House and Habitat build thread:

[dogghr]

I like Steve's idea on doe harvest even tho it can't be always done. He suggests taking the doe that are not bedding on your property. He wants those homebodies to increase chance that buck will stay home range with her during critical hunting time. I've followed that thot some the last couple years and think I see some advantage.
As for the doe and twins. I know my doe is a good nuturer, cammands the best of birthing and bedding areas in doe hierarchy, thus increasing odds of survival of her newborn. So that doe gets a lot of passes on my part and will take the younger, less experienced doe that may or may not be as good a mother, all other things being equal.
I can't agree completley of Gallows idea of mixing up the gene pool by taking the old doe. If I have a good line of bucks that show good characteristics each year, and I usually do, then I want those current doe genes in my herd if at all possible.
But in reality I am a predator, and I tend to not overthink, just harvest what I need and want at the time. No guilt.

 

[dgallow]

In your case of low deer density compared to the past, I would remove old does from the herd....in hopes the new generation of fawns remain resident. You are in effect turning over old genetics in favor of newer genetics more adapted to your current improved habitat condition. Epigenetics still apply but are not as limiting to production under low density as they are under high density...alas, the preferred forage availability deal again. If you were over stocked, then antlerless removal more reflects first opportunity to remove excess mouths....as genetics of all individuals when over stocked reflect density mediated suppression of production over how many ever years over stocking has occurred.

By this time of year...fawns born in the early part of fawning season have been fully weaned and are on a diet of solid food which their mother has taught them to forage....doe family unit also has yearling does capable of teaching fawns forage selection if mom is gone. Females breeding as fawns or yearlings may have the first birth late in the fawning season....which is normal....their body shape appears young rather than old (tight brisket to neck vs saggy brisket to neck, depth of body, length of muzzle, etc). I would give the first time mother a pass under low density. Older does fawning late are not a good sign...cull them (one or both)!

The main issue facing quail, LPC and turkey seems to be the same regardless of where you are...that being....a once diverse and complex historical habitat has now become a less complex and diverse habitat coincidental with technological advances of agriculture or land use abandonment. All sorts of changes have led to simplifying the landscape....place blame as you see fit. Quail in the Ozarks is a bit removed from quail in the great plains, but the biologists identify the same problems.....loss of habitat diversity and complexity. Here is a good short video which is likely the same pulpit pounding you hear in KS!

 

[buckdeer1]

Three years ago I think it was we found multiple turkeys either dead or dying during shed season.I got the same reports from north of us also.We saw 1 tom that year.Wildlife and parks never would say if there was a disease but there had to be something.This can happen to quail also and very few people would ever know what caused it.

 

[catscratch]

Just type NRCS and LPC into Google...there are many CSP and EQIP job sheets addressing LPC decline....that info will give you a synopsis of the issues considered important for their numbers to return. It boils down to decreased land fragmentation, wildlife friendly fencing, and boom/bust style range management. Essentially you create edge....edge of long recovery range adjacent to early successional range habitat.....it is critical to have nesting habitat ( long recovery) adjacent to brooding habitat (early succession) to increase bird numbers. That edge definition held true in AFGC (AR game and fish) wild turkey nesting surveys...the highest density of turkey nests occurred on the edge of 3-4 yr recovery from fire adjacent to a current prescribed burn unit. Planned time control grazing can be used to create the same edge in prairies simply by skipping a paddock to create the edge in a rotational system or by using patch burn/grazing under set stocking to create the edge. Once the habitat is correct for nesting success, then you must have the correct weather pattern several years in a row in order for the population to increase. You will always have predators....and should always have predators....and their numbers should ebb and flow. But, the question most often NOT asked is 'do you have alternate prey species to take the brunt of predation loss in relation to the prey species you are trying to encourage? For example, do you have the enough brush and bramble or other short thick cover to promote rodents (rats, rabbits, mice etc)?....if so hawks and coyote will stay busy enough.....if not, then ground birds and other wildlife become primary prey! Like anything else you are trying to manage.....the ecosystem must be evaluated as a whole comprised of several key parts!

The drive home parallels a set of railroad tracks. Tonight I realized why some of my favorite hunting spots while growing up were tracks... miles of edge and plentiful with small game!

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[catscratch]

I'll take those post on doe harvest to heart in a couple of weeks. I have a couple of things to consider but after a couple of night sleep I'll probably make a good decision.

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[catscratch]

Three years ago I think it was we found multiple turkeys either dead or dying during shed season.I got the same reports from north of us also.We saw 1 tom that year.Wildlife and parks never would say if there was a disease but there had to be something.This can happen to quail also and very few people would ever know what caused it.

We found a couple of sick turkeys about three yrs ago too. It was the only time I've seen turkeys like that before or since. Kind of worrisome at the time.

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[Turkey Creek]

We had the same turkey die back here as well. The biologist told me what the disease was, but I dont recall what it was.

 

[dgallow]

Mycoplasma gallisepticum? One study found 80% seropositive for the above organism in two TX counties. Many of the Rios in KS,OK,TX, NM are of the same restocking lineage.

I can remember flocks of 70-90 birds in the late 90s.....then the toll of droughts and related disease made a hard hit.....the recovery has been comprised of more male than female poults...fun hunting but really weird only seeing a few hens. They also migrate and change historical roost sites for no apparent reason.

 

[dogghr]

Counted 53 turkeys in my field this past Fri. No shortage for me. Guess the yotes, hawks, and eagles, and coons, bobcats, and bear didn't get the memo on the easy pickins. Those turkeys can sure ruin a good deer hunt if coming off or going on to roost . Oddly, except when nesting, turkey like habitat different than deer. They love open wood and fields and don't like the thick stuff so much. A mature gobbler is much like a mature buck, pretty much a loner except for a woman to breed when time is right. They do like munching on acorns from mature mast trees. They also are my main got to insecticide/bug eaters for my food plots

 

[buckdeer1]

Mine are coming back but 10 years ago I was fall shotgun hunting and had a flock that I counted 214 went by in a big field before a low flying plane scared a tom close enough to shoot

 

[catscratch]

I can live without the turkeys (they are kind of fun to hunt), but I really want my quail an chickens back.

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[dgallow]

I remember back to 2011 or 12.....the Noble foundation biologists came over for a property evaluation as we were one of the first people doing hinge cutting in that part of the country and they wanted to see the results before we expanded the effort. They were unsure of how turkey would react. As we eased through the area a fall flock of about 20 paralleled us about 50 yards away.....they were busy bugging under and on top the hinged mess and paid us little attention.....kinda looked like ants crawling in and out of an ant hill. When a roost site becomes too thick in understory, the birds will either fly in from the closest open ground a hundred yards out or limb hop to/fro the roost tree. I've killed many toms in that hinge cut unit since!

Predation concern for a well established flock....vs....predation concern for flock recovery after drought.....are two entirely different scenarios...do the math! Too support your inference, when we had high flock numbers coon density was >1 per 5 ac....50% predation loss on 70 nests with 8 average clutch size is hatch of 280.....7 nests would be 28. Poult mortality not considered. If it is 50% then the numbers are 140 vs 14. I don't know what poult survival typically averages.....but 25% prolly wouldn't be too far off in a good year. The main thing is trying to reduce mortality when average mortality may not suffice for quick recovery.

 

[catscratch]

Hard to tell from a pic, but this is a section of forest that had a couple of trees removed and had a little clearing left. Hedge trees sprung up in it. Every couple of yrs I go in and cut them down but don't treat them. They sprout right back up and make a thick mess of things.

I can see this spot from the driveway and there are deer in it often. This guy looked up at me but never left his spot. They feel secure in there.

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[catscratch]

Cold snap moved more waterfowl in, and more out. Not much of a mixed bag as its mostly mallards and canadians right now.

Should build a blind on the dock...

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[buckdeer1]

Looks good but be sure and put a heater in it

 

[catscratch]

Drove around my parents place some. We have been planting trees and foodplots out there for decades (long before we knew other people did it). Almost ever tree pictured was planted by my father, his father, and me. Mix of sawtooth, cedar, chokecherry, pine, sycamore, black locust, and probably a bunch that we don't remember. It's very cool to see mature trees that your family planted.

And this is one of the guys getting to enjoy it. He did good this morning considering it was 11 degrees and we didn't see anything.

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[catscratch]

Looks good but be sure and put a heater in it

Lol. I took the 8yr old out this morning. He was a trooper and didn't complain, but we didn't stay more than a couple of hrs either.

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[OkieKubota]

Lol. I took the 8yr old out this morning. He was a trooper and didn't complain, but we didn't stay more than a couple of hrs either.

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Is school out....again?

 

[catscratch]

Is school out....again?

We don't have school on Friday's, it's a 4 day week. Interesting system; longer days, longer yr (less summer than other local districts but only by a week or two on each end), no spring break, high scores on ACT's and State assessments, lots of achievement awards as a district, lower utility bills, food bills, and cheaper on bus routes/repairs/maintenance.

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[Turkey Creek]

I see some Gadwalls in that duck photo. Does your lake ever completely freeze over?