail Properties. Garret serves the western Iowa region within the state. In addition to being a productive real estate agent selling land, he is a passionate hunter and landowner. His insight into the state is extremely valuable as he discloses the secrets to hunting whitetails in Iowa as a nonresident. 

The most sought-after locations within the state have often been narrowed down to zones 4 and 5. These are great regions, but they do not favor the nonresident as it takes 4-5 years to hunt them with a bow. However, Zone 3 offers hunting opportunities every other year. So, a nonresident can hunt their farm twice as much if that farm resides in Zone 3. 

It just so happens, that collectively, we can offer that exact opportunity. Garrett is now offering a Land & Legacy managed farm near Castana, IA which lies in Zone 3. If you are interested, please contact Garret Armstrong! 

Do you ever wonder how to create a more diverse property or even question what that actually means? During this podcast, we create a road map of how to layer diversity into your property. This will give you a strong foundation on how to identify ways that you can improve your own property. Or, this can be used as a buyer's guide to making sure they buy the best farm possible. The most productive hunting properties are the most diverse in any given area. 

We first start out by identifying the biotic and abiotic features of a property. This is the start or foundation that the rest of the podcast is built upon. The other factors of layering diversity into a property include topography, soils, terrain features, elevation, plant communities, and then disturbance regimes.  Don't worry, although this is a heavy podcast, we spend time on each subject to explain in detail how it impacts your success and the frequency of game animals using your property. 

Don't miss this podcast, we drop some knowledge bombs that will take your understanding of the land and natural resources to a much deeper understanding. Enjoy, Learn, Share! #ForLoveoftheLand 

During this episode of the Land & Legacy podcast, we break down the connection between our business and Whitetail Properties. It's pretty easy to see that we both serve landowners across the country, but there is a deeper connection and it starts with humble beginnings. 

You will hear two different interviews during this podcast. We speak with one of the owners of Whitetail Properties Paul Sawyer to discuss why and how the company got started. This interview may surprise you, this company has grinded from the start to position itself at the top of the recreational real estate business. 

In addition, we speak with the marketing Director Alex Gyllstrom to hear about the future of the company and how it relates to Land & Legacy. This combination takes two companies that have a clear vision of their future and aims to maximize the landownership experience for hunters across the country. This goal is big, however, with our strengths together it is achievable. #ForLoveoftheLand 

From the swamps of Georgia to the mountains of Virginia to the salt rivers of western Oklahoma, we've put the miles on lately. Each property has a whole new set of obstacles to improve the land and habitat for wildlife but we're always happy to find the tools and techniques to help the landowner reach their goals. 

What do you do with an 11 month growing season in the south? How do you control the over growth and maintain a landscape thats diverse and manageable? How do you utilize a property with shear cliffs around the farm making navigation almost impossible? We cover all these challenges and more this week!

Almost every farm has one, it's that place you planted in a food plot years back that you stopped planting for many reasons. It sits along the road to your favorite stand but you stopped planting because it wouldn't grow well. It's that little opening in the timber that you never gave much attention too and it's mostly grass. These areas spread across the United States and could offer huge potential to landowners if they managed them correctly. 

We're going to discuss the management of these areas, the concept behind them and why they should be on your farm! Remember, turkeys and quail need more disturbance than deer and it's important that we offer areas like that on our farm. Check out this podcast to hear us unpack the concept of wildlife openings. 

Which weather forecast is better for trapping raccoons and possums and which is better for trapping coyotes, bobcats, and foxes? Don't know? you'll want to tune into this podcast!  Which brand of dog proof trap is best for catching raccoons, and possums? Don't know? Be sure to listen to this podcast. 

Kyle is sharing his techniques for successful trap lines that he's used for years to try and remove predators on the landscape. From favorite traps, to lures, to coyote sets he shares it all!  

We also cover the new trapping changes possibly coming to Missouri and we discuss other states with similar seasons and if it yielded higher turkey numbers.  

This will likely be one of our best podcasts in awhile! No offense to the previous and the future podcasts but Dr. Bronson Strickland covers one of our favorite research projects we've ever read about. Isn't the dream for all whitetail deer managers that you could take your small deer and small antlered deer and turn them into bigger deer? We cover it here this week. 

It's not as easy as it may seem but through this research it gave hope to guys like us managing in an overlooked part of the world due to the sheer small sizes of the deer.  This is generational not yearly  changes, this isn't just culling inferior bucks, this is complex but more simple than you might think! 

Now, even with all this management and changes in the habitat we still have to worry about dispersal and we're ultimately giving our deer everything they can have to send the yearling bucks packing to our neighbors right?! Not so fast! We have an idea! 

https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/publications/publications/p3013.pdf

What if we told you that the way you're managing your farm is better for predators and not for prey? What if we said your timber looks like you're trying to increase raccoon numbers? What if we said your fields are better for egg eaters and not successful egg hatches? There are many ways to manage for predators on your farm!  

The most common technique landowners use to manage for predators is through trapping, but there are other ways to do it!

This week Adam, Frank, and Kyle discuss ways to manage your habitat that can help decrease the usability of predators. This could be grazing with livestock, to burning, to removing large snag trees, these practices all have an impact on animals you may not want on your farm.  Stay tuned to hear what techniques you should be using.