Land & Legacy - Habitat + Hunting

Big timber and rugged terrain. Kyle Lybarger joins Alan Summerford on a property that is in a conservation easement for old growth timber. As we breakdown the property, we discuss issues with allowing timber to mature without disturbance, and addressing the importance of a sound hunting strategy to grow, hold, and harvest mature bucks with consistency. Sometimes habitat whether good or bad isn't the most limiting factor.

This podcast is spitballing! We cover lots of things while coming back from a recent consult with Kyle and Adam. Buckle up!

Last year we had our Nationwide brood habitat contest and it was a success. A lot of great habitat was put on the ground and a lot of great prizes were donated. Should we have another contest this year? Let us know your thoughts!

We're joined by chainsaw Chad on this podcast to discuss recent work at the Whistling Woodlands. We're talking skid steers, quail, turkeys, and all things habitat management.

Changing the growth structure from trees to shrubs by using a chainsaw by felling or girdling will create way more woody browse and structure on the ground than planting any trees! You need to consider the utilization of an existing root system vs a new one establishing itself. In addition, it is critical to understand the difficulty in maintaining quality habitat once trees have been planted. Keep an open mind and really grasp the short- term gains vs. the long term play!

Often times prescribed fire is the technique that gets hired out to contractors by landowners. They think fire is too dangerous, but they forget about the complications of hiring a burn crew to complete the burns. In comparison, most landowners want to tackle the TSI and run a chainsaw because they feel more confident doing so. At the end of the day, they forget that TSI is less commonly used than fire and TSI without follow-up fire is offering half of the value. Learning both TSI and fire is important as a landowner, but if you pick one, pick fire and hire out the TSI!

Duck season has come to an end once again, and several are unhappy with the way their season went and are wondering what’s going on. Today we sit down with Luke Naylor from the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission to discuss Federal parameters, duck numbers, pressure and habitat. Join us as we take a look inside the complexity of how this all works.

Reporting LIVE from the Quest Hunt Co baquest in Springfield, Mo, we answer habitat questions from across the country! We welcome the audience to participate with their habitat related questions, we discuss topics from burning old fields, forbs relative to whitetails diets, sanctuaries, poor forest regeneration, addressing overpopulation of deer, and many more topics. The answers to these questions may surprise you, so listen closely!

It’s no secret that prescribed fire is a great thing for wildlife and that the majority of each state is mostly privately owned. So, the push for more landowners burning each year is vital. Recently there has been some great news for the landowners in Arkansas. Join us as we discuss some regulation changes and a new organization that we are happy to have been a part of. Who knows, maybe you can push to apply some of this in your state.

We cover topics such as intense turkey management, small property management, thinning pines, dense-secure cover, large farm vs. small farm management and much more! If you want to learn more regarding our consultation services, please reach out to us at info@landandlegacy.tv

This is ground-breaking, legacy-minded conservation efforts that will change the environment, water quality, wildlife populations and much more. The H2 program from Roeslein Alternative Energy is making waves to convert prairie and cover crop biomass into natural gas that can be used to fuel America. To discuss this we are joined by Steve Mowry a Land & Legacy client and the Director of this program to discuss the ins and outs of how the program works.We hope that you all join us in the mission to bring 30 million acres back to grasslands in the next 30 years from a dream to a reality. Please share this podcast with landowners who can sign up or make the effort to learn more about this program. Do your part to participate!

Everyone is aware of grade cards, but have you ever applied it to your farm and more specifically to each feature of your farm?

I see this phrase every time I open social media. It seems that no matter where it happens, someone is complaining about the government “ruining their hunting” by logging or TSI work. Today we dive into why timber thinning is necessary, what happens when it isn’t cut and is someone really “lining their pockets” from a timber sale.

On this podcast we discuss a multitude of things we've ran into these last few weeks.

Alan and Brady discuss the steps they are taking with their children to ensure the legacy lives on. They share some great hunts and discuss the steps they took ahead of time to ensure their children were successful and hooked from the beginning.

Landownership can be a long journey for a hunter. You should be prepared for this and all the stages that follow. We discuss this 10 year journey for Ben as he acquires Blackjack, a 42 acre hunting parcel in South Central Iowa. There is also a corresponding successful hunt posted on the Whitetail Properties Youtube page that you will want to watch after hearing this story unfold!

Whether you’ve purchased a new property, or recently decided to start managing a property you’ve had for a while, there are always questions about what to do and where to start. Join us as we break down the steps we like to take when deciding how to get started managing a property for wildlife. And it doesn’t have to be work, we think it’s as fun as the hunt!

On this week's podcast Matt and Brady discuss what the term Diversity actually means! This term has been hijacked over the last few years; the meaning and importance of diversity has been compromised and it's time to set the record straight. Diversity is not crop fields, timber, a creek bottom, and pasture all wrapped up in the boundary of any given property. We are attempting to steer the term "diversity" away from being the next "hinge-cut" buzzword by defining what it is specifically, and what it is not! Diversity is like layers of an onion! It is deep and offers immense variety to vegetative species. forbs, grasses, sedges, shrubs, and trees all arranged in a naturally occurring order. Slope, elevation, canopy opening percentage, etc are all additional variables to how diversity is influenced. Your management plan should consider this greatly if you understand the true meaning of offering diverse habitat on your recreational property.

Options for those seasons when shooter bucks seem scarce or non-existent on your farm. Focusing on antlerless harvest, working on habitat, trying alternative activities to steer deer movements or retain young bucks on your farm. All these are options that can turn a poor season into a great use of your time.

Going from one Tier to another is critical. Most times we see folks applying the right techniques, but all at the wrong times. This leads to poor responses from those techniques. Remember, what you do should build upon what has already been created. Without a foundation of solid habitat, your efforts will be futile.Therefore, be diligent and learn how to properly execute the right habitat management strategies at the proper time. This will graduate the property up the Farm Tier levels we've discussed in Part 1 of this podcast series.