Ultimate Land Management

[venado]

From Deer & Deer Hunting, Summer 2009 edition: A fellow named Tony LaPratt has found a way to keep bucks on his small 52 acre Michigan farm. No high fence and success is measured in big bucks, seven 150-class-or-better taken from the property. In the early years he averaged 50 days in the stand for every buck, now it is 2 or 3 days and he now kills them with a bow. 31 bucks in 22 years. Now that is land management...!:eek:

[Smokey]

With the right cover and feed you can hold deer in an area that size. He also probably had little pressure on those deer which in turn would help him hold those deer. Additionally there could be well managed property around his area. Michigan always had a good gene pool for big racks and heavy deer. For a while Pennsylvania was importing some of their deer to improve the PA gene pool. I think PA was sending them turkeys.

With this article the pressure on his deer might increase.

[venado]

Smokey, that pressure increase isn't likely since his neighbors are aware of his situation already. In fact as a profession he teaches other hunters what to do to be successful. He started with a difficult situation and over the years has changed it greatly for the better. Obviously he is in an area where good genetics exist and for that to play out to quality bucks they must have food and age. I guess what he didn't do was to spend his life complaining about how bad things were and did something for himself rather than contact his legislator for help with his deer hunting.:rolleyes:

[Smokey]

You make a good point about the people who go out to take the extra step [work] to make something happen and not to just complain. The gentleman is also lucky to have considerate neighbors.

This is a good example of what can be done to improve a not so good situation.

[Laturkeyhtr]

What is the secret to his success. I don't get D&DH any more, so you will have to tell me.

[drvsarchryhnt]

By the proper management of the area, it is been a great field for great bucks. It is always the place that they would be comfortably living, with the right food in the area,it would be a perfect habitat for them.

[DaveHawk]

one sure way of keeping bucks around is to shoot the doe of Button bucks.

[venado]

one sure way of keeping bucks around is to shoot the doe of Button bucks.
Dave, help me with that idea. Thanks.

[DaveHawk]

na you got to many bucks as it is LOL

Look when you take a doe that has button bucks with her. She will not be around to push them out when they start getting their testosterone kicking in.

If she has twins one usually will leave and the other will stick around but the one who leaves will return to his home territory. I've had a lot of button bucks stick around over the years.

[venado]

Dave, it would be hard to have too many bucks, but I'd like to see that situation...!:D These high fence guys often have 2 bucks per doe which is virtually impossible on open range where I hunt. We feel pretty good when we get to less than 3 doe per buck

That is an interesting thought re killing the doe that would push the young male out of her area, not sure that it works in reality but seems to have some logic to the idea. Of course we believe that rejection is a natural thing that nature does to lessen genetic inbreeding. In modern conditions I wonder if they live long enough for the results of inbreeding to be a factor in herd health.

[Bob S]

Deer breeding seems to be designed for genetic diversity. Therefore inbreeding is not a concern. Recent studies even indicate that as much as 25% of twins have different fathers.

[venado]

Bob, I don't know about the actual percentage number but there were some amazing results from the study "Who Breeds" done in S. TX a few years ago. It confirms that it wasn't rare for multi fathers as you note and that quite inferior deer (from a hunters perspective) were certainly breeding even though they would be considered likely to be subservient to larger and more agressive deer. The final conclusion was that "attitude" was a key to breeding.

[Bob S]

The final conclusion was that "attitude" was a key to breeding.Which is why we shouldn't cull based on antler size. Nature manages for survival of the fittest, not the largest antlers. Attitude, or aggression, seems to be much more important than antler size.

That is the advantage of a QDM program based on buck age structure. Manage for a natural, balanced, age structure, and then let nature decide what characteristics it will manage for.

[Bob S]

Now that we are way off topic, what was this thread about. :D

[venado]

Bob, I'm not at all concerned where threads go as long as they are civil and contain at least a modicum of QDM. :rolleyes:

I enjoy involvement and reading what others have to insert in the "conversation".