Spring 2014 Newsletter - Bluffland Whitetails Association

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BWA Whitetail News
..............................................
Spring 2014
A Bluffland Whitetails Association quarterly publication for members,
wildlife professionals and others committed to continuous
improvement in white-tailed deer management.
BWA represented at Whitetail Summit in Branson, MO
Something new and exciting happened this winter in the
most popular North American hunting sport, whitetail hunting,
and BWA was able to be a participant.
The leading national whitetail deer organization, Quality
Deer Management Association (QDMA) sponsored the first-ever
national gathering of most everyone involved working with our
most popular species, the North American whitetail. This conference was held in early March at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson,
Missouri, which provided a grand facility for the event. The
resort is located on Red Table Rock Lake, which is a few miles
south of Branson.
This is the first time leaders from such a wide cross-section of the deer hunting culture has come together for one event
such as this.
Our country's weather this winter did a fine job of
providing a nice coating of ice and five inches of snow to wel-
come all the travelers coming from 39 states and Canada. It also
provided many Northern state residents a chance to drive on poor
winter roads in a state where winter road maintenance mostly
depends on the next day's sunshine and thawing!
The whitetail summit planning committee divided the
attendees into six different stakeholder groups. Three hundred
individuals from around the country and Canada were invited to
this event. The invitation asked each person to choose one group
to represent even though they may qualify and be interested in
two or more groups.
The stakeholder groups were as follows:
Academia/Research: This group consisted of 10 leading research institutes from around the country.
Hunting Industry: Seventeen well-known companies
from our nation were here to provide input. Several of them were
also financial sponsors for the summit.
PAGE 1
(continued on page 2)
BWA at Whitetail Summit
(continued from page 1)
Landownership/Management: Eighteen were represented in this group.
Deer Hunters: Hunters were here from 22 states and
one Canadian Province. This large group provided a great crosssection of different deer hunting traditions, customs and hunting
methods from around the country.
Non-Governmental Organizations: This group
consisted of 15 hunting or conservation groups. Included in this
group were Bluffland Whitetails Association (BWA), Boone &
Crockett, Pope and Young Club and Minnesota QDMA.
State-Provincial Wildlife Agencies: Twenty state agencies and one Canadian provincial were in attendance.
The four-day event had numerous speakers from around
the country covering a wide range of topics, all dealing in some
form to the most popular hunting species in North America, the
whitetail. QDMA did an excellent job of providing a first-class
facility, nationally-known presenters and a detailed format to
allow all of the attendees to be involved in the process. After a
couple of large group sessions, there were a series of breakout
sessions for the six stakeholder groups. There was ample time
and opportunity for everyone to be involved and give input.
Everyone got the chance to choose more than one breakout session to attend so you could give additional input on one's own
personal interests.
In the opening sessions, the group identified the top 10
issues impacting deer management and deer hunting. They are
listed here in order of importance:
1. Hunter recruitment and retention
2. Education & outreach to support current and potential hunters
3. Hunting land access
4. Political influences on deer hunting and management
5. Captive deer industry
6. Deer diseases
7. Public concern for deer population levels, low or high
8. Landscape change/habitat loss
9. Connecting hunters with accurate scientific information
10. Impacts of predators, feral hogs, invasive species
In this issue:
BWA represented at Whitetail Summit in Branson, MO. . . 1-2
A new alliance of deer hunters emerges from the first-ever
Whitetail Summit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Harsh winter affects trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Blue Jay....friend or foe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Member profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Singletree's Habitat Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-10
Public involvement in deer management . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-13
2014 St. Charles Banquet recap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Membership application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
BWA calendar of events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Has your membership expired? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Editor
Marilyn Bratager
(with new
granddaughter,
Vivian)
The breakout sessions also listed the top 10 issues
important to their group. Almost all of the topics were similar,
sometimes in a little different order. The hunter group listed political influences (or interference with state wildlife agencies) as
their number one concern.
The conservation groups (NGOs) had hunter land access
and captive cervids on the top of their list of issues
affecting the future of our whitetail hunting.
The breakout session groups summarized their
discussions and brought this back to report to the
summit group.
The final day brought all the information and
discussion together and presented to the whole
group. The conference was well attended by
national and state media, so this information will
be well shared with the whitetail hunting world.
For more detailed information, visit the web site
of QDMA. QDMA plans to hold this event again
in two or three years. The main sponsors of the
summit were QDMA, Bass Pro and U.S. Fish &
Marrett Grund, MN DNR; Kip Adams, National QDMA Director of Education
Wildlife Services.
and Outreach; Scot Bestul, National Media, Field & Stream; Jay McAninch,
A related article on this summit can be found
Former MN DNR, Hunting Industry; Jim Vagts, BWA; Pat Morstad, MN QDMA; on the next page of this newsletter.
Ryan Bronson, Hunting Industry; and Brian Murphy, National QDMA CEO.
PAGE 2
A new alliance of deer hunters emerges from the
first-ever Whitetail Summit
The following article appeared in the June-July 2014 issue of Quality Whitetails (a QDMA publication) and is reprinted
with their permission.
QDMA’s North American Whitetail Summit will end up
being the place where a new alliance of deer hunters was born,
and QDMA has been called upon to turn ideas into action to protect deer hunting.
It was a message repeated by leaders from all sectors of
the hunting community gathered for the Whitetail Summit: Deer
hunting needs a unified voice to secure and enhance its future,
and QDMA is positioned to fill that need.
“This event has revealed a clear need for a national
umbrella organization to carry this work forward for deer hunting. QDMA, you’re it,” said Jay McAninch, President/CEO of
the Archery Trade Association, in his comments at the Whitetail
Summit press conference.
Held March 3-6 at Bass Pro Shops’ Grandview Conference Center at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Missouri, the fourday event was attended by more than 200 people including representatives from 17 companies in the hunting industry, 21 state
wildlife agencies and one provincial agency, 10 leading institutes
of deer research, 18 major landowner groups including the U.S.
Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 15 hunting or
conservation organizations, and deer hunters from more than 20
different states and one Canadian province. All of the groups and
states represented are listed below.
PAGE 3
(continued on page 4)
A new alliance of deer hunters emerges from the
first-ever Whitetail Summit (continued from page 3)
In breakout sessions, these groups identified
their top issues of concern,
highlighted ways they could
address those issues, and
discussed steps the other
stakeholder groups should
take. The Top-10 most
important issues identified
by the assembled group are
shown in the chart on the
right.
“QDMA convened
the Whitetail Summit to
create dialogue between all
these stakeholder groups regarding the future of whitetailed deer, and it was a huge
success,” said QDMA’s CEO
Brian Murphy. “Beyond the
issues, we kept hearing a
call for a broad coalition to
unify these voices and push
for action. Many people
pointed to us saying that we
should be the architects of
this new entity. We agree that
it’s a logical and natural step for
QDMA to expand beyond our
founding mission at this point in
our history to do more for every
deer hunter in North America.
Creating a new and broader entity is really the only acceptable
response to the message from the summit—and we’re up to the
challenge.”
Throughout the Summit, concern for the whitetail resource and the future of deer hunting was evident.
“The path of the whitetail hangs in the balance and will
be determined by you here at this symposium,” said Will Primos,
founder of Primos Hunting, in his comments at the opening of the
Summit.
That idea was echoed by Johnny Morris, founder of
Bass Pro Shops and a presenting sponsor of the event, who said
companies and organizations that often view themselves as competitors share a common need to protect white-tailed deer.
“There is no competition in conservation,” Morris said
to the group.
The urgency and necessity of the Whitetail Summit was
also emphasized by U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, former Vice Presidential candidate and an enthusiastic deer
hunter who spoke to attendees through a video message, and also
by Dan Ashe, Director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, who
attended the summit and was a keynote speaker.
“The cooperative energy generated at the Summit was
impressive, but it means nothing if we fail to turn this opportunity
into action,” said Murphy. “The stakeholders spoke of their confidence in QDMA’s ability to keep the momentum going. With that
kind of support, and with the broader support of the deer-hunting
world, we will continue to bring hunters together to ensure a
strong future for our tradition.”
QDMA is currently studying the extensive list of issues
and ideas produced by each stakeholder group. Our staff will be
conducting ongoing discussions with the stakeholder groups to
identify the most feasible and effective actions identified at the
meeting. Then QDMA will work to see these actions implemented. In a post-Summit survey, attendees made it clear the Whitetail
Summit should be held again, and 93 percent said they would
attend. QDMA will be planning another gathering, but this time
it will not just be brainstorming and issue discussion. The second
Summit will include a progress report.
PAGE 4
Harsh winter affects trees
Jim Edgar
Minnesota DNR Forestry
Preston, MN
It looks like spring is finally here. We have more sunlight than dark, and that means spring.
I have already heard my first report of winter injury to
trees. Some Norway spruce that have very brown needles, pretty
dry looking twigs and look dead. Those spruce may be dead or at
least the branches showing brown may be dead. Needles on pine
and spruce will often be dried out and dead, but the buds will still
be moist and able to continue to grow. Winter injury on conifers
is common and often worse after a severe winter like we just experienced. I won't go into details about causes, but extremes like
drought and heat, excessive moisture, drought and then severe
cold all within less than two years is stressful on trees. Check
the buds on trees with brown needles, and if they are still moist,
watch them as spring progresses. They should begin to swell and,
if alive, will grow as the season progresses. Time is the only sure
way to know if the tree has survived or not.
Hardwood trees and shrubs don't have leaves exposed
to the harsh winter weather, but they do have stems and branches
that are vulnerable to being eaten by hungry critters during the
winter. The deep snow has allowed rabbits access to portions of
plants that are usually out of their reach. Severely browsed and
consumed branches are common in tasty plants like crabapples,
apples and many shrubs. These trees will usually re-sprout and
grow back, although maybe not to their original shape. If damage
occurs repeatedly, protective devices such as tree shelters, bud
caps or repellants could be considered for next fall/winter.
Trees that don't show damage may also have been
stressed by the severe winter. Roots freeze more readily than
branches and the tops
of trees. The deep frost
in some areas may have
caused root damage. This
may show up as twig or
branch die back or decreased growth of the tree
during the growing season.
Help these trees
by good weed/sod control so they don't have to
fight for moisture during
the growing season. Spot
spraying with appropriate herbicides, mulching and sometimes
mowing can all be ways to keep weed competition under control
and give the trees a better chance at survival.
If you do have trees with die back or damage that needs
pruning, proper technique is important. DO NOT prune oaks during April, May or June due to the chance of introducing oak wilt.
The following link takes you to a very good booklet that shows
proper pruning technique: http://na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/howtos/
ht_prune/htprune-rev-2012-screen.pdf.
Those trees and shrubs that you plant are critical to good
wildlife habitat. Hunters and landowners spend a lot of time planning and planting annual food plots. That is fine, but don't forget
to plant, tend and protect those trees and shrubs that are there
year after year and hopefully beyond the time that you will be
hunting on that property.
PAGE 5
Blue Jay...friend or foe?
by Jack Peck
I read a lot of hunting related articles and after a few decades worth of reading have yet to encounter an article pertaining
to the topic that I am about to discuss here. When I attempt to discuss these thoughts with friends and fellow hunters I am met with
responses that usually include; rolling of eyes, hisses, laughter
and name calling (some with profanity). The controversial subject
that I am referring to has to do with my feathery friend the Blue
Jay, and specifically, how they react to whitetails. Whether you
agree with my assessment or not is your personal choice, but I
will be staying committed to my observations.
I grew up with a love of the outdoors. My family was
fortunate to own a couple of acres along the Zumbro River, and
we would spend every weekend down at “the trailer.” At age five
I was fishing, hiking, agate and Indian artifact hunting besides
acquainting myself with the native birds, trees and plants. It was
also there that I learned to observe and study nature and God’s
creation. I found it fascinating watching ants gather food, or a
caterpillar making a cocoon. Almost 30 years of bow-hunting has
given me considerable time in tree stands and plenty of time to
observe and study the Blue Jay.
Most will agree that Blue Jays are anything but quiet. It
seems that it doesn’t take much to get them riled up, and evidently they feel the need to let every critter in the woods know.
The majority of us are familiar with the annoying call that Blue
Jays produce that reminds us of somebody complaining relentlessly. You have to wonder how their throat keeps from getting
sore. The other alarm call they make is hard to describe in words,
but the best I can do is; ga-link, ga-link. I haven’t figured out why
they have two different alarm calls, but it seems the second one
is more specific or urgent. I think when they are making noise
they are just telling any critter that can hear them that something
is moving around. The movement seems to be what triggers their
alarm calls. They have spotted me moving in a tree-stand, and after I remained motionless for a couple of minutes, they clammed
up and moved on.
So how does this relate to deer hunting? I am not going
to tell you that every time you hear a Blue Jay there is a deer
nearby. What I am saying is that you should probably focus your
attention in the direction of the commotion. Time after time a
Blue Jay has informed me of the presence of deer. There have just
been too many instances in my hunting career for me to dismiss
this as chance. Also, if a squirrel starts barking at the same time
a Blue Jay is squawking, it is likely due to a deer or a predator
moving in the area.
To illustrate my point perfectly, I had this scenario
happen to me years back. I was set up in my favorite tree-stand
to call (rattle and grunt) from. It was on the very edge of a steep
hill and with a south wind my scent would blow over the valley. It was also located next to a favorite whitetail bedding area.
One morning a Blue Jay started making a fuss about a hundred
yards from my tree and back in the bedding area. I couldn’t see
well in that direction due to a short rise and thick cover. After a
squirrel joined in with the alarm, I decided to see if I could entice
whatever critter was in that cover into view. Every time I would
rattle and grunt, both the Jay
and the squirrel would elevate
their intensity. I could sense
that I was making something
anxious. Finally, after two
hours, the 146-inch, 9-pointer
(a deer that my neighbor took
a week later) could stand it no
longer and came to check out
the fight. He came from the
exact spot where the Blue Jay
and squirrel had been raising
the commotion and walked to within 12 yards of my position.
Lucky for him my buck license had been filled a week earlier.
Over the years, I have changed my perspective of the
Blue Jay. Once considered by me to be nothing but a noisy pain
in the butt, I now welcome its presence and think of it as the
“little snitch of the woods.” I can’t guarantee there will be a deer
moving around every time you hear a Blue Jay fuss’n, but I do
think that it is in your best interest to pay close attention to the
area that the fuss is coming from.
PAGE 6
Member profile
Brian Smith
Mendota Heights, MN
Age: 54
Wife: Patti
Children: Parker (19), Megan (17)
Occupation: Investment Manager
brassicas. All of this is followed by archery, shotgun, and muzzle
load hunting. Although hunting is probably the main event, what
I value most every fall is experiencing a healthy deer herd, seeing a few mature bucks, and sharing a glass of bourbon with my
friends.
My passion for everything outdoors is now more than 50
years in the making. Like many of us, the genesis of this passion
probably stems from outdoor experiences I had as a boy at our
lake cabin. There, I spent countless hours on the dock, or in an
old-fashioned row boat, fishing for anything that would bite on a
worm attached to my Zebco 202 purchased at the hardware store
in Luck, Wisconsin.
One fall when I was about 10, my dad brought his shot
gun to the cabin. We took it out back and shot clay targets. That
was it; I was infected. That Christmas my folks gave me a 20ga
Mossberg shotgun. I was so enamored with it, that I hardly let it
out of my sight for the next five years.
Although I never had the chance to hunt with my dad, I
relentlessly recruited neighbors and friends to join my newfound
passion. During my high-school years, I developed a close group
of friends who also enjoyed the outdoors. We spent most weekends in the fall together, hunting grouse, pheasants, ducks, and
geese. In those days, pheasants were hard to come by. I remember hunting entire weekends just to get one or two shots. I’ll bet
during those years I didn’t shoot more than a dozen birds total.
My interest in deer hunting started in 1977. That fall
I entered college at Minnesota State in Mankato. My mom’s
family were farmers who lived south of Mankato in the towns
of Madelia, Garden City, Lake Crystal, and Vernon Center. My
aunts, uncles, and cousins weren’t hunters, but they welcomed
me and were happy to let me hunt their farms.
That fall I occasionally kicked up a whitetail while
pheasant hunting. Whitetails, like pheasants, were far from
abundant. As deer hunting season approached, I bought my first
license and hunted a creek bottom on my uncle’s farm. I will
never ever forget the thrill of seeing my first buck or the excitement of the whole experience.
My interest in deer hunting has never waned, but it has
evolved and changed over the years. My pulse still races at the
sight of a deer, but I have discovered many more ways to enjoy
the sport. I especially enjoy the camaraderie and the sense of
community promoted by folks like those of the BWA, whose
members are tireless in their pursuit of practices and regulation
that are the future of whitetail hunting.
My wife would probably say that I have turned deer
hunting into a year-round sport. I am fortunate to have a wide
group of friends who share this passion, and I am blessed to have
access to several farms in southeast Minnesota. We gather in
late winter to hunt for sheds and plan habitat. Each spring, we
help each other with habitat projects, food plots, and stands. In
summer we brush out stands, clear trails, set out cams, and plant
PAGE 7
Duck hunting in 1981.
Buck harvested in 2011.
Another buck in 2012.
Singletree's Habitat Corner
by Alan Spaulding
Sanctuaries
Hello fellow BWA members. Throughout my 10-year
membership, the most impressive thing I have observed about
BWA is action. Ten years ago I wouldn’t have thought APR was
possible—even in one county in Minnesota. BWA and a few
inspired members were a driving force behind permanent APR in
zone 3. Other members have accomplished the creation of youth
hunts, disabled veteran hunts, and education through this newsletter. While the progress may at times seem slow, the cumulative
effect is awesome, and I am very grateful to all BWA directors
and other volunteers who have made all this possible.
Because we are people of action, I was inspired to take
action; to write a column for this publication about action. About
how each of us can make the deer woods, the prairie, or the back
40 a little better place for the deer. In so doing, we help out a lot
of critters other than just the deer, and we may even enjoy harvesting that next deer, whatever deer we choose to shoot, a little
more because we acted. With a little effort, over time we can
achieve our goal of improving the deer herd in our little corner of
the world; whether we each choose to define improving as seeing
a more balanced deer herd, seeing more deer, or seeing larger
deer. With these columns I hope I can help some of you improve
southeast Minnesota deer habitat and your deer hunting program
while avoiding many of the mistakes I have made.
Thirteen years ago when I planted my first Fillmore
County deer food plot, I truly expected to hang a stand on the
edge of it, hang out and enjoy the scenery for a while, and take
my pick of the nicest of many bucks which would surely come.
They didn’t come. They didn’t come for a number of reasons.
Reasons which make good fodder for future columns. Starting at
the beginning, in this first column, I will state that if you want to
harvest a good buck, or a lot of does, the most critical pieces of
the whitetail habitat puzzle here in southeast Minnesota to help
you achieve your goals are a sanctuary, quality bedding areas,
and an understory in the deer woods. This may sound counterintuitive to many who want to believe the only reason they
haven’t harvested the deer of their dreams is because they don’t
have a food plot or a huge tract of land in Iowa; yet it is true.
While some properties are fortunate to have quality bedding areas
naturally in cattail sloughs, conifer groves, naturally-occurring
thickets, or thick woods from storm blowdown or previous logging activity, most of us have to create or improve bedding areas.
If the land you hunt doesn’t have some of these habitats, or if you
want to add some additional habitat to what you were blessed
with, you can readily accomplish this right now with one weapon,
a chainsaw.
Because each of these topics probably deserves a dedicated column in the future, and this publication isn’t ‘War and
Peace,’ the following is just the tip of the iceberg. This column is
about action; taking a chainsaw to your woods is something you
can and should do right now before the summer vegetation gets
ahead of us.
When you were a kid did you ever walk a different way
home from school because you knew the bully was lying in wait
for you on your normal path home? Have you ever snuck down
a different aisle in the grocery store because you saw that chatty
neighbor out of the corner of your eye in the aisle you were
headed for? Guilty on both counts for me. Much the same, deer
like to go about their business of eating, drinking, and especially
resting, undisturbed and on their own schedule. If there is a place
they can do it better, or with less disturbance, they will take the
opportunity to upgrade—probably to your neighbor’s sanctuary.
If you don’t have a sanctuary, and there isn’t another sanctuary
nearby, no problem. Don’t worry, ‘your’ deer will be just fine,
but you have just made them nocturnal—more on this below and
in a future column. In addition to being the best habitat directive you can take, this is also by far the simplest. Take 10 to
20 percent of the property you own or lease, public land where
you enjoy hunting, or land you have permission to hunt on, and
almost never go into that little piece of it. Really, just do nothing;
there are plenty of other habitat projects that require lots of effort,
save your energy for them. Your sanctuary should be somewhat
centrally located in the property, and it should have at least some
very thick cover. Permitted activities in your sanctuary are few:
habitat enhancement from January to April ONLY, and perhaps
shed hunting and morel mushroom hunting if you feel the benefits outweigh the costs. It is allowable, advisable even, to hunt
on the edges of your sanctuary, but even during hunting season
you have to remain diligent about keeping out of your sanctuaries if you want them to consistently hold mature deer. Although
this technique sounds simple, being patient enough for it to work
is rather difficult. It takes several years for deer to learn they are
truly safe from you in these areas, but it is worth the wait. Want
to make your sanctuary more appealing? Keep reading.
A sanctuary bedding area with three years of
growth, good bedding area, lots of browse,
deer beds everywhere, probably an antler or two
under the snow right here!
(continued on page 9)
PAGE 8
Singletree's Habitat Corner (continued from page 8)
Bedding Areas
We all probably have a good idea of where the bedding areas are on the land we hunt; if the cover is hard for you
to walk through, the deer will love to bed in it. You are running
downhill if you enhance an existing bedding area. If you are
creating a new bedding area, look for characteristics similar to
other bedding areas on your property. The best bedding areas are
on hillsides (not cliffs) that offer the deer a good vantage point
where they can observe danger below and have the wind bring
them scent and sound from danger behind—thus giving them protection from all sides. If you have a ravine like this with food on
one side and water on the other, you are golden. These hillsides
need to be south-facing in late fall and winter but can face any
direction the remainder of the year. You should have a few different bedding areas on slopes facing different directions so deer can
bed securely, and you can hunt the edges, in any wind direction. Definitely DO NOT go scouting for bedding areas from
July to December, as it violates, directly or indirectly, the Sanctuary rules. It indirectly violates the Sanctuary rule because from
July to December your whole hunting ground should be at least
somewhat of a sanctuary by simply reducing human presence.
Action. In these identified bedding areas cut down a tree. Yes,
one tree will make a difference for one or a few deer. Cutting
down a tree actually does a lot of positive things in a deer woods.
It allows sunlight to hit the forest floor to encourage re-growth
(pronounced Browse or “deer food”), it blocks the wind from the
bedded deer, and most importantly it gives the bedded deer the
security of having an obstruction behind the deer in addition to
the security of the deer’s sight protecting it one direction and the
deer’s nose and ears protecting it from danger in the other direction. Not really that surprising that we don’t see bedded deer
very often is it? Yes, a mature whitetail does choose a preferred
bedding area with this much scrutiny which is precisely how he
or she became a mature whitetail. One tree makes a difference.
Ultimately I like groups of 5-20 trees cut down to create micro
bedding areas scattered throughout their preferred bedding areas
and sanctuaries. Now, get the heck out of your sanctuary/bedding
area to let the deer get comfortable using them without human
intrusion. Don’t come back for a good long time—I don’t care if
you are curious to see how cool it looks as it grows back.
Understory
Deer hunting 101. More bucks are killed on travel
corridors between the bedding area and the food source than any
other place. This is true even during the rut because the bucks are
looking for does using said travel corridors. Above I referenced
one way we make deer nocturnal—human intrusion. Another
way deer become nocturnal is from not having enough daytime
cover. Nocturnal deer aren’t born that way, and they aren’t legal
to shoot, so let’s try not to make ‘our’ deer nocturnal. We have
already created or improved a bedding area or two, and deer in
southeast Minnesota have tons of food sources called corn, bean,
and alfalfa fields even if we don’t have a ‘food plot.’ This fall we
are going to try to ambush deer in these travel corridors between
our newly improved bedding areas and their food sources, but
first we have to make these travel corridors more attractive to
deer during daylight hours. To do this, cut down some trees to
give them daytime cover in their travel corridors. Mature canopy
forests are deer woods enemy number 1. There is no understory
for deer to browse on their way to their food source, and there
is no visual cover to protect them from predators. If we do our
job right, the deer will leave their bedding area to move towards
their primary food source a little earlier in the day—during legal
shooting light—because the travel corridor will have cover to
make them feel secure, and browse to munch as they meander to
the agricultural field or food plot which they typically will enter
during last light or after dark. By simply cutting down trees we
instantly give deer this visual protection with the downed tree’s
trunk and branches, and the additional sunlight to the forest floor
A dirty woods creates bedding areas and promotes
daylight deer movement.
promotes plants, brush and ultimately new trees to give the deer
future food and visual protection. Creating an understory is a
little different than creating bedding areas. Here we scatter a
few downed trees along their travel corridor, whereas bedding
areas are best created dropping clumps of trees. When a tree
is the diameter of your waist or less, try to “hinge cut” that tree
(you can try to hinge cut bigger trees but they invariably break
off instead of hinge). Simply start cutting the tree at a downward
45-degree or steeper angle at waist to shoulder height, and cut
about 60 percent of the way through, set your saw down and push
the tree over until the canopy is resting on the ground. The 40
percent of the tree you didn’t cut will remain intact and keep the
tree canopy alive as it sits on the forest floor to provide food and
additional visual cover for the deer. On a properly hinged tree,
new growth will grow vertically from the downed trunk and the
canopy remains alive to create lots of browse and cover. Some
people successfully arrange these dropped or hinged trees to act
as funnels toward tree stand locations. Best Practice: cut down
or hinge trees that are crowding your oak trees, especially those
(continued on page 10)
PAGE 9
Singletree's Habitat Corner (continued from page 9)
around young white oaks, to release these mast producers from
competing trees. More sunlight and moisture for your white oaks
means more acorns sooner and better timber value in the long
run, and the acorns on your visually protected travel corridor are
one more reason for deer to get out of their bed a little earlier.
What trees to cut down? First, what not to do:
1) Never cut a live conifer as they attract heat from the sun and
block wind better.
2) Never cut anything with current or future timber value because
we like money to make other important habitat improvements or
even buy a tractor or ATV.
3) Never cut anything that produces a nut critters like, a berry
birds like, or flower pollinators like.
What to cut:
Poplar: It grows fast, has a large canopy, and often suckers at
the base to create deer food.
Soft maple: The tips have buds early in spring for the deer to
eat after you fell the tree, and it takes 70 gallons of sap to make 1
gallon of maple syrup.
Mature Fillmore County buck that lived the majority of his
life in my sanctuaries. Notice this is a daylight photo.
Night-time buck photos are like taking your sister to the dance.
Yes, you can promote daylight mature deer activity.
Basswood: Can be cut if you have an abundance of them. The
flowers are a preferred nectar source for pollinators.
Oaks, Walnut, and Hard Maple: Can be cut if they are deformed or too close to a better quality lumber tree, although I’d
be hesitant to cut any oak capable of producing acorns unless you
have a very good reason.
Dropping soft deciduous trees like poplar and
soft maple in February or March provides a muchneeded food source in addition to
creating future bedding areas.
Elms and Ash: These will die of disease before reaching lumber
value size.
Box elder, Cottonwood, Locust and Ironwood: These have no
lumber value.
Notch your trees so they fall to the ground in your
preferred area, be careful, and enjoy the thud. Leave everything
where it lies for windbreak and screening value; get your firewood someplace else.
When done properly, selective tree cutting has many
benefits. The land will hold more deer because of the increased
food supply, the quality lumber trees will receive more daylight
to allow them to grow faster, the treetops provide a valuable late
winter food source when dropped in February through April,
and the deer will become less nocturnal and more patternable to
improve your hunting success. For more information on these
subjects, Google “timber stand improvement” (TSI) and “hinge
cutting trees.”
Finally, respect the power and hazards of both the
chainsaw and the tree. Always wear safety chaps, a hard hat, eye
protection and ear protection; and use extra care when dropping
large trees, especially leaning trees as they hold a good deal of
stored energy. Act, you’ll be glad you did.
Good hunting,
Singletree
PAGE 10
Public involvement in deer management
The following article was written by Kip Adams and
appeared in the June-July 2014 issue of Quality Whitetails (a
QDMA publication) and is reprinted here with permission from
the author.
Whitetails are the most popular game animal in North
America. Approximately 16 million people have hunted deer in
the U.S. during the past five years. This is nearly four times more
than those who have hunted turkeys—the second most sought
after species, and whitetail hunting generates nearly half of the
entire $87 billion U.S. hunting industry. Thus whitetails and
whitetail hunters drive this system, and as such deer hunters are
an integral part of successful deer management programs.
A key component of the highly successful North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is that wildlife are public
trust resources managed by state and provincial wildlife agencies.
Not so long ago the extent of public involvement in deer management consisted of hunters being told by wildlife officers what
they could shoot, and when and how they could shoot it. Hunters
had very little input in management plan goals, strategies and
objectives. That situation is much different today. Sportsmen and
women are becoming increasingly engaged in deer management
programs. Today’s hunters are far more knowledgeable about
deer biology and management, habitat improvement and herd
monitoring techniques.
Hunters aren’t alone however, as others are also becoming increasingly engaged in deer management programs. Motorists, anti-hunting groups, the agricultural industry, homeowners
associations and others now have a seat at the table and, in too
many cases, the ear of powerful legislators. Given the importance
of whitetails in the diversity of stakeholders, we surveyed state
wildlife agencies to determine their level of engagement with the
public on deer management issues. Some states provided exact
numbers, some provided estimates, and some reported that information was unknown, but each provided their best possible data.
There
are 37 states east
of the Rocky
Mountains that
are referred to in
this article as the
Midwest, Northeast and Southeast
(see figure 1).
This collection of
states is important as it contains
approximately
97 percent of the whitetails and 97 percent of the hunters in the
U.S. Compared to the East, most of the West’s wide-open spaces
contain few whitetails and few hunters.
Deer management plans
Only 18 (of 37) states have a published deer management plan. Plans are most prevalent in the Northeast as nine of 13
states (69 percent) have one. Only five of 13 states (38 percent)
in the Midwest and four of 11 states (36 percent) in the Southeast
have deer management plans (see figure 2). This doesn’t mean
other states do not have management goals and objectives. For
example, Minnesota has deer
density goals
derived in part
from public
input. However,
it is concerning that only 49
percent of states
have a comprehensive plan
that includes
goals such as
deer density,
age structure and
monitoring techniques.
For states with plans, 10-year and 5-year plans are most
common, all states allow the public to provide input, and 11 of
14 (79 percent) allow the public to serve on the plans’ steering
committees. Only Arkansas, Mississippi and West Virginia do
not allow the public to serve on the plans’ steering committees.
For sportsmen and women in Georgia and Michigan, your plans
expire this year so get ready to provide input for your updated
documents.
Public involvement
Twenty-seven (of 31; six did not provide a response)
states are
required to
provide public
involvement
in regulatory changes
involving deer
(see figure 3).
Fortunately the
four states that
reported they
are not required
to provide
public involvement (Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota) all do engage the public on deer matters.
Gauging public sentiment
The most popular means for gauging public sentiment
or accepting public comment are public meetings (35 of 37
states), email (31 states), mail (30 states), and telephone calls (29
states). Notice that of the top four means, only public meetings
are a proactive approach for gauging public sentiment. The other
three are simply ways to accept public comments, and unfortu-
PAGE 11
(continued on page 12)
Public involvement in deer management (continued from page 11)
nately research clearly shows public meetings typically do not
provide input or opinions that accurately represent the hunting
public. Notably, North Dakota and Tennessee are the only states
that reported they do not host public meetings. Regionally, mail
surveys are most popular in the Northeast, while Internet surveys
are in the Midwest and telephone surveys are most popular in the
Southeast (see figure 4).
the Southeast, three
are in the Midwest and three are
in the Northeast.
Collectively these
seven states have
over 2.8 million hunters and
contribute $9.9
billion per year
to their states’
economies. You’d
hope that would
be enough to at least maintain their deer staff if not enhance it.
Agency communication
Deer-focused staff
An important component of public engagement is the
number of agency deer-focused staff. The 37 states in our survey
reported 165 deer staff. These are full-time positions with more
than 50 percent of the employee’s time spent on deer, and they
do not include temporary or seasonal deer staff that assist with
research projects or check stations. The number of deer staff
range from zero in
South Dakota to
84 in Texas (see
figure 5). Texas
alone employs
more than half of
all deer staff in
the United States!
Most states
reported one (13
states) or two (12
states) deer staff.
Regionally, the
Southeast averages
9.9 deer staff per state and it still leads the U.S. at 2.5 per state
without Texas’ high value. The Northeast averages 2.3 and the
Midwest averages 2.0 deer staff per state. Notably Canada averages 2.9 deer staff per province, and our northern neighbor only
has a fraction of the deer and hunters the U.S. contains. Kudos to
Canada!
The number of deer staff in the U.S. has been stable
during the past five years in 26 of 37 states (70 percent; see figure
6). The number increased in four states and declined in seven
states. This decline is especially disturbing given the importance
of whitetails to the hunting industry and our wildlife management
system. Of the seven states with fewer deer staff today, one is in
Communication is key to successful wildlife management, so we asked state wildlife agencies to rate their own
effectiveness at communicating with the public. Anonymity can
be important, and I appreciate the agency deer project leaders’
candid answers, so the following responses are reported by region
only. Only three of the 33 states (9 percent) reported “excellent”
communication with the public. Twenty states (61 percent) reported “good” communication. Nine states (27 percent) reported
“fair” communication, and one state (3 percent) reported “poor”
communication. Collectively nearly a third reported their communication was poor or fair.
This shows tremendous opportunities for future agency/
public relations,
and remember
this was agencies
rating themselves. A hunter
survey asking the
same question
likely would’ve
shown an even
poorer result.
Regionally over
half felt their
communication
was “good” in
the Southeast,
half felt it was
“fair” in the Northeast, and most felt it was “good” or “excellent”
in the Midwest (see figure 7).
Science vs. public desire
We also asked agencies to rank their view of the impacts
of science and public desire on their final deer hunting regulations. Anonymity can be really, really important here so again
responses are reported by region only. On a scale of 1 to 10, science averaged 7.0 and public desire averaged 5.7. Science ranked
highest in the Northeast and lowest in the Southeast. Likewise,
public desire also ranked highest in the Northeast and lowest in
the Southeast.
PAGE 12
(continued on page 13)
Public involvement in deer management (continued from page 12)
This shows the subjectivity of the questions. However,
nine of 30 states (30 percent) reported that public desire outranked science in the final deer hunting regulations, and three
more states reported it equaled science in these decisions. Collectively 12 states (four per region) felt public desire was as important as or more important than science in the outcome of their
final deer hunting regulations. This shows sportsmen and women
may play a larger role than many of them realize. It also shows
we need to better educate our natural resource commissioners
regarding the importance of science in these decisions.
Enhancing public involvement
Based on the results of our survey, and given the
whitetail’s importance to the entire hunting industry and wildlife
management system:
1) We were pleased to see the impact of public desire
on deer regulations in many states. However, we caution against
public desire receiving greater importance than science. Proper
wildlife management is a mix of science, art and public opinion,
but science should carry the most weight in this arena.
2) We recognize the budgetary constraints facing many
state wildlife agencies today, but whitetails are the backbone of
the entire hunting industry. As such, we suggest all states make
employment of trained deer management professionals a budgetary priority and maintain a competent deer management team.
3) We are a strong proponent for public involvement in
deer management and were pleased to see all states engage the
public, even when not required to do so. Additionally, we encourage states to engage sportsmen and women at even higher levels
in the future to forge strong relationships and maintain open
and effective lines of communication. We also encourage more
states to make use of the Internet and social media for educating
and communicating with constituents. These items ranked at the
bottom for how agencies currently engage the public, and while
aging hunters may not be Facebook and Twitter fans, the majority
of young hunters certainly are.
4) We also recommend that sportsmen and women better
educate themselves on critical deer issues so they can contribute
more effectively in these discussions, uphold a higher public image of hunters, and be better ambassadors for hunting.
5) Finally, we recommend all states have a published
deer management plan that is transparent, scientifically defendable, and created with input from all major deer stakeholder
groups.
It is a challenging and exciting time for deer management. Fortunately today’s hunters and wildlife agencies are much
better suited than our predecessors at dealing with current and
upcoming issues. It is this spirit of cooperation that will guide us
and lead to successful deer management programs in the future.
—Kip Adams, National QDMA Dir. of Education and Outreach
PAGE 13
2014 St. Charles Banquet recap
Bluffland Whitetails Association would like to thank all who attended the eighth annual St. Charles banquet. The event was
held on Friday, May 2, 2014, at the St. Charles Moose Lodge. As anticipated, the banquet again sold out shortly after tickets went on
sale to the public. We apologize to those who were unable to attend.
The 2014 prize package was our largest yet, featuring over 50 guns, three bows, two chain saws, limited-edition artwork and
sculptures, diamond jewelry and handcrafted items including a quilt and an antler chandelier. BWA would like to extend our congratulations to the night’s many winners, especially Eric Tranberg from Rosemount, MN, who won the grand prize Howa .243 and Winchester gun safe.
The 2014 Spring ATV/Gun Raffle, which was held in conjunction with the St. Charles Banquet, was also a success. The
winner of the 2014 Polaris Sportsman was Ryan Keller from Chippewa Falls, WI ,who was at the banquet to live the excitement of his
name being called. Congratulations, Ryan! The Spring Raffle Firearms winners were as follows:
The St. Charles banquet staff is proud to continue the
tradition of dedicating profits from one game or raffle to local
DPMS .223 – Gene Glorvigen (Rochester)
youth organizations. This year three outstanding groups were
Browning BLR 22-250 – Richard Kendall (Eyota)
recognized; The St. Charles Firearm Safety Program, Project GO
CZ 20 ga O/U – Dean Reicks (Cresco, IA)
(Get Outdoors) and the St. Charles after prom party. BWA gets
Weatherby PA-08 12 ga – Jeff Heil, Jr. (Claremont)
thanked, but the real thank you needs to go to the banquet guests
Ruger American .243 – Ben Overkamp (St. Charles)
for their generous giving to those well-deserving groups.
Remington 870 Exp. 12 ga – Pat McGill (Rochester)
Special thanks go out to the St. Charles Moose Lodge
Ruger 10/22 – Ty Bestor (Harmony)
and their banquet staff for their hospitality and a fabulous steak
Henry Lever .22 – Betty Hiller (St. Charles)
dinner, Master of Ceremonies Phil Costigan, Auctioneer Jacob
Browning Buckmark .22 – Mark Jacobson (Rochester)
Hart from High Point Auction Company, Keith and Diane Shones
at Millville Rod and Gun, and of course, the St. Charles banquet committee whose countless hours of planning, putting together prize
packages and ticket selling certainly showed the night of the banquet.
This event would not be possible without the generosity of our sponsors and donors. Listed below are the many people and
businesses who have graciously donated prizes and/or money to assist BWA in our mission to better the deer hunting experience for all
zone 3 hunters. Please be sure to thank these sponsors by patronizing their businesses.
MAJOR SPONSORS
Archery Headquarters (Rochester)
The Footed Shaft Archery (Rochester)
High Point Auction Company (Rochester)
3-Rivers Hide and Glove (Rochester)
Minske Custom Fishing Rods (Rochester)
Ferguson Trailer Sales (Dover)
Back Forty Wildlife Management (Altura)
Moonshine Shorty’s BBQ Grill (Rochester)
S.E.M.A. (St. Charles and Plainview)
Whitetail Properties (Bob Stalberger)
North Castle Graphics (Winona)
Troy Lang Antler Creations (Winona)
Small Farms (St. Charles)
Vold’s Taxidermy (Rochester)
Borderline Quilts (St. Charles)
Good Sport Liquor (St. Charles)
Weiss Realty (Chad Garteski)
Kick Ass Jerky (All Over)
Schott Distributing (Winona)
Patriot’s Pub (St. Charles)
Outdoor News (Minnesota)
Kick Ass Jerky - Online
Millville Rod and Gun
BANQUET SPONSORS
Merchants Bank (St. Charles)
Erdman’s County Market (Kasson)
Ye Olde Butcher Shop (Rochester)
Hilton Garden Inn (Rochester)
Scentsy Candles – Rhonda Thomann
Andy’s Liquor (Rochester)
Norwex - Jenny Golish
Magnum Sports (Chatfield)
Robinson Outdoors – Scent Blocker
Brewskie’s Bar (Utica)
Loon Lake Decoy Company (Wabasha)
Mike’s Food Center (St. Charles)
PAGE 14
Rochester Cheese
Burt’s Meat and Poultry (Eyota)
Nabisco Crackers
Splitt’s Firewood (St. Charles)
St. Charles Golf Course
Mundt’s Bake Shoppe (St. Charles)
St. Joseph Equipment (Eyota)
DoubleTree Hotels (Rochester)
Simply Stylin’ Hair Studio (Eyota)
Hammell Equipment (Chatfield)
Wild Wings (Lake City)
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
Join today!
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608-788-0535
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Please make checks payable to:
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Plus, great values can be found in our used
furniture building next door in La Crosse where we
take your trade-ins and also carry antiques.
Send membership form to:
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21581 County 20
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at 131 Mason Street in Onalaska.
See Rick Boyer for a great deal!
PAGE 15
Cover photo courtesy of Alan Spaulding.
Has your
membership
expired?
To determine if your membership has expired, look for your
membership expiration date on
this page of the newsletter by
your name and address.
Working cooperatively for a healthy, balanced white-tailed deer herd . . .
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BWA Whitetail News
Bluffland Whitetails Association
21581 County 20
Preston, MN 55965
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
In an effort to keep our membership current, we are asking
members whose membership
has expired to please send in the
renewal form on page 15 of this
newsletter.
Your continued support is
appreciated very much.
Thank you!
BWA Calendar of Events
BWA Board of Directors Meeting
• BWA Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Location: Patriot's Pub
1148 Whitewater Avenue
St. Charles, MN
6:30 to 10:00 p.m.
• BWA Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Location: Patriot's Pub
1148 Whitewater Avenue
St. Charles, MN
6:30 to 10:00 p.m.
• BWA Board of Directors Meeting
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Location: Patriot's Pub
1148 Whitewater Avenue
St. Charles, MN
6:30 to 10:00 p.m.
•
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Location:
Chisholm Valley Art Gallery
22388 Daley Creek Drive
Houston, MN
6:30 to 10:00 p.m.
BWA board meetings are open to all members,
as well as those interested in
learning more about the organization.
PAGE 16