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BWA Newsletter - October 2004A Bluffland Whitetails Association quarterly publication for
Hunter surveys to be held in northwest/southeast MinnesotaThe Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has undertaken a new set of surveys that are designed to identify season changes that would be acceptable to hunters in order to lower deer populations and perhaps increase the age of bucks in the deer herd. The surveys, which are being held in northwest and southeast Minnesota only, are the first step in making good on a recent promise by DNR commissioner Gene Merriam of deer season changes that would focus on protection for younger bucks and increase the harvest of antlerless deer. In recent years, considerable interest by hunters in both zones has prompted a serious look at season structures that would grow bigger bucks. One need only look in the 2004 Hunting Regulations, which now include antler sketches detailing the age of bucks with certain antler sizes, to see that herd age structure is now being considered. This idea, which was the brainchild of Fish and Wildlife Director John Guenther and was drafted by Big Game Program Coordinator Lou Cornicelli, was borne out of a meeting between BWA directors and Commissioner Merriam's staff. The first survey is currently being conducted in five counties of northwest Minnesota and should be finished by the end of the month, according to Lou Cornicelli. The second survey, to be conducted in zone 3, is slated tentatively for sometime before the end of the year. Public input meetings are also being considered for the first few months in 2005. When asked what he expected from these surveys, Cornicelli responded, “This is the first piece of information necessary to determine how and if seasons should be changed." Hunters will be asked to respond to a variety of questions about deer management in zone 3, including questions about harvesting deer during 3A and 3B seasons, bonus permits, tagging practices (party hunting), and the prevailing sentiments about antler restrictions and limited buck tags. BWA has always felt that seasons could be structured so that the age of the herd could be increased without decreasing hunter opportunity. However, in this age of trophy management, these questions would give the DNR an understanding of the feelings held by zone 3 hunters and the changes that they are willing to accept. As BWA members, we are all dedicated to the proper management of whitetail deer in zone 3. If you are contacted and asked to respond to this survey, please consider taking the time to do so. By doing this, you are making sure that your opinions are known and are helping our organization to come closer to reaching our goals.
—Chris Kolbert
Thank you letter receivedDear Bluffland Whitetails Association Members, The Plainview sixth graders would like to thank you for providing us with the opportunity of learning more about Indian culture. It was an excellent presentation. Sincerely, The Plainview, MN Sixth Graders
A message from BWA's president...What is BWA? There has been a lot of discussion lately about what exactly BWA is and what the goals of the organization are. That’s ok. Introspection within an organization is good as long as it is done in a respectful manner and does not attempt to diminish the views of others. It is easy for all of us to maintain our own personal vision for the organization and to prioritize goals accordingly. Indeed, BWA is and will continue to be what we, as members, want it to be. That is why it is so important to get involved. But before we determine what BWA means to us, we need to understand what it meant to those who founded the organization. Although opinions varied among the original board of directors, a majority opinion established the fundamental doctrine by which the organization is run. According to our web site, Bluffland Whitetails Association is a not-for-profit conservation organization (501-C3), created to support advances in white-tailed deer management through education, research and cooperative action. In English, this meant that BWA would provide education to the public, support research by wildlife biologists, and cooperate with professional wildlife managers so that our deer herd could reach its full potential. Our mission statement provides additional information about the group, stating that “Bluffland Whitetails Association believes that improved deer management practices, based upon sound scientific research by wildlife professionals, can produce a healthy, balanced deer herd without reducing hunter opportunities. BWA is not a "trophy deer" or "quality deer management" organization. A balanced deer herd will benefit hunters, landowners and the public and ensure a brighter future for whitetails and whitetail-related recreation.” One could argue that, although these noble words provide the philosophy of the organization, they do not outline the day to day goals that the group is striving to attain. Admittedly, it is only by attending meetings and reading newspaper and magazine articles that one can appreciate the full extent of our goals and activities. But I would argue that people join the organization for a variety of reasons and by adhering to these words, individual goals for BWA directors and members alike can be realized. Since the beginning of the organization, the primary goal has been to increase the age structure of the bucks in the deer population. It is no secret to BWA members, the DNR, or the public that BWA has and will continue to push for measures that will protect young bucks. But I believe that BWA was founded to be much more than a single-issue organization. Although education, research, and cooperation were among the first BWA goals; habitat improvement, mentorship, and entertainment have been added because our members wanted to provide tangible evidence that we are giving something back to the people of this region. Some have argued that BWA has done little for the hunters of zone 3. One is certainly entitled to his/her own opinion, but I would say that for a grass roots volunteer organization, we’ve done all right. Sure, we want to do more, but it will come in time. So what has BWA done recently? Below is a list of activities and accomplishments that went into a renewal letter that was recently sent out to many of our members.
So, what is BWA? As with any organization, BWA is the sum of the activities undertaken by its members. We’ve worked hard to establish our group as a positive influence on the hunters of southeast Minnesota and to bring changes that will improve deer hunting for everyone. By following the guidelines set by the founders of the organization, we will continue to make progress on our goals and to remain a respected voice for the hunters of zone 3. —Chris Kolbert, president
Board member profile
Jim Vagts I grew up on a farm in Fillmore County and started hunting at an early age for rabbits, squirrels, pheasant, fox and any other critter I could find. I got my first deer license in 1957 during the very early days of modern deer hunting in southern Minnesota. After just the first season, the whitetail became my hunting passion. I started archery deer hunting in 1960 with a seventeen dollar "Bear" recurve bow. In 1970, I started elk hunting and now make a fall trip with horses to some western state to archery hunt during the "bugle season." In addition to hunting, I take an annual fishing trip to northern Canada each spring, enjoy recreational walking, am an avid reader, and my wife and I love to travel. I am also a strong supporter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and a member of Pheasants Forever. As a farmer and landowner, I have watched many changes in our deer herd, deer hunting practices, and deer hunting season structures. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources made some major changes in the season structure in the seventies. Their new plan put harvest emphasis on the male deer population and reduced harvest on the female part of the herd. Their innovative design worked very well in changing the deer herd numbers. The Southeast herd has grown dramatically in the last thirty years. The downside of those changes has resulted in the increased harvest of bucks, causing a poor buck-to-doe ratio and age structure of the deer herd. During the early 1990s, landowners and hunters in my area became aware and concerned about the composition of our deer herd. Overpopulation and age structure of the buck population was becoming unbalanced compared to what we were used to. Landowners, myself included, started doing what we could to alleviate this problem by letting young bucks "walk" and implementing other simple management practices. Unfortunately, this soon included reducing or eliminating land access for many hunters. Within a short time, I came to the conclusion that changing this situation required management changes of the big picture, and an individual landowner could not do it by himself. This was the beginning of my search for a solution that ended with my becoming involved with BWA. I was lucky enough to be at Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center near Lanesboro on February 3, 2000 when the formation of Bluffland Whitetails Association became official. In an article in the Outdoor News about this event, Scott Nielson wrote, "Someday this meeting may be judged as one of the great moments in 21st Century deer management." It has been very interesting and exciting to watch and participate in the growth and changes of BWA since those early days. The young organization has grown quickly since this humble beginning. We have developed a good working relationship with the Minnesota DNR, starting with Commissioner Gene Merriam; big game coordinator, Lou Cornicelli; and other staff down to the local level. Although BWA has come a long way in the last four years, there are new and exciting times ahead, and I look forward to being a part of it. I invite all hunters and landowners in southeast Minnesota to get involved and be part of the future in Minnesota deer hunting.
Member profiles
Scott Kobs
I enjoy my teaching career in St. Charles. I also enjoy family time with my wife and two-year-old daughter. But I have to admit, I am starting to think about hunting more and more now that the bow opener is close. I have noticed that some leaves have turned, some acorns have dropped and some apples are off the tree. It is time to start getting the backpack loaded for the bow season. Like many of you reading this, I enjoy hunting for pheasants, turkey and small game. I also enjoy fishing for trout and returning to my hometown, Lake City, for a live well full of walleyes in the summer months, but nothing beats deer hunting; especially with a bow. I spend a lot of my time out in the tree with my brother Brian who lives in Chatfield, but I also enjoy hunts with my father, and friends. Last year Stacey, my wife, wanted to go turkey hunting. She applied, got drawn, and we gave it a try together. We didn’t fill the tag, but we both had a blast, and she wants to try it again. I am also a member of the St. Charles Area Archery club that several bow hunting enthusiasts in town started last year. Over 230 people shot the course last year and this year was very similar. The course has 15 3-D targets, and they are arranged on wooded trails that mimic realistic bow hunting situations. Hunters shoot the bows and tell stories, some of which are farther stretched than others. I guessed it depends who is telling the story. Ha! It has been a lot of fun. Come check it out next year. I joined BWA because of a strong interest in deer hunting. I have been a member of DU and the NWTF, but what I like the most about BWA is it’s specific to zone 3 in southeast Minnesota. Through BWA, I have learned more about our seasons and the commitment for some sort of change in the managing of our deer heard and improving buck size. I hope we can stay the course, unified as a group for the improvements we wish for. BWA has changed some thinking on our hunting practices. This change hasn’t come quickly, and there may be other changes on the way, but some great accomplishments of the past have been achieved through a simple change of thought. BWA has made a difference. I would like to thank all those that have spent so much energy to this cause. Good luck hunting this fall. The anticipation of the hunt is grand. Hopefully there will be an evening when I return home just a little late from my bow stand this fall with a story to tell when I open the front door. With high hopes, I think I will. Keep the kid in you when you hunt…..it is more fun that way.
Lynee McConnell I grew up in Red Wing, MN, and moved to Eyota in my high school years. My hobbies are hunting, fishing, camping, canoeing, riding horse, cooking, gardening, flint napping, tracking, and generally anything outdoors. I started archery about 22 years ago when Jerome took me out scouting when we were dating. He bought me my first bow, and we joined a couple’s archery shoot. I didn’t get much time in the woods until our children were old enough to go along or stay home alone. Jerome took me out with him on a few hunts, and I was caught hook, line and sinker from then on. I have been an avid hunter for 12 years. Just to sit and observe the woods and wildlife is something you could never comprehend until you are in it. Not knowing if I could truly harvest an animal, I decided I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try, so I bought my first deer archery license. That first year of hunting, I had many memorable hunting experiences. One time, I was sitting on a five-gallon bucket amongst the pine trees all dressed in camouflage, and I could hear something moving behind me—yes, it was deer; two does and four fawns. All I can remember is I had lots of eyes on me, and if I was to try to pull my bow back, I would spook them. But I was shaking so badly, I don’t think I had the strength, so I sat (shook) there and watched them. Before they scented me, they were five yards away.
I have always wanted to go hog hunting in Texas, and last winter that dream came true. We went on a ranch for bow hunters only. We didn’t harvest a hog, but we had a great time and will hopefully go again this winter. A few of my hunting values are that harvesting an animal is a bonus, not a necessity; that we need to achieve a balanced deer herd; and that our future lies in our youth. I personally would like to see more adults taking youth out not only to hunt, but also to observe nature and be aware of what it has to offer. I am involved in the Wildlife Turkey Federation (helping with Jake and Jenny Day) and BWA. With BWA, we have a voice for hunters in Minnesota. Here’s a hunting tip for all the guys: get your wives/girlfriends involved in hunting (we like to shop). In our house, it is an open checkbook policy for hunting garb. Have a safe and enjoyable season.
2005 BWA Whitetail Expo 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Location: Mayo Civic Center, Rochester, MN This event will be of interest to all outdoors people from southeast Minnesota. Featured speakers will be Gary Clancy and Greg Miller. The Expo is open to the public. Admission for adults is $5 at the door. Youth and children age 15 and under are free of charge.
2004 Whitewater Youth Hunt winnersThe following 50 youth were drawn from a lottery to participate in the 2nd annual Whitewater Youth Hunt to be held October 21-24, 2004. Congratulations!
AMANDA ADAMS, AUSTIN, MN 55912
In the spotlight...Marrett GrundMankato, MN Wife: Melanie Children: Cameron and Kendall Occupation: DNR Farmland Deer Project Leader I was born and raised in New Ulm, Minnesota. I became interested in wildlife sciences as a young hunter. I am a lifelong deer hunter, and I’ve hunted deer from the Mankato area down to the Whitewater and La Crescent area, and also in the extreme northwest of Minnesota. I started grouse hunting with my father when I was 10 years old, and it always amazed me how grouse were in some habitats and not others and how their populations cycled. I was always interested in, and sometimes skeptical of, what the DNR was doing, and I spent of a lot time in high school doing research on wildlife management and ecology. I guess I was just so interested in hunting and wildlife that it was just natural for me to go into the field. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology from Minnesota State University, a Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology from The University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. in Zoology from Southern Illinois University. My areas of expertise are population ecology and modeling, deer ecology and game harvest management. I worked for the Pennsylvania Game Commission for about three years before moving back to Minnesota. While working for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, I led the deer research and management program, and I worked very closely with Dr. Gary Alt. I was involved in five different deer research projects, I developed a statewide deer research and management plan for Pennsylvania, and I developed a population model for their agency so that they could better estimate deer population numbers and manage their deer population I married my college girlfriend, and she has been very supportive over the last decade moving from one state to another for education and employment. My wife is the most spectacular person I have ever met. We’ve been happily married for four years now and out of nine years of marriage, that’s not bad! She hates it when I tell that joke!! I would love to spend a lot more time hunting and fishing, but I now have a 3-year-old little girl and an 11-month-old little girl who seem to schedule my personal time more than I do. My two favorite football teams are the Minnesota Vikings and whichever team is playing the Green Bay Packers! I am a huge Timberwolves fan, and I’m glad to be back in Minnesota so that I can watch Kevin Garnett play basketball on a regular basis. I very much look forward to working with hunters and the people of Minnesota and help this state develop the best deer management program in the country.
The payoffThe following article appeared in the 2004 Bonus Deer Issue of Petersen’s Hunting and is reprinted with permission from the author, Mark Demko, and Petersen’s Hunting. Over the past few years, Pennsylvania, a state long known for having too many deer within its borders, has made headlines by dramatically changing how it manages its whitetail population. First, the Pennsylvania Game Commission expanded antlerless deer hunting opportunities by transforming the traditional firearms buck season into an either-sex season and adding October muzzleloader and juniors/seniors-only firearms hunts. Then, in 2002, the commission stirred up controversy when it implemented antler restrictions requiring hunters to hold out for a buck that has three or four points on one side of its rack, depending on the wildlife management unit. From a numbers standpoint, the results have been startling. Overall deer harvests have reached record highs, while annual buck takes have dropped substantially. During the 2002 seasons, hunters took 517,529 whitetails—the most ever—while the buck kill dropped nearly 20 percent from the year before. Last year, sportsmen harvested another 464,890 deer as the antlered deer harvest plummeted even more to 142,270, more than 60,000 less than just two years before. According to PGC deer management section chief Gary Alt, the management program is trying to do two things: balance the deer with their habitat, which requires shooting more does, and improve the breeding ecology, which means shooting fewer bucks. “The changes that we’ve made in the past few years have rectified that,” he said. “I believe that the number of bucks age two and older is higher than it’s ever been in our lifetime.” In a state with deeply rooted hunting traditions, implementing the changes was not easy. During the first few years in his new position, Alt crisscrossed the commonwealth while presenting more that 200 programs to explain the potential benefits of the new management strategy. “You will always find some people who are opposed to your program…but in general, acceptance is as high as I’ve ever seen it,” Alt said. As far as antler restrictions go, many sportsmen strongly opposed them when they were first announced. One of the big concerns was that people would be penalized for accidentally shooting a sub-legal buck. To this end, the PGC enacted regulations requiring anyone who mistakenly takes a protected deer to report it and pay a $25 administration fee rather than face stiff fines—unless it’s determined that the kill was the result of negligence. In 2002, there were 2,096 mistake kills reported; last year that number fell to 1,471. “Based on other states’ experiences, we had expected anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 mistakes during the first season with antler restrictions,” said PGC press secretary Jerry Feaser. “Hunters did far better than that in the first year of antler restrictions, and, in the second year, hunters significantly improved.” In a state where sportsmen historically shot the vast majority of bucks each year, the antler regulations have produced a definite shift in the herd makeup. “The harvest records indicate we are seeing a major increase in the number of 2½-year-old bucks (being taken),” Alt said. The biologist noted, for example, that before restrictions, more than 90 percent of the buck harvest in the northwestern part of the state was comprised of yearlings. “It has now dropped below 65 percent,” he said. “That’s a major change.” Biologists aren’t relying solely on what they learn from the deer harvests to confirm antler restrictions are working. For the last three years, they’ve also been conducting a scientific study that uses radio collars and transmitters to monitor 800 bucks in two counties to examine survival rates, deer movement and overall herd health. According to Alt, during the past two years of the study more than half the antlered bucks survived the hunting seasons. “That’s unprecedented,” he said. “Historically, you could expect 75 to 90 percent being killed.” From the hunters’ perspective, the good news about antler restrictions is that they have helped some outdoorsmen take the biggest bucks of their lives. And Alt expects things to get even better. “I think that you’re going to see more nice bucks this fall,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot more bucks in age classes two and three. I look for the buck harvest to start going back up a little bit.” While most hunters seem pleased with, or are at least willing to accept, antler restrictions, large doe harvests have become an issue of concern for some. Many sportsmen, especially those hunting public lands, report seeing far fewer deer than before. “We do have a few counties (where) there are concerns they are overharvesting in some areas,” said Melody Zullinger, executive director of the 70,000-member Pennsylvania Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs, the state’s largest sportsmen’s advocacy group. Ralph Saggiomo, president of the 45,000-member Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania, agrees. “After the (2003) deer season it was unbelievable,” he said. “The groundswell from people not seeing deer was astonishing.” Zullinger suggests that perhaps it’s time to see more micro-management of the WMUs. “The DMAP (Deer Management Assistance Program) initiated in 2003 is an excellent start to that,” she said. The program allows hunters to acquire antlerless tags based on the size and type of property they hunt. Alt acknowledges he has heard the concerns about overharvesting on some public tracts. “We’re going to radio collar hundreds of does next winter and look at just how much overshooting is going on on public land,” he said. In the meantime, the PGC is still trying to get a handle on the whitetail population, estimated at 1.6 million, on the statewide level. “What we’re learning is that the deer herd is more resilient than we thought and more difficult to control than we thought,” Alt said. “Even with the large harvests, the deer population has been remaining relatively stable.” Hence, the PGC issued 1,039,000 antlerless deer licenses—the most ever—for 2004, with a goal of reducing the statewide population 5 percent. In addition, it made crossbows legal for archery hunting in southeastern Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh area, lengthened doe firearms hunting seasons in the wildlife management unit surrounding Philadelphia and expanded DMAP—previously reserved for public parcels and lands enrolled in public access programs—to include private landowners, as well as hunt clubs with more than 1,000 contiguous acres. The hope is that the new regulations will help trim the herd in areas where thinning is needed most. With the bulk of the changes behind it, many may be wondering if Pennsylvania has turned the corner. “It’s kind of like a work in progress, and it always will be,” Alt said. “What I think (has) happened is that we have come through a traumatic time when we made the most sweeping changes in our history, and now we’re trying to settle down and evaluate those changes.” And if it ultimately turns out the state can’t get the deer herd to where it needs to be via the current seasons and bag limits, more alterations may be on the way. “I do feel that in the long term you’re going to see a lot more recreation,” Alt said. “I think you’re going to see longer seasons. I would not be surprised to see antlerless seasons exceeding three months in some areas. I believe the greatest days of deer hunting are yet to come.”
Antler growth over four years
These pictures were taken by well-known photographer and author, Charlie Alsheimer, and are used with his permission. Copies were provided for use in this newsletter by QDMA (Quality Deer Management Association).
Deer hunter biology quizSoutheast Minnesota’s whitetail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herd has grown dramatically in numbers in the last few decades. The herd has demonstrated their reproductive abilities in response to their environment and DNR harvest management techniques. Gordon Whittington, editor of North American Whitetail Magazine, said southeast Minnesota and northeast Iowa have all the necessary ingredients to be the best “whitetail factory” in the United States. Our herd has great genetics, ample food and habitat, escape cover, no large animal predator (other than man), and seldom has any winter kill. The following are some questions about our highly reproductive deer herd:
The answers to this quiz can be found at the end of this newsletter.
Counteracting browse damage to trees
Jim Edgar
It is common to see oak ‘shrubs’ growing in tree plantations instead of the desired oak tree. Repeated browsing by deer removes the new growth and the tree re-sprouts each year from where it was browsed the last time. Fortunately, the deer cannot eat the roots. The root system of that oak shrub continues to grow and eventually is capable of supporting a much larger tree than the deer allow to grow. Many of our oak forests today are a result of a similar process that occurred prior to white settlement in the mid 1800s. The repeated burning by the Indians caused the tops of young oak and other trees to be killed off each year. A clump of sprouts would re-grow each year where the tree was burned off. With the coming of the settlers, the annual widespread burning ceased and the oak ‘grubs’, as they are called, grew into large trees. A planted oak seedling that the deer browse each year is similar in many ways to an oak grub. A small top is supported by a root system capable of supporting a much larger tree. To get the tree to grow above where the deer can eat it takes a drastic step, cut off the top! Do this to seedlings that have a stem diameter at ground level greater than ¾ inch. Use the natural sprouting ability of oaks (and other native hardwood trees) and cut that oak bush off at the ground level. Cut it off during the dormant season (November, December or January) as close to the ground as possible. The following spring and summer the root system should push one or more sprouts that will greatly exceed the height of the tree that was cut off during the winter. Sprouts will usually grow 5 or 6 feet tall during May and June after being cut off. In areas of very high deer numbers, they may browse the new growth during the growing season. Repeat the process until they miss it one year. In many instances, the deer will not browse the top off the tree once it reaches 5 to 6 feet tall. If more than one sprout grows, you can prune off all but the best sprout (straightest and tallest) within the next five years, again during the next dormant season. Usually a tree treated by this method will get above the deer and with a much straighter trunk than if left to grow as an oak bush. Often, when the new sprout isn’t browsed during the growing season, a buck will find it perfect for rubbing velvet off his antlers. In this case the hunter must determine the proper consequence for the offending deer.
Native grass stands and whitetailsby Colin Williams In my last BWA News installment, I introduced the significance of water as part of your habitat improvement efforts. I also touched on the fact that a diverse habitat can have the ability to be far more productive than one that's the same throughout. While certain agricultural crops can be sources of great nutrition, complements may be necessary. When most landowner and whitetail enthusiasts think about habitat improvement, the first thought that pops into their heads is planting food plots. Of course, that does make some sense. After all, in many settings, the quickest return from your labor and cost investment may be realized through a well-planned and managed food plot. However, if your focus is an attempt at boosting deer nutrition, a robust food plot is only one component of a much larger picture. In order to achieve the maximum benefit from an improved environment, you must also ensure that high-quality native forages abound. Your habitat-improvement chain is only as strong as its weakest link, thus taking the steps to ensure that food, water and cover are present throughout your property is the only way you can reach the hunting haven you are hoping for. Plant diversity is an important aspect of habitat. Deer require a variety of plants to provide their various needs. Achieving plant diversity does much to ensure year-round availability. Quality deer habitat includes a mixture of trees, shrubs, vines, forbs, grasses and other plants including agricultural crops and fruit produced from plants. Certain plants within each of these categories benefit deer more than others and are utilized in different seasonal windows. Desirable plants should be interspersed throughout the farm so that the entire area functions as deer habitat. Trying to address all the steps necessary to provide or manipulate native and introduced habitat would take a lengthy book much less a series of articles. With that in mind, however, let’s look into one habitat improvement option. During the planning phase of your habitat improvement activities, consider the establishment of a native grass stand. While most hunters consider native grass plantings as upland bird cover, these same areas can provide some wonderful deer habitat as well. While well-managed native grass and forb stands are only just one part of creating a whitetail utopia, it can be an important one where such habitat is lacking. Dr. Grant Woods, one of our country's top authorities on whitetail biology and management, considers native grass and forb plantings the ultimate whitetail cover. "A well-structured, properly managed native grass stand does much to provide Minnesota whitetails with a host of habitat needs," notes Woods. "Tall, native grass stands provide wonderful concealment cover and offer a critical thermal cover bedding area. Deer are able to hunker down in a native grass stand, stay out of the wind, and yet take advantage of solar radiation." Woods also added that a native grass planting, rich with forbs, also does much to meet seasonal nutritional needs. "Forbs provide an essential, nutritious food option before the growth of agricultural crop food availabilities and after harvest as well," said Woods. "In order to ensure a deer manager can meet every seasonal food source need entails researching individual native and forb species, determining when they grow and establish and maintain accordingly." While native grass vegetation is used very little for food, the structure of a native grass stand is significant. Warm season grasses such as Indiangrass, Big-Blue Stam and Switchgrass tend to grow in clumps, thus creating safe havens for deer travel and bedding and concealment areas. How many times have you heard a pheasant hunter talk about busting a big buck out of a stand of native grass? Think about that for a second. That buck is bound to hold up where he feels most secure. These native grass stands provide concealment availability virtually unmatched by any other native cover. Forbs are herbaceous plants of which many folks consider some species as weeds. There is a variety of forb species and many, if not most, are important wildlife foods. These are the weeds that deer feed on all spring, summer and fall, when acorns are not available, providing the bulk of the diet for deer during certain times of the year. Forbs are soft-stemmed, broad-leaved, flowing plants. They are generally more digestible and have more protein than most woody plants and grasses. Legumes, such as the ever-popular clover, are forbs. In addition, the aesthetic qualities of flowering forbs in a native grass stand do much for the appeal of your property. Forbs, as they are flowing plants, produce seed, a food source much sought after by upland birds. I don't know about you, but I very much enjoy the cackle of an early morning rooster while I impatiently await the morning’s first deer sighting. Establishing a stand of native grasses takes much more than tossing a little seed around and hoping for the best. Consulting with your local NRCS, SWCD, private consultant or seed vendor would be recommended before tackling a project of this scope. As part of a whole farm habitat improvement project, Fillmore County landowner, Mike Kennedy, has established a seventy-acre stand of native grasses and forbs. "The key to establishing a native grass stand is proper site preparation and a commitment to stand maintenance," notes Kennedy. "You also need to be patient; it may take up to three or four years for the stand to really take off, and, once it does, maintenance of that stand is very important." Kennedy recommends using a local seed source vendor. "Using a local vendor will ensure the use of plant varieties that are suited to our climate and soils," he said. Mike Kennedy is just now starting to reap the rewards of improved habitat. "The creation of habitat, coupled with pre-determined harvest decisions, has not only improved the quality of our deer, but the overall satisfaction of our hunt." If you would like to look into diversifying the cover and habitat on your farm, give your local NRCS or SWCD office a call.
 Colin Williams (left) and Mike Kennedy (right) in Mike’s Fillmore County native grass stand.
Habitat Field Day a successby Gary Bartsch The morning of August 28, 2004, started out cloudy with a good chance of rain. However, the weatherman cooperated, and the Habitat Field Day program was completed without a hitch. The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) sponsored the Habitat Field Day, and it was organized and promoted by Colin Williams of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) out of Lewiston. As usual, Colin did a great job! About 70 eager habitat enthusiasts attended and took advantage of all the brats, foot-long hotdogs and cheeseburgers served all afternoon. Bluffland Whitetails Association, NWTF and Pheasants Forever had booths and gave presentations at the noon lunch break along with the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association (MDHA). The program was set up with a tour of seven different habitat improvement stations, with the transportation supplied by hay wagons with straw bales for seats. The tour started at the Tom Wunderlich farm and ended at the Mike Kennedy farm north of Mabel. Tom and Mike have done an awesome job with habitat improvement, and it’s showing up in the diversity of birds, deer, and other wildlife on their farms. They were great hosts, and they are also working to increase the age structure of the whitetail bucks that call their farms home. All in all, it was a good day for habitat improvement and wildlife in general.
Pope and Young Club/St. Charles Museum now openThe Pope and Young Club held the grand opening of the Pope and Young Club/St. Charles Museum of Bowhunting earlier this month at the Club’s headquarters located at 273 Mill Creek Road in Chatfield, MN. The mission of this museum is to increase the awareness and appreciation of North America’s bowhunting heritage and history. The Museum features a maze of exhibits showing the evolution and resurgence of bowhunting over the last century. It is highlighted by five dioramas depicts scenes with Ishi, Saxton Pope, Arthur Young, Fred Bear and Glenn St. Charles. The museum also includes the largest and most complete broadhead collection available for public viewing anywhere, over 550 longbows and recurves, representative examples of North American big game species, and much more. Established in 1961, the Pope and Young Club is a non-profit North American conservation and bowhunting organization dedicated to the promotion and protection of our bowhunting heritage, hunting ethics and wildlife conservation. The Club also maintains the universally recognized repository for the records and statistics on North American big game animals harvested with the bow and arrow. For more information regarding the Pope and Young Club, visit their web site.
Comparing Minnesota and IowaThe following article was written by well-known author and seminar speaker, Gary Clancy, and is reprinted with his permission. Tim Spielman’s piece in the July 23 issue of Outdoor News quickly caught my eye. “Iowa, Minnesota to study deer hunting differences” the headline read. If I weren’t so fat and lazy I would have jumped up out of my Archie Bunker chair and shouted “hooray!” All I can say is, “It’s about time!” I am one of those who long has been disappointed with the deer hunting opportunities in my home state. It is disturbing to me that a state with such potential has allowed the status quo to be good enough. Now don’t get me wrong, Minnesota has good deer hunting opportunities when compared with many states. But the quality of our deer herd does not reflect the habitat and the genetics we have to work with here in Minnesota. That is why I am so excited to learn that DNR big game specialist, Lou Cornicelli, is going to compare deer hunting in Iowa with deer hunting in Minnesota. When I first met Cornicelli and heard him speak on his vision for big game opportunities in Minnesota, I liked what I heard and felt that the man doing the speaking was enthusiastic enough about his job to get it done. This latest announcement just reinforces that belief. Comparing the deer hunting in units 347, 348 and 349 (southeast Minnesota) with that in Allamakee, Winneshiek and Howard counties in northeast Iowa is a step that makes sense. Terrain and habitat are very similar in the two areas. Genetics are the same. Winterkill is not a significant issue in either area. But Iowa has the more balanced herd. When you have balance within the deer herd, you naturally have more mature bucks. Iowa has never intentionally strived to produce more mature bucks. Instead, decent numbers of mature bucks are a byproduct of good herd management. We can do the same in Minnesota. I suspect that when the study ends, Cornicelli and his staff will find that the difference in season structure between the two states is the major determining factor when it comes to herd composition. Certainly, there will be other differences, but I doubt that any will have the impact of season structure. I cannot think of one state that holds the general firearms season during the rut (like Minnesota), that produces good numbers of mature bucks. When hunters talk big bucks, the states mentioned most often are Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, and Wisconsin, usually, in that order. The first two, Iowa and Kansas, have December gun seasons. Illinois and Wisconsin kick off their gun seasons late enough in November that the rut is over or nearly over. One hunter’s experience is not conclusive evidence I know, but my own experience with having hunted in southeast Minnesota for more than 30 years, and northeast Iowa for several seasons is, I believe, a valid comparison. In all of the years I have bowhunted in southeast Minnesota I have never taken a buck with antlers large enough to qualify for inclusion in the Pope and Young record book. Personally, having my name in “the book” is not important to me, but we can use the P&Y scoring system as a yardstick. During the first five years that Iowa was open to nonresident hunters, I was fortunate enough to draw three non-resident archery deer tags for northeast Iowa. I drove down from our home in Byron, knocked on doors in the Cresco, Iowa, area and soon had four or five farms to hunt. I scouted, hung my stands and when the rut kicked into gear in November I headed for those stands. All three years I killed bucks with antlers large enough to easily qualify for the Pope and Young record book. Did I just get lucky in Iowa while my luck remained bad in Minnesota? No. The difference was that in Iowa I had numbers of mature bucks to work with. In Minnesota I did not. In fact, most seasons here in my home state, I do not even see a mature buck. Sour grapes? I don’t think so. I’m Minnesota born-and-bred. I’ll continue to hunt here and hunt hard, no matter what the outcome of this study. But I travel a lot to hunt deer. So far, I have hunted whitetail deer in 20 different states and Canadian provinces. When I compare the potential we have in southeast Minnesota with what I see in other places, I know that with some tweaking of the season structure, we could enjoy deer hunting to rival anything to be found anywhere in the country. With Lou Cornicelli at the helm, and Bluffland Whitetails Association on the rudder, this ship is finally headed in the right direction. Here’s hoping it stays on course.
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BWA Board of Directors and CommitteesBWA Board of Directors
Answers to deer hunters quiz: 1) b 2) c 3) c 4) b 5) b 6) c 7) e 8) e 9) c 10) c 11) c 12) d 13) b 14) a 15) a
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I can remember wishing my dad good luck when he left the house to go hunting. I also remember eagerly waiting for him to pull into the driveway and open the front door. If he returned a little late, I soon learned that was a good sign. Either way, there was always a story, and I could hardly wait for my turn to knock an arrow or put my gun in the case and venture out with him. As a 7th grader in 1982, I got my chance. Around 10:00 a.m. opening morning, I had an eight-pointer in my grasp, and I was hooked on hunting. Since that day, many good memories and thrilling hunts have unfolded over the past 20 years of hunting.
Another time, about three years ago in a small woods outside of Eyota, we went out for the evening hunt. I had had a long day at work and was all relaxed in my tree stand listening to the birds and watching the squirrels. It was about one hour to sunset, and I was getting cold, so I did hand signals to Jerome that I was ready to go. As he was lowering his bow, he motioned to me to look down the trail. Yes! There was a deer! My knees were knocking and my heart was beating fast. When the deer was behind a tree, I pulled my bow back (that wasn’t easy with the shaking), and he walked into the clearing about eight yards out. I put my site on the vitals and released. We watched him go 50 yards into the picked bean field and he dropped. I was shaking so much that I had Jerome help me out of the stand. We went to check the shot; I had a double lung shot. This photo is of my first harvest. Jerome said watching me shoot my first deer was just as exciting as shooting his first deer. I must say thank you to Jerome, my hunting buddy, for everything he ever taught me and for his patience. We do a lot of scouting and tracking, and we love the trail cameras. Like any bow hunter, I can’t wait for the season to begin.
White-tailed deer are browsing animals. Their diet includes a large amount of twigs, buds and other woody material. Included in what they eat are many tree seedlings that are planted for reforestation and wildlife habitat. In areas of high density, deer browsing can stunt the growth of desirable hardwood seedlings. In many areas of southeastern Minnesota, the deer population is high enough that planted hardwood seedlings, particularly oak, have a hard time growing above the height that a deer can reach.
