Pennsylvania Woodsman

When emotional attachment is present with a hunting property, it can become difficult to implement the correct habitat improvements without some guidance.  Trying to learn on your own is possible, but can also be costly.  It's not uncommon to install food plots, road systems, or implement logging, only to realize later the practice was placed in the wrong section of the property, or even implemented wrong.  It's overwhelming compiling habitat improvement recommendations, especially if you take into account multiple professional opinions.  If you're considering having a habitat specialist consult your property, it's important that you work with someone you trust and has strong communication skills to reach your desired goals.  . 

On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman Podcast, we chat with Josh Raley.  Josh is the host of the How to Hunt Deer Podcast, Wisconsin Sportsman Podcast, and also a property consultant with Whitetail Partners in Georgia.  Josh has a wide range of deer hunting experience throughout the country and understands how to manipulate property in an advantageous manner.  We discuss setting goals and objectives for a property, assessing where the highest priorities lie for improvements, and dive into a host of habitat project topics.  Josh explains the misunderstood aspects of hinge cutting, hunting access, invasive species management, and other private land habitat strategy.  We wrap up discussing what we as landowners and managers can be doing right now to improve the landscape.  It's time for some sweat equity!  

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If you talk with 5 different food plotters, you'll likely hear 5 different recommendations for seed blends.  Like the truck we drive or the bow we shoot, many are just as passionate about their food plots.  It can be extremely difficult to determine what seed blend fits your hunting property and scenario, when 5 different experts may disagree with each other.  The reality is, there are so many variables to consider when choosing a food plot that it's rarely ever "wrong".

On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman, we talk with Mike Lindahl from Domain Outdoors.  If you visit Domain's website, you'll notice an abnormal amount of different seed blends.  Each blend is designed for a slightly different purpose and scenario.  Mike shares his knowledge from getting started developing seed blends, choosing plant varieties that are favored throughout the whitetail's range, and then customizing for different property goals and objectives.  Mike shares 3 different property scenarios he is working with and how the food plots look slightly different from farm to farm.  Each plan is designed to cater towards Mike's hunting goals and the property's hunting strengths and/or weaknesses.  One thing Mike emphasizes is that it's perfectly adequate to tinker with a variety of blends on one farm in order to learn and fine tune for future hunting seasons.  If you're planning your food plots for 2023 currently, don't finalize before you listen to this episode!

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Most novice ideology around food plotting and farming involves heavy tillage and pulverized soil.  Following this, many believe a monoculture crop that is manicured similar to production agriculture is required to draw and attract wildlife.  Did you ever stop and wonder, how did wildlife survive prior to man making things look "perfect"?  The truth of the matter is, excessive tillage is not required to grow quality food plots and can be detrimental to your soil.  So how do we shift our mindsets off of recreational plowing?

This week on the Pennsylvania Woodsman, Mitch chat's with Al Tomechko from Vitalize seed company.  Al has built his company around the foundation that better soil builds better wildlife.  This is not achieved by any miracle juice, pixie dust, or magic bean planted from overseas.  It's achieved by using plant species designed to cycle nutrients in the soil - the way the Great Plains were made over thousands of years. Al discusses how minimal soil disturbance, timely planting, and species management all aid in mining nutrients to the soil surface, making them plant available.  The deer and wildlife don't care if the buffet you provide looks messy - a plethora of plants is preferred!  Enjoy this soil health and food plotting discussion between two soil nerds, it might help you make better food plots!

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Hunting is about the adventure and the path you take to reach your destination; having a big set of antlers is just a bonus!  On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman, we sit down with DJ Hoshauer and discuss his eventful 2022 archery season.  DJ is a family man that loves sports and loves hunting.  He does everything in his power to set himself up for success each fall - not only from a scouting and physical preparation end, but also as a father, husband, and employee.

We begin discussing DJ's approach throughout a calendar year to the upcoming season addressing physical and mental health as a diehard bowhunter and family man.  Next we chat about his more recent infatuation with hunting out west, including some high country Mule Deer hunting.  This past season however, DJ was unable to draw any tags of his interest in the western states, allowing him to focus in depth on a monster buck he knew about in the PA big woods.  We dive into the knowledge he had about the deer through trail cameras and on foot scouting, as well as collaboration with some friends that hunt the area.  From here, it's an awesome whitetail hunting conversation filled with grind and determination to the end when he places an arrow in the boiler room at 20 yards.  These are the stories that jack you up with excitement!  Thanks for listening!

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Regardless of the task at hand, preparation and planning is a gateway for success.  Too often in the world of food plots folks try to put the cart before the horse.  Seed blends, food plot shape, planting methods, herbicides, all of these things are important but need to be addressed after the basics. One of the things that drives Mitch crazy is the amount of bad and/or misinterpreted information in the food plot world.  Many food plotters have a lack of understanding as it relates to fertility and properly preparing soil for successful plant growth.  Before you go purchase the next miracle juice or throw-and-grow mix, do the one thing that is cheap and yet provides the most information for getting started: TAKE A SOIL SAMPLE!

This week on the Pennsylvania Woodsman, Mitch invites his boss Eric Rosenbaum to walk us through the basics in food plot planning.  Eric is the owner and Senior Agronomist of Rosetree Consulting, a private agronomic consulting company that works with farms all throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and partly in Maryland and New Jersey.  A large part of the job entails making cost effective decisions with growers that maximize plant yield and profitability.  Nearly all of this begins with proper soil preparation!  Eric walks us through the basics of how to pull a soil test, where to send it, how to interpret results, how to address deficiencies in a cost effective but also efficient way (especially with minimal equipment), and more.  Lack of planning typically yields poor food plot results.  Pull your samples now, and plan ahead to achieve maximum plant quantity and quality.  Don't overlook the basics! 

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Many of the best hunters in the country would agree with the statement, "you kill your bucks in the off season."  Time spent this time of year scouting and analyzing trail camera data are valuable tools to put the pieces of the puzzle together during fall. This is especially true in areas with rugged, vast terrain which generally speaking hold lower deer densities; typical of the big woods in Pennsylvania.  Here, the time investment may be quite a bit larger than most would think in this setting, depending where you set your goals!  

On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman, we chat with Beau Martonik.  Host of the East Meets West Hunt Podcast, Beau is a diehard mountain buck hunter from Northern Pennsylvania.  Beau shares his experiences pursuing mountain bucks and how he uses cameras over a duration of a few seasons not to just find bucks, but also to fine tune his approach and timing when hunting these areas.  We discuss "soaking" and clustering cameras, a 3-year timeframe of data intel prior to investing hunting time, off season scouting and how to prevent making a pattern in your travels, interpreting trail camera data, and in-season scouting to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  Lastly, Beau emphasizes that we all have a different style and level of enjoyment for hunting, and that it's important to mold our own style of preparation that fits our lifestyle and schedule. 

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Deer season is officially over for the 2022-23 season in Pennsylvania.  The general narrative from this point on is cabin fever until spring turkey season.  For every diehard deer hunter though, there is always something to be doing to prepare for next fall.  Whether you're cutting timber and travel corridors on private land or scouting new  ground on public land, the hunt never quite ends.  This week on the Pennsylvania Woodsman we chat with Dwayne Jones from Shed Season.

Dwayne is just as crazy about scouring the landscape for fallen antlers as he is sitting in a deer stand - maybe more!  We discuss Dwayne's recent property purchase and how he has begun to transform the land into a whitetail mecca.  Dwayne shares the habitat projects in place including timber management, prescribed fire, invasive species removal, and of course, food plots.  From here we dive into the beloved topic of pursuing mature bucks not only during the hunting season, but also during the months of February and March when antlers are falling.  The attraction created on Dwayne's property is not only good for hunting, it's good for sheds!   We cover strategies to find more antlers, putting the pieces of the puzzle together on mature bucks using shed antlers, and the added joy during the offseason for him and his family!

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Do you ever feel like you do the same things each hunting season and never mix things up?  It can be extremely easy to stay in your comfort zone going to the same properties, hunting the same species, at the same times each year.  While there is nothing wrong with this, it does prevent you from experiencing new places and adventures.  On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman we chat with Dan Mathews.  Dan is the host of the Western Rookie and Nomadic Outdoorsman podcasts on Sportsmen's Empire network.

The Nomadic Outdoorsman is exactly what you'd expect; a guy who travels around hunting anything and everything there is a season for.  If you could hunt shadows, that would be included too!  Dan first fills us in on the epic season he had punching multiple tags in multiple states.  We discuss elk camp in Colorado and how to plan and prepare mentally for a trip west of the Mississippi River.  Throughout the conversation weaves a buffet of other topics including hunting strategy and philosophy, getting out of your comfort zone, taking on new adventures, and time management as a father and husband.  Don't over indulge!

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On this week's episode of the Pennsylvania Woodsman, we chat with Jason Redd from Timber Ninja Outdoors.  Jason is originally from flat land country in the Mississippi River Delta, but now resides in western North Carolina.  Much of the landscape he hunts encompasses mountains, laurel, rhododendron; all things which folks from Pennsylvania who hunt big woods can relate to.  We discuss the transition to hunting this type of topography and how Jason has fully embraced the challenge of targeting mature bucks in this atmosphere.

Jason shares some of the hunting experiences targeting a specific buck this past fall.  While he did not get a shot, two visual encounters were a win.  Jason shares that in an environment as tough as this big woods, sometimes punching a tag in year one on a mature buck doesn't always happen and you need to play the long game.  Each year in pursuit builds on the story pursuing a trophy of this caliber, which is sweetened when the moment finally presents itself to release an arrow.  We discuss how he may approach targeting this buck and others for 2023, and last we discuss how throughout the entire journey he has done it with a longbow.  Pinnacle challenges yield the greatest reward for those who endure!

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Sometimes things just fall into place during hunting season.  This week on the Pennsylvania Woodsman we chat with Troy Dietterich and reflect back on killing a Pennsylvania and Ohio buck during that magical window between late October and early November.  Troy is a hard working family man that loves to bow hunt.  He and Mitch converse about their faith in Christ and the constant battle of managing time in the woods without being overbearing on our loved ones.  While it's a battle that neither of them have figured out, it's something they believe needs constant attention and is relatable to many hunters out there.

Troy was able to purchase his dream home this past year with a chunk of land attached. Up until this point Troy has loved the thrill of chasing bucks in the mountains on public land.  While that passion still resides within him, he has adjusted slightly to include habitat manipulation and private land hunting strategy into his game.  We dive into how his preparation in Pennsylvania looked different and how he was able to connect on his largest buck to date on the new farm.  We then shift gears to discuss revisiting the thrill of public land hunting in Ohio.  Troy logged some scouting time in this area during the previous hunting season.  Having a general idea where he wanted to look upon arriving this fall, he scouted his way into a tree that produced a buck within 3 hours on day one.  This episode is all about adapting to the current situation and being a hybrid hunter!

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