1 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wire to Hunt podcast, your home for 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:11,479 Speaker 1: deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host, 3 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wire to Hunt Podcast. I'm 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: your host, Mark Kenyan, and this is episode number fifty 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: three Tay in the show, We're joined by Dr Jim 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: Browker and we're talking about extreme dear habitat improvements. All right, 7 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: welcome to the Wired to Hunt Podcast. It is a 8 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,160 Speaker 1: beautiful day here in Michigan, and hopefully it is where 9 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: you're at today as well. That said, I'm feeling a 10 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: little lonely here as I'm actually without my trustee co 11 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: host Dan Johnson. But it's not all bad news, as 12 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: Dan's missing the podcast today because his wife just gave 13 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: birth to their son a few days ago. Yep, it 14 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: finally happened, and the little guy is healthy, has a 15 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: full head of hair. Hand, despite what Dan promised me, 16 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,840 Speaker 1: he didn't name him Dallas fort Worth Jr. So I 17 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: know I'm disappointed as well, But nonetheless, Dan ought to 18 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: be back on the show in a couple of weeks. 19 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 1: But it's not just me on the show today, as 20 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,959 Speaker 1: we have a great guest joining us, and that guest 21 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,800 Speaker 1: is Dr Jim Browker. Now I can't remember where I 22 00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: first heard about Jim, but it could have been in 23 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: any number of places. Really. He's been blogging and producing 24 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: videos about deer habitat improvements on his website for some time. 25 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,960 Speaker 1: He's been very active with the Quality Deer Management Association. 26 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 1: He's been a speaker and presenter at various white tail 27 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: and management related events, and most recently he actually released 28 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: his own book called Extreme Dear Habitat. And last year 29 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: I finally got to meet him when I tended a 30 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: Cutium May event at his hunting property where he actually 31 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: gave us all a tour of his property and all 32 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: the different improvements that he had made for deer, and 33 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: needless to say, I was pretty darimpressed. And ever since then, 34 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: I've wanted to get him on the show to share 35 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: his habitat expertise with all of you, and finally now 36 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: it's happening. So that said, we're going to dive deep 37 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: into the habitat improvement projects the gym has used to 38 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: transform his Michigan hunting property into really a deer hunting mecca, 39 00:02:31,560 --> 00:02:33,919 Speaker 1: and we'll discuss all the different tactics that you can 40 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 1: use to on your very own properties. Now quickly, though, 41 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: before we start, I have to apologize in advance for 42 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: some poor audio quality on this episode. My phone connection 43 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: with the gym was just a little shaky, so at 44 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 1: times you might hear some interference. But nonetheless, I know 45 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: what Jim has to offer in the way of white 46 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,400 Speaker 1: tail wisdom is well worth a strained ear. So without 47 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: further ado, let's get Jim on the line, all right 48 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:05,160 Speaker 1: with us online? Now is Jim Browker? Welcome to the show, Jim, Hi, makes, 49 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: how are you doing doing? Doing very well? Um, As 50 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 1: you know, I was sick the past couple of days. 51 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: So today it's it's a much better world. I can 52 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: I can sit here and comfort again, and I feel 53 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: like I'm about to keel over dead. So it's a 54 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 1: good day. I have to tell you. You may hear 55 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: me coughing a little bit, a little bit of a 56 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 1: dry through, so no problem. I think it's going around 57 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,960 Speaker 1: those days. Yeah, i'd have a cough for a few 58 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: days now, Yeah, that's no fun. Well, just before I 59 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: got you on the line, I gave our listeners a 60 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: kind of a brief introduction into who you are and 61 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: how I heard about you. Um, but you know, for 62 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:39,839 Speaker 1: those that aren't familiar, can you give us a little 63 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:41,960 Speaker 1: bit of background into what it does you do today 64 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: and how you got into this world of white tail 65 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: habitat improvement. Well, I was a deer hunter for you know, 66 00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: ever since I was a teenager. I'm sixty five years 67 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: old now, uh and I was part of the Orange 68 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,840 Speaker 1: Army really for most of those years. I both hunted 69 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: a little bit when I was young, um, really most 70 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: of my hunting because I got my PhD at Michigan 71 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: State University in nineteen and I um, after that, I 72 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: lived out of state. I lived in California, I lived 73 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: in Illinois, I lived in Arizona, and then I lived 74 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: back in California again. And hunting for me was really 75 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: a family experience. I would fly back home, like November four, 76 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: get together with family. The next morning we be out 77 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: there on a bucket. Or when they began to allow 78 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: you to hut from trees, we built these big wooden 79 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: tree stands in the trees and we'd sit out there 80 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 1: and uh. So that that was really my hunting experience 81 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: for thirty to forty years, and it really wasn't until 82 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: I retired in two thousand six. I retired as a 83 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: biomedical scientists. I was living in San Diego. I moved 84 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:54,040 Speaker 1: back to Michigan and I bought some property and it 85 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: was around them that I was first introduced to the 86 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: idea of quality beer management. It all started. We were 87 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: heard just a typical Michigan farm family hunting situations for 88 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: all those years, for all those decades. If I saw 89 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 1: a buck with legal antlers, I was shooting. That was it. 90 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: Um that that was the situation for the whole family, 91 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: and that was a situation for most of the people 92 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: around this neighborhood here that I live in now there Atison, 93 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: Michigan and Um. One day we had a wounded thought 94 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: that we were following, and I walked up on neighbor's 95 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: property line. I was pacing back and forth, and this 96 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: guy came out. His name was Eric, and I've known 97 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: Eric for quite a few years now, but at that 98 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: time you seem like a really strange character to me, 99 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: because he came over and said, you know, UM, you 100 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:48,520 Speaker 1: really can't track that there in my property. You can 101 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: go across this field here, but if he goes into Santuary, 102 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 1: you're gonna have to wait until after dark. And I 103 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: said what's a sanctuary. And I'll tell you Mark, I 104 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,839 Speaker 1: was completely ignorant about all the keep the young stuff 105 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: up until the time I was fifty five or fifty six, 106 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,239 Speaker 1: and I knew I wanted to get into deer hunting 107 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: and um uh in a serious way, but I didn't 108 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: know where to go. And Eric was a guy that 109 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: kind of started me on my pathway to understanding that 110 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: there was a different way to deer hunt. We talked, 111 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: and um we ended up tracking that deer in his 112 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: property and it came back out. But over the next 113 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: two weeks, Eric and I had several conversations over the 114 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: phone when he was telling me this stuff that he 115 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: was trying to grow bucks on his property and he 116 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: was trying to, uh, you know, only shoot mature deer 117 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: and he was letting the young deers go. And I 118 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: had no idea what he was talking about. And I 119 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: even told him, you know, I don't think you're gonna 120 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: be able to do that as long as you have 121 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:50,600 Speaker 1: neighbors like us, because the first thing we see and 122 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,280 Speaker 1: uh uh. And I later learned a couple of years 123 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,080 Speaker 1: later that I made him so depressed that he thought 124 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: about selling us property and moving the eye or somewhere 125 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 1: and buying property there. But really it was the other 126 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: way around. UM. I didn't convince him that he couldn't 127 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 1: be successful. He started me on a pathway to um 128 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: being successful myself and changing the way I thought about 129 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: deer hunts. And really the next step in that moving 130 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,680 Speaker 1: from an Orange Army guy to a deer habitat guy 131 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: was meeting my friend Jake Killinger at um UM party 132 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: for I think was my wife and his thirtieth U 133 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: anniversary UH high school graduation, and we're standing an environment 134 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: manitou in down the road here and I met him 135 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: and he invited me over to his property and he 136 00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: showed me his log book from the prior year, and 137 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: my experience marked up until then was we was deer 138 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: hunt and if we were going to see a buckle, 139 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,560 Speaker 1: is probably gonna be on opening morning in the first 140 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: two hours, and after that it was going to be 141 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: hard to see a bot because we walked back there 142 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,160 Speaker 1: on the property and we ruined our deer hunt with 143 00:08:00,600 --> 00:08:03,920 Speaker 1: four set control, poor stand approach. We'd hunt the same 144 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: stands day after day after day, and we just ruined 145 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: our hunting. And Jake invited me over to his property, 146 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: gave me a property tour, and I saw his log 147 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: book from the year before, and he had passed seven 148 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: bucks on opening morning November fifteen, the year before, and 149 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: it hit me like a diamond bullet in the forehead. 150 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: Uh that ah there. It wasn't a problem seeing deer 151 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: in my neighborhood. He was only a mile as the 152 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: crow flies from my house. The problem was with me, 153 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: and I was ruining my deer hunting. And that started 154 00:08:36,160 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: me on a journey, and I published a book this year. 155 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:43,679 Speaker 1: It felt extreme their habitant, how to shape your deer 156 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,200 Speaker 1: property with a chainsaw. And that journey was seven years 157 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: um learning everything I possibly could about deer hunting from 158 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: everybody I could possibly think of. To learn it, I 159 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: drove out and visited grant Wood's property. I took Tony L. 160 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,079 Speaker 1: Pratt's class, I took the deer Stewart classes. I worked 161 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: with Jake and other guys like my card just and 162 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:07,439 Speaker 1: learned and learned and learned. And so I come at 163 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 1: this deer hunting thing and writing my book not as 164 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: a expert deer hunter. I am not an expert deer hunter. 165 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: What I am is an average guy who figured out 166 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 1: how to deer hunt, and I'm teaching other people that 167 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 1: if I can do it, anybody can. And I've been 168 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: very successful the last few years with my deer hunting, 169 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,160 Speaker 1: but it's only because I changed everything about what I uh, 170 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: what I did, and how I approached deer hunting on 171 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: my small properties. And so I come um to this 172 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:41,559 Speaker 1: deer hunting world not as an expert deer hunter, but 173 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:45,719 Speaker 1: as kind of a journalist or a scholar who decided 174 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:49,280 Speaker 1: after I got done. I approached it, uh this just 175 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: as I did any other project that I had in 176 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:56,240 Speaker 1: my scientific career. I approached it as a project. I 177 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: was gonna learn this, I was going to figure it out, 178 00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: and h then I was you know, I did really 179 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: didn't know in the beginning, but I ended up then 180 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: teaching other people that if I can do, what they can. 181 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: And so that's kind of where I'm at today. I've 182 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: read my book and I'm trying to help other hunters 183 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 1: to have the kind of experience that I'm having today. 184 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 1: That's awesome, I think that's I think that's an inspiring 185 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: story for a lot of people who probably were in 186 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: very similar situations to your own. I mean, I grew 187 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 1: up in a similar situation to that, UM with the 188 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:28,080 Speaker 1: Orange Army and just kind of shooting the first thing 189 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: you saw. And uh, you know, just by diving in, 190 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 1: you know, head first and learning everything you possibly could, 191 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,199 Speaker 1: you've been able to change your situation. And I think 192 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: that's something that so many other people need to hear 193 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:41,800 Speaker 1: and and remember that. It doesn't you don't need to 194 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: be born into deer owning royalty or you know, being 195 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: a perfect situation with thousands of acres of property or 196 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: know everything. You just need to try hard, learn a lot, 197 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 1: and give it your best shot, and you can you 198 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:58,120 Speaker 1: have that, you can have a much better quality. Anybody 199 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: can have a much better quality. Dr hunting expres even 200 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: on a very small property. Most of the things that 201 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,679 Speaker 1: go wrong with deer hunting where people go out there 202 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:10,599 Speaker 1: and say all day and don't see anything in most situations, 203 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:16,440 Speaker 1: they've created that. Yeah, so i'll post approach from that 204 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: sort of thing. Yeah. So there's about a million things 205 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:22,079 Speaker 1: I want to dive into that you've already touched on here, UM, 206 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: but I think I want to start at the very 207 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,880 Speaker 1: beginning with something you mentioned being the book you recently 208 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:30,160 Speaker 1: released earlier this year. I think it was extreme dear habitat. 209 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: So what do you mean by that extreme dear habitat? 210 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: What does that mean? Well? Um, the reason I named 211 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:43,720 Speaker 1: the book Extreme Deer Habitat is because that's what I'm practicing. 212 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:51,479 Speaker 1: I'm practicing something different than most q DM practitioners practice. UM. 213 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: The problem UM that I see when if you want 214 00:11:55,920 --> 00:12:00,960 Speaker 1: to optimize your deer hunting, you don't want to listen 215 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: or follow the principles that are usually talked about in 216 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: Quality Deer Management. And I'm not talking all of the principles, 217 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: but some of the principles. And the reason is that, 218 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: UM people tend to when they start out getting into 219 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: q d M and they've got let's say they've got 220 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:26,559 Speaker 1: a forty acre property and it has a ten acre 221 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: woodline on it. Uh, they get on the q DM 222 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: A forums and they say, oh, I got my little 223 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 1: slice of heaven? What do I do with it now? 224 00:12:33,400 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: And you'll have ten guys come up and say, well, 225 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: you need to hire a forester. And UM, if you 226 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,319 Speaker 1: hire a forester, what he's going to teach you how 227 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: to do is grow trees. And as long as you're 228 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: growing trees, the leaves are more than four ft off 229 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: the ground. You're not. You're you're being suboptimal for deer habitat. 230 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: So extreme deer habitat means that you've decided that you 231 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: bought your property mainly for deer hunting. That doesn't mean 232 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: you're not going to use it for a dozen other things, 233 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,600 Speaker 1: and it doesn't mean you're not gonna grow some timber 234 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,439 Speaker 1: on it. But it means you've fought through what's most 235 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,320 Speaker 1: important to you about your property. So if I have 236 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: a forty acre property and has a ten acre um 237 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,520 Speaker 1: woods on, I'm not going to manage that woods to 238 00:13:20,640 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: grow trees and harvest them every twenty or thirty years. 239 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: I'm gonna grow it. I'm going to manage it so 240 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: that I can harvest a deer that's in the upper 241 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: ten percent of the deer in the property every year. 242 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 1: And I'm going to manage it very much differently than 243 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: I would if I'm doing timber stand improvement and timber management. 244 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: So that's really the basis for where I says extreme 245 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:47,199 Speaker 1: deer habitat is taking your woods and turning it into 246 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,319 Speaker 1: an old field type habitat. I visit lots of properties 247 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: in Michigan and elsewhere in the Midwest and uh and 248 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,440 Speaker 1: throughout the country. And the typical thing I see is 249 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: a woods or wood lot that is useless or deer. 250 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: It has canopy of trees. The trees are all grown up. 251 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: They're going too close together. It's not good for timber management. 252 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,079 Speaker 1: It's not good for deer huntings. You can improve it 253 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,640 Speaker 1: by doing timber management. So if you do timber stand improvement, 254 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: you thin out those trees, the woods will be thicker, 255 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: but you will not have optimized that woods. If you 256 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 1: want to optimize the woods, you're going to take out 257 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: most of the large trees. You're gonna hinge cut the understory, 258 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: and you're going to create deer habitat, which means that 259 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: you cannot see more than twenty or thirty yards to 260 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: it in the dead of winter. That's the kind of 261 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: woods the deer wants to be in, especially a mature deer. 262 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: In h hunting seasons, hunters tend and I tended to 263 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 1: do this for many decades. They tend to want to 264 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: be in a spot they've got a rifle in their hands, 265 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,120 Speaker 1: let's say, are they've got a shotgun and they can 266 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:01,560 Speaker 1: shoot that gun seventy to or even three yards, and 267 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: they want to be in a wide open spot where 268 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 1: they can see to shoot those deer, and they think 269 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: they'll see and shoot more deer if they do that. 270 00:15:07,320 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: It's absolutely false. And if you're in a pressured area 271 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: like Pennsylvania, in Michigan or Wisconsin, you're probably not going 272 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,000 Speaker 1: to see any deer during hunting season if you put 273 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: yourself in a spot where you can see that far, 274 00:15:19,360 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: or if you do see them, you're not going to 275 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: see a mature deer. But we're really taking our property 276 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: and creating as dense and thick a habitat as we 277 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: possibly can, and that's an extreme deer habitat. There's nothing 278 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: wrong whatsoever with somebody deciding that they want to manage 279 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: their property for timber, But once they do that, they 280 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: have to understand that they're not managing it optimally for deer. 281 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: There may improve it for deer, they're not managing and 282 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: not optimally. So that's what I mean by extreme dear habitat, 283 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: and I call it the timber improvement. I call it 284 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: extreme deer habitat improvements. So when we do that, yeah, 285 00:15:57,360 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: go ahead. So I was going to say, I can 286 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: definitely test to to what you just said about the 287 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: things you're doing. Because I was fortunate enough last spring 288 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: to get to attend a CUTIU May event on your 289 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: property where you actually give us a tour of your 290 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: own property, and myself and a friend that came women 291 00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: that we were both amazed by the amount of work 292 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: you have done in your timber um. Just a tremendous 293 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: amount of number of projects that you did and a 294 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: lot of different things that went on in there. And 295 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: it seemed, you know what, kind of fascinating me the 296 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: most was that it all seemed to be with a purpose. 297 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:30,880 Speaker 1: It didn't seem like you were going there and cutting 298 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: anything haphazardly. It seemed like you really looked at everything 299 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: on your property strategically and you thought about how all 300 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: these different things would work together to achieve your goal. Yeah, 301 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: I had a number of people want that property with me, 302 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,080 Speaker 1: and I got ideas from as many people as I 303 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: couldn't laid it out with a plan about exactly how 304 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: we were going to make the deer move on that property. 305 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: So so that said, then Jim to I guess start 306 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:58,200 Speaker 1: us off this journey where I really want to go 307 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:00,360 Speaker 1: deep into all this, But can you take Guess to 308 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: the very beginning in your case with your property. But 309 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: let's talk about how this might be applicable as someone 310 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: else's listening right now, maybe they have their own forty acres. 311 00:17:08,840 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 1: How do you start this process? You've got a blank 312 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: slate essentially, how do you look at your property and 313 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: then start making decisions? You know, what do I do? 314 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 1: How do I start? Well? The property event you UM 315 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: did the tour that That is a forty eight five 316 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 1: acre piece that we did the tour on, which is 317 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: part of a larger hunt. I bought eight five acres 318 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:32,119 Speaker 1: of that in two thousand and seven. And when you 319 00:17:32,119 --> 00:17:36,120 Speaker 1: would go out and hunt in that property, I could 320 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: sit there was a twenty five acre crop field and 321 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: I could see um. Typically every evening, around an hour 322 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: before dark, I would see three doll families come out 323 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:49,199 Speaker 1: into that field, and UM, they would each be in 324 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:52,120 Speaker 1: a separate corner. And two of those doll families lived 325 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: on my neighbor's property and one of them lived on 326 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 1: my property. But if I wanted to hunt those three 327 00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: doll families, I wouldn't have to to trade my property 328 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:03,119 Speaker 1: hundreds of yards in. So I would be doing it 329 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,640 Speaker 1: like a traditional hunter does, which is to find out 330 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 1: what the natural pattern of the deer is and then 331 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:15,600 Speaker 1: set up in between the betting areas and the food. 332 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:18,159 Speaker 1: And that's what hunters do when they go up in 333 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: the National Forest or State forest and Northern Michigan and 334 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,640 Speaker 1: they go out in scout and they find out where 335 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:25,840 Speaker 1: the deer betting, and they find out where the deer feeding, 336 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:28,320 Speaker 1: and they sit in between those areas and and if 337 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: you're really good at it, you can move in on 338 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:32,840 Speaker 1: the betting areas and you can do all the fats. 339 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: These expert hunters uh like um uh, you know, these 340 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: skilled state land hunters like John Um. I'm having a 341 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 1: mental block um the little bow hunting for white tails. 342 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:55,520 Speaker 1: But his expert hunters like John Um, they can go 343 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: out and scout deer and then move in on them 344 00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:58,960 Speaker 1: in Kelvin. And that's what you would have to do 345 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: on a property like that, uh, is to figure out 346 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 1: where the deer movie. So what did we do Without 347 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,600 Speaker 1: forty five acres? I bought in additional forty five acres. 348 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,199 Speaker 1: They had a wood and an old field next to 349 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,880 Speaker 1: the woods, and that woods was useless for deer hunting. 350 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 1: You could see three hundred yards through it. So we 351 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,080 Speaker 1: went and we decided we're going to create a situation 352 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: where instead of having to scalp the deer and figure 353 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 1: out where they're coming onto the property, we're going to 354 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 1: create a betting situation on this forty five acres, and 355 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 1: we're going to create a feeding situation in five acres, 356 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 1: but we're going to create transitional zones in between, and 357 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:43,199 Speaker 1: then we're gonna try to harvest deer in between the 358 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 1: betting and food. So the first thing we had to 359 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: do is go in and cut that woods. And I 360 00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 1: took um timber out of that woods. I took about 361 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: seventy five logs out of it and sold. I got 362 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,080 Speaker 1: good money for the black walnut, and I got almost 363 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:03,120 Speaker 1: nothing for um the other trees, which were hard maples 364 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:06,400 Speaker 1: and soft maples and ash trees and that sort of thing. 365 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,320 Speaker 1: But um, we got all that cleared out, and then 366 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:11,639 Speaker 1: we went in enhance, cut in and created betting areas 367 00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: in there, and I go into link. There's three chapters 368 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,480 Speaker 1: in my book about how to use the chainsaw to 369 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: improve their habitat and how to create those betting areas. 370 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 1: So we hinge cut that woods and now we can 371 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: house three to five doll families on that forty five acres. 372 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:34,479 Speaker 1: Instead of only hunting for three doll families that are 373 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: spread out all over an eighty five acre piece, we're 374 00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 1: taking them in, concentrating them down, and getting them to 375 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,959 Speaker 1: bed on that area by creating the habitat that they 376 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 1: want to bet in. And that's just one little corner 377 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: of the property. So that other eighty five acres that 378 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: I originally brought also has three other sections just like that, 379 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: each of which have their own betting, each of which 380 00:20:54,119 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: have their own food sources in each of which have 381 00:20:56,320 --> 00:20:59,680 Speaker 1: ambushed our locations in between. But we are not going 382 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: out and gulling the property and figuring out how to 383 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: hunt it. We're telling the deer exactly where to bed, 384 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: and then we're setting up on the exact path that 385 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: we know they're going to take the food. Because dear 386 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: only there's really only three things that that dear do. 387 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:21,440 Speaker 1: They sleep, they eat, and for one day a year, 388 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: two days a year that those are interested insects. The 389 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,480 Speaker 1: box are interested insects for three or four months. But 390 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:30,680 Speaker 1: those are the only three things that are in their world. 391 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: That's all their interestedness is procreation, food, embedding. And so 392 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:38,680 Speaker 1: if you understand those three things that are driving them. 393 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: You can set your property up to get the deer 394 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: to move exactly the way you want, so um going 395 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: into a woods like that one of the things that 396 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 1: a landowner has to think about. And this is why 397 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,960 Speaker 1: I caution people unless you want to, unless your main 398 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: reason for owning the properties and grow trees, don't bring 399 00:21:56,720 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: a forester in first, because the forester is going to 400 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,520 Speaker 1: tell you that you want to preserve. For example, black 401 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 1: wallnut's on my property, I have v nearer. I have 402 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,880 Speaker 1: the neer black walnut logs that I could get three 403 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: to five dollars for. If you want to do that 404 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:16,640 Speaker 1: and wait another fifteen or twenty years for the next harvest, 405 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: that's great, but you're not gonna optimize der hambitat because 406 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: a black walnut does zero for deer habitat. In fact, 407 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: it's a negative black walnut. That most priced tree that 408 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,160 Speaker 1: I cut in my work is useless for deer habitat. 409 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: In fact, it's a negative for deer habitat. And the 410 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,240 Speaker 1: reason for that is one, if I'm going to grow 411 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 1: a tree and get it to be big and tall 412 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:40,639 Speaker 1: and straight, it's going to have a big canopy and 413 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:43,400 Speaker 1: it's going to shave things out under it. The second 414 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: thing is that it creates. It produces a toxin to 415 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:56,440 Speaker 1: other plants, a earth side called juglan, which is released 416 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,560 Speaker 1: all around the drip line of the tree so that 417 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: plants don't grow up very well underneath it. There are 418 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: a lot of species that are suppressed. So the most 419 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 1: price tree in my woods or ember is the least 420 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: price tree for deer. Now, um that forrester will tell you, 421 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:19,960 Speaker 1: you know, you've got some molaries going up there, you 422 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: need to kill them. You've got some bass woods growing here, 423 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:28,359 Speaker 1: you need to kill them. Uh and uh, you know, 424 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,440 Speaker 1: um a variety of other trees that are not prized. 425 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: Those are baselard tree is golden candy to a deer. 426 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,639 Speaker 1: It's chocolate candy to a deer. There's nothing more I 427 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,000 Speaker 1: want in deer habitat than if I cut a baslard tree. 428 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,800 Speaker 1: Then they have basswood shoots growing up from the stump. 429 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:49,480 Speaker 1: But the forester is going to tell you to kill 430 00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,760 Speaker 1: that because it's competing with the black walnuts or the 431 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,919 Speaker 1: white hulks or whatever other trees they priced. So the 432 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: list of trees that you would make on your property 433 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 1: that you want to propagate or timber is it probably 434 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:06,200 Speaker 1: a completely different list of trees then you would want 435 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: to propagate for deer. And if the junk trees for 436 00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,520 Speaker 1: the most part that we want for deer, hambitats, the 437 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:17,280 Speaker 1: box elder tree, the mulberry tree, the basswood tree. So 438 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:20,800 Speaker 1: when we go into that woods, we're thinking completely differently 439 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 1: about it because I only ownty acres there. I'm not 440 00:24:25,960 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 1: going I'm going to go in and take the timber 441 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,720 Speaker 1: out of that twelve acre woods. And that's the last 442 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: time I remember going to grow timber in it because 443 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 1: I prized deer more than I do timber. And so, uh, 444 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: you know, we create that betting area where we're optimizing. 445 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 1: And now you know, if you look at that area, 446 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,479 Speaker 1: there are hundreds of basswoods growing in it. They've been 447 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: going there the last um, you know, the youngest basswood 448 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: in that woods was probably fifty years old. And the 449 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,840 Speaker 1: reasons there were no deer fifty years ago in southern 450 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,199 Speaker 1: Michigan to speak of. They started growing up, you know, 451 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:06,119 Speaker 1: in the nineteen sixties. And once um, the deer population 452 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,400 Speaker 1: goes up, you can't grow a bastoot tree. They love 453 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,440 Speaker 1: them too much. They eat all those bassoods. When you 454 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: come in and get rid of all the other trees 455 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: that are shading things. Now I have hundreds of bath 456 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:18,440 Speaker 1: foot ceilings coming up in there, and I can feed 457 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: those geer. I've taken that woods which probably produced about 458 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:27,399 Speaker 1: one two hundred pounds of woody brows per year, and 459 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: I'm now probably producing somewhere in the realm of two 460 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,520 Speaker 1: thousand pounds breakers. So I've got ten times as much 461 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 1: food for the deer there, and it's food they badly need, 462 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,320 Speaker 1: because the thing that's most lacking on these farms in 463 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,920 Speaker 1: southern Michigan is wooden brows, which has to be uh 464 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,359 Speaker 1: close to years diet. I'm providing that for them my 465 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: neighbor's signs. So to start with, that's the betting part 466 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: of the woods. We want to have a betting area 467 00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: with lots of cover. The deer can't see more than 468 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: thirty yards. They're safe in there, they're secure. We have 469 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:03,359 Speaker 1: lots of spots raked out for them to lay down in, 470 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 1: and um there's lots of brows in there. Because the 471 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,280 Speaker 1: dull family wants to be in a spot where the 472 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: funds can eat during the daytime. If they're in a 473 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,439 Speaker 1: barren spot that doesn't have any food, those spots are 474 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:19,320 Speaker 1: going to get up and move away and try and 475 00:26:19,359 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 1: find the nearest foods. So we're providing lots of food, 476 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: but it's not the highest quality food now, Jim, Yeah, alright, alright, 477 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,679 Speaker 1: if yours bringing my back talk, no, no, I love it. 478 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: I want to I want to ask you a quick 479 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,919 Speaker 1: kind of fault question then before we leave this topic, 480 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: when it comes to creating these really thick betting years 481 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: that you're talking about here, Um, you know, there's there's 482 00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,159 Speaker 1: a lot of different ways I've heard about doing this. 483 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: You can hinge cut, you can clear cut, you can 484 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:50,400 Speaker 1: crush brush, you can selective harvest. You know, what would 485 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: you recommend the right option to be of all these 486 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:55,640 Speaker 1: different ways you can improve a timber stand? What's your 487 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,800 Speaker 1: your improvement of choice? Well, um, you know, the biggest 488 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,000 Speaker 1: thing in states like Michigan and in really over the 489 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: last um several hundred years has been clear cutting. Clear 490 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: Cutting is just a wonderful thing that you can do 491 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: to improve your habitat. And um clear cutting and um 492 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 1: deforestation was responsible for creating the heyday of Northern Michigan 493 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: deer hunting. But um, not enough of it's being done today. 494 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:25,840 Speaker 1: Clear cutting is great, but when you clear cut and 495 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 1: you remove everything, you have to wait three to five 496 00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:35,800 Speaker 1: years to get re establishment, regeneration of uh the understory. 497 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: What you want to create and what clear cutting, for example, creates, 498 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,280 Speaker 1: is an environment where three to five years later you 499 00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:46,399 Speaker 1: have this thousand to two thousand pounds per acre of 500 00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,879 Speaker 1: woody browsing. You have all this cover, but it takes 501 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: that long to do it. Enge cutting is something that 502 00:27:54,280 --> 00:27:58,720 Speaker 1: you can go into a woods that's open and park 503 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 1: like and that night you can have provided betting for 504 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 1: deer by hinge cutting those trees because you're leaving the 505 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,680 Speaker 1: structure behind. The only difference between hinge cutting and clear 506 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: cutting is with hinge cutting, you're cutting the tree about 507 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,879 Speaker 1: through the tree and getting it to fall over and 508 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,800 Speaker 1: keep it alive, and you're leaving that structure there. What 509 00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 1: you're doing, and Dr James Curl talks about this a 510 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,480 Speaker 1: lot is moving the food from the top of the 511 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: canopy fifty ft off the ground down to five feet 512 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:33,640 Speaker 1: and lowers and both a number of these techniques will 513 00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,400 Speaker 1: do it. Timber stand improvement classical timber stand improvement will 514 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: improve the amount of food and cover in the understory. 515 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:47,280 Speaker 1: H hinge cutting will improve it infinitely more um to 516 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: the maximum amount that you can possibly do. Clear Cutting 517 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: will do the same thing, but the differences you have 518 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: to wait three to five years for clear cutting. And 519 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: I've even seen areas in northern Michigan and high populations 520 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: of deer up and Northeast Michigan and the TV zone 521 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: where people have clear cut seven years ago and the 522 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: deer do not let the stuff re established. They come 523 00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: in winter and chew it all back down to three 524 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: or four inches. Or you can do a clear cut 525 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,600 Speaker 1: and never ever haven't regenerate, depending on what the size 526 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: of population is. The difference hinge cutting is Um you've 527 00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:23,440 Speaker 1: tipped a tree over. Uh, it's it's still alive. It 528 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 1: has a giant roofs system still feeding it, and it's 529 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,080 Speaker 1: bringing up nutrients from way down below the soil. And 530 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: Uh you have an instant cover. So deer will come in. 531 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: I swear mark they in the winter when we're hinge cutting. 532 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:41,320 Speaker 1: They hear the chainsaw running and they're waiting, waiting, waiting 533 00:29:41,600 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 1: uh to get in there. Uh. The record UM for 534 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: doing a hinge cut in January was last year. We 535 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: had deer yarding in the area, and from the time 536 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: I stopped sawing and walked away, it was six minutes 537 00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:57,240 Speaker 1: later that there were deer in their feeding. So, Um, 538 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 1: if I skidded all those trees out in a clear cut, 539 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: there wouldn't be anything there for the deer for the 540 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 1: next couple of years. On small properties where you have 541 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: the small wood lots that we have here in southern Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 542 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,560 Speaker 1: you name it, Iowa. The hinge cutting I think is 543 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:23,920 Speaker 1: usually going to benefit you more than either a t 544 00:30:24,120 --> 00:30:26,640 Speaker 1: s I or a clear cutting. Well, so would that 545 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: be the case then, Jim, When it comes to hinge cutting, 546 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:31,720 Speaker 1: this is the topic that has been been getting talked 547 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: about quite a bit the last you know, five years 548 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:36,000 Speaker 1: or so or maybe longer. Um. And I've I've even 549 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:37,760 Speaker 1: tried and had some success with it, but I know 550 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 1: I could have done it better. Um. You're a guy 551 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: who I know has really become an expert on hinge cutting. 552 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: You've you've given demonstrations and UM, you know talk to 553 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:49,400 Speaker 1: numerous people about how best to do this. So can 554 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: you walk us through in detail how do you perform 555 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,680 Speaker 1: a perfect hinge cut? Well, then let me talk about 556 00:30:57,680 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: the mistake that most people make. There are two or 557 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:03,920 Speaker 1: three major mistakes they make. People cut too far through 558 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: the tree. Most of the time. What you want to 559 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: do when you hinge cut is make a perfectly flat 560 00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:13,400 Speaker 1: back cut, go about se of the way through the 561 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: tree maximum. Uh. Let's suppose the tree is leaning forwards. 562 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,800 Speaker 1: And let's suppose you have a six inch diameter tree 563 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,320 Speaker 1: and it's leaning forward. What people tend to do is 564 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 1: cut into the tree and keep cutting until that tree 565 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: starts to fall over. Um. That's fine if you want 566 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,440 Speaker 1: to tree a break off and fall on the ground, 567 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 1: But if you want to tree to remain attacked. Uh. 568 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: And by the way, I do those kind of cuts 569 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: a lot a lot of times, I'll come into the 570 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 1: woods and I'll just cut with the lean of the 571 00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 1: tree and let them fall over. And I don't care 572 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 1: if the tree survives or not because I'm trying to 573 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: get out the canopy, or I have some other reason. 574 00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: I'm trying to create a bar years own or something 575 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: like that. But if I want to preserve the tree, 576 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:55,160 Speaker 1: I'm not going to cut until it falls on its own. 577 00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: That's the number one mistake. People want to make it 578 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 1: easy for themselves. They want to cut through the tree 579 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: and have a fall of its lean and it falls 580 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 1: over and they go boys, those darn maple trees just 581 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 1: don't hold together. Well, yes, maple trees do hold together, 582 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,680 Speaker 1: even soft maple, silver maples and things like that. But 583 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: you have to stop before the tree falls on its 584 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,480 Speaker 1: own and make the tree go over. And so if 585 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: I have a forward leaning tree, I'm going to cut 586 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: through until I know I'm just about to the point 587 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,200 Speaker 1: where that tree wants to release, and then I stopped. 588 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:28,520 Speaker 1: And if that tree leaning backwards, I do the same thing. 589 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: And I have um uh in my book illustrations of 590 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 1: this where I cut into a tree and the tree 591 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,800 Speaker 1: wants to fall back towards me. I stopped cutting before 592 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: it falls back towards me. And I'm going to get 593 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 1: that tree to make a soft fall. And I'm going 594 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:45,840 Speaker 1: to do that one of two ways, either using a 595 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,320 Speaker 1: wedge uh. And you can buy these wedges at Tractors 596 00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: Supply and you can buying from Cheryl Tree. There are 597 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,360 Speaker 1: lots of sources for these plastic wedges. A plastic wedge 598 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,720 Speaker 1: will move the top of a fifty foot tall tree 599 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,720 Speaker 1: up to twelve depending on the diamond of the tree. 600 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: So a tree can be leaning back quite a bit 601 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:06,880 Speaker 1: and you can move it and tip it over by 602 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:11,400 Speaker 1: using a wedge. In fact, almost every tree I cut, 603 00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:13,840 Speaker 1: if I'm not sure that it ASTs forwardly, it's going 604 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:15,720 Speaker 1: to get a wedge in behind my saw as soon 605 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: as I can. If it's a smaller tree, we're gonna 606 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: cut about sev the way through. It's not going to 607 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: fall over even if it's leaning forward, it's not going 608 00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,080 Speaker 1: to fall back onto my so office leaning back because 609 00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: I'm stopping soon enough, and I'm using that wedge, or 610 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:32,800 Speaker 1: I'm using a very powerful tool called a hinge tool, 611 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: and these are available here in Michigan from a couple 612 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:40,000 Speaker 1: of different sources. It's about I don't remember how long. 613 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:43,960 Speaker 1: It is, twelve ft or so long, uh ten twelve 614 00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 1: ft long, and it's got a hook on one end 615 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 1: that you can pull a tree over with, or it's 616 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:51,080 Speaker 1: got a reverse hook that you can push a tree 617 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: over with. And that's how we're gonna get the tree downe. 618 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:59,840 Speaker 1: And by stopping, we're um we we're by stopping before 619 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,960 Speaker 1: the tree falls over in its own we're leaving enough 620 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:07,160 Speaker 1: wood so that the tree is going to hold together 621 00:34:07,160 --> 00:34:09,800 Speaker 1: when we push it over, it have a much higher 622 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:14,279 Speaker 1: probability holding together. The other thing we are doing is 623 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:16,680 Speaker 1: we're always trying to get that tree to have a 624 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: soft landing. If that tree falls all on its own 625 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:22,840 Speaker 1: in the top, it's the ground, it propagates an energy 626 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:24,760 Speaker 1: wave and sends it back up the trunk and breaks 627 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:28,920 Speaker 1: loose the hinge. So we wanted to fall, and we 628 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,839 Speaker 1: oftentimes landed on another tree that we've already cut the 629 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 1: top of the tree or the trunk, or we're brushing 630 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: it down through smaller trees and getting it to fall 631 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,960 Speaker 1: as slowly as we can. If you want your hinge 632 00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:46,720 Speaker 1: to hold together, that's how you're gonna accomplish that. Okay, 633 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,480 Speaker 1: So kind of tying up things with hinge cutting. Here 634 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:52,960 Speaker 1: I knew or what I've seen you do on when 635 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,160 Speaker 1: I toured the property was he used his hinge cuts 636 00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 1: and other improvements to actually make individual buckbeds. It looked 637 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:01,239 Speaker 1: like betting areas on your property. Can you tell us 638 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:04,520 Speaker 1: why you make those individual beds and then how do 639 00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:08,719 Speaker 1: you specifically do that? Well, we we make the main 640 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 1: focuses on dough beds. We want dose to be betting 641 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:15,359 Speaker 1: in the property. And let me just parenthetically talk about 642 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:18,320 Speaker 1: quality deer management. I think one of the greatest sorrows 643 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:25,000 Speaker 1: in hunting is that most hunting is taught by trophy hunters, 644 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,080 Speaker 1: and they have almost nothing to teach the average hunter 645 00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: that's gonna walk back on his fort acre property. They 646 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:35,200 Speaker 1: have almost nothing to teach because the techniques that they're 647 00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:38,440 Speaker 1: using the properties are hunting on have nothing to do 648 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,080 Speaker 1: with what the average guy. This average guy wants to 649 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:43,759 Speaker 1: walk back in his property and hunt, you know, eight 650 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:46,680 Speaker 1: or ten or twelve times. And you have expert deer 651 00:35:46,719 --> 00:35:50,120 Speaker 1: hunters that you've interviewed who say, you know, I only 652 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:51,680 Speaker 1: hunt a spot tour or three times because i know 653 00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:53,279 Speaker 1: I'm gonna wreck it and I'm going to move on 654 00:35:53,320 --> 00:35:55,800 Speaker 1: to the next big buck in the next county or whatever. 655 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:01,239 Speaker 1: Guys like Dan Infall great hunters. But you know, the 656 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:05,120 Speaker 1: average guy did not scout out thirty different bucks all 657 00:36:05,160 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 1: around the state of Wisconsin, and he's gonna hot one 658 00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:09,560 Speaker 1: for two or three days and then he's going to 659 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:11,880 Speaker 1: move to another county and hunt the other buck that 660 00:36:11,960 --> 00:36:14,319 Speaker 1: he's scouted the end of the county. Because he's out 661 00:36:14,320 --> 00:36:16,839 Speaker 1: there two hundred days a year scounting. This guy wants 662 00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:19,520 Speaker 1: to walk back in his property and hunt the same 663 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,680 Speaker 1: stand eight, ten, twelve times during gun season and still 664 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:26,440 Speaker 1: see deer. And so for that, you're not controlling the bucks. 665 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,680 Speaker 1: You're controlling the dolls that I call quality deer hunting. 666 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,600 Speaker 1: We have quality deer management, but I haven't seen a 667 00:36:34,640 --> 00:36:38,080 Speaker 1: lot of quality deer hunting taught. So a trophy hunter 668 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:41,399 Speaker 1: is hunting for bucks. The quality deer hunter is also 669 00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:44,080 Speaker 1: hunting for bucks, but he's doing it by putting himself 670 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:47,680 Speaker 1: in a situation where he's controlling the dough movement on 671 00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 1: his property. And if you control the doll movement on 672 00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,439 Speaker 1: your property, you're gonna see box. So where a big 673 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,400 Speaker 1: buck hunter might go to my property, I have a 674 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,480 Speaker 1: creek bound there and I know beyond a shadow, but 675 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 1: doubts that those bucks are going to follow that creek 676 00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:08,359 Speaker 1: h during the rut for one to three miles. And 677 00:37:08,719 --> 00:37:11,399 Speaker 1: if I sit down there and wait day after day, 678 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,520 Speaker 1: I might not see more than one or two deer 679 00:37:14,520 --> 00:37:17,359 Speaker 1: a day, but eventually I'm going to see a big buck. 680 00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,200 Speaker 1: Most people don't want to hunt like that, So what 681 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:23,319 Speaker 1: we're setting up is controlling the deer. So most of 682 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:27,319 Speaker 1: our betting focus is on controlling the dose. We want 683 00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: the doze betting. So that's little woods you saw on 684 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:37,120 Speaker 1: my northeast quadron Acres. Was managed to get three or 685 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:39,960 Speaker 1: four doll families living in that woods, and they do. 686 00:37:40,960 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: On any given day I hunt there, I can expect 687 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,960 Speaker 1: to see three or four day doll families leaving that 688 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:48,600 Speaker 1: in the afternoon. And let me just say, when I 689 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:52,319 Speaker 1: talk about this quality deer hunting, and I know you 690 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: want me to talk about hinge cutting, but this is 691 00:37:54,080 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 1: a really important topic. I'm hunting uh dose dope family. 692 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: I want to know exactly how they're moving out of there, 693 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:06,040 Speaker 1: and I want to control their movement. And what's going 694 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:09,279 Speaker 1: to happen is I'm putting the dough beds in there, 695 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,520 Speaker 1: and then I'm getting them to come out towards the food, 696 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,319 Speaker 1: and then the bucks are gonna move perpendicular to the 697 00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:16,799 Speaker 1: does to check out each doll families that's coming out. 698 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:19,879 Speaker 1: So we're really focusing on doll beds a lot more 699 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:22,080 Speaker 1: than we are buck beans. So I will go in 700 00:38:22,160 --> 00:38:26,680 Speaker 1: and create in an area like that about uh, they're 701 00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:31,440 Speaker 1: about fifteen doe bedding spots in that seven or acre 702 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,440 Speaker 1: eight acre woods. It's about a twelve acre woods, but 703 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 1: about seven or eight acres of it is dedicated to 704 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:40,360 Speaker 1: being about fifteen dopening spots in that and that is 705 00:38:40,400 --> 00:38:44,080 Speaker 1: being a house two or three or four doll families 706 00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:48,200 Speaker 1: and several bucks two or three or four bucks. And 707 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:51,799 Speaker 1: so we're making the dough beds is the focus a 708 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:54,719 Speaker 1: single doll bad. If we have fifteen doll beds, we're 709 00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:57,640 Speaker 1: gonna have three or four buck beds for each dough 710 00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:01,160 Speaker 1: bed and they're gonna be in every direction. They might 711 00:39:01,239 --> 00:39:03,440 Speaker 1: be down in heavier cover, they might be in this 712 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:08,319 Speaker 1: direction of that direction. But um, the dope ads are 713 00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:12,800 Speaker 1: created by creating areas about fifteen to twenty yards across 714 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:17,640 Speaker 1: were seven or eight or nine spots are created under 715 00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:20,560 Speaker 1: overhanging cover. So we're cutting these trees about forty five 716 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:25,640 Speaker 1: ft off the ground. Uh, dough family areas must have 717 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,239 Speaker 1: at least nine spots to lay down in seven and 718 00:39:28,360 --> 00:39:32,000 Speaker 1: nine spots and the family is gonna like then we're 719 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:37,280 Speaker 1: gonna make individual spots uh anywhere from fifteen to sixty 720 00:39:37,400 --> 00:39:40,319 Speaker 1: or seventy yards away in every direction where a buck 721 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:44,080 Speaker 1: could lay down alone. And we might um, you know, 722 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:47,400 Speaker 1: we we don't worry about when we know the wind's 723 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:50,120 Speaker 1: gonna blow from every direction in Michigan and blows from 724 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:53,040 Speaker 1: the west most of the time. But Um, the buck 725 00:39:53,239 --> 00:39:56,359 Speaker 1: spots are individual spots. They have to be larger enough. 726 00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:58,920 Speaker 1: We rake out a spot, we pull down trees, and 727 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:01,280 Speaker 1: we hinge cut trees over it and created a little 728 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:03,600 Speaker 1: dome shape area has two or three escape routes, just 729 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:06,200 Speaker 1: as the doll betting areas do. And we're setting up 730 00:40:06,239 --> 00:40:08,800 Speaker 1: a situation where we have bulk bucks and dolls betting 731 00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,600 Speaker 1: in that. That's a quality deer hunting situations. You have 732 00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 1: a trophy deer hunting situation, you want to put your 733 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:17,960 Speaker 1: bucks some distance away and and then UM hunt in 734 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,680 Speaker 1: between the bucks and the dolls. But we're going to 735 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,640 Speaker 1: quality hunting situation where we're hunting between the dolls and 736 00:40:23,680 --> 00:40:26,799 Speaker 1: the food and the box are going to come. I'm 737 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:30,080 Speaker 1: sorry I talked more about deer movement than I did. 738 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:36,400 Speaker 1: I mean, um, controlling the female part of the population 739 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:37,920 Speaker 1: that I did hinge cutting. So if you want me 740 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:39,880 Speaker 1: to go into more detail on that, I can know 741 00:40:40,080 --> 00:40:42,000 Speaker 1: that was good. I think that. I think you explained 742 00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:45,440 Speaker 1: everything I was looking for plus more so I love it. Um. 743 00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:47,359 Speaker 1: Now you talked a little bit earlier about the fact 744 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:49,600 Speaker 1: that there's you know, three things that dear care about, 745 00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 1: the betting, the feeding, and the procreating. We've talked a 746 00:40:53,040 --> 00:40:55,520 Speaker 1: lot about the betting, but when it comes to the 747 00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:58,239 Speaker 1: feeding part. You know, what are your main tools when 748 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,160 Speaker 1: it comes to providing quality food on your properties. I 749 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:03,480 Speaker 1: know you talked a little bit about providing providing woody 750 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:06,480 Speaker 1: browse through your timber improvement, but do you do anything 751 00:41:06,520 --> 00:41:09,640 Speaker 1: with food plus or anything like that. Yeah, and food 752 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:12,279 Speaker 1: pots are very important. Um, So what we're gonna do 753 00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:14,320 Speaker 1: is we're gonna hinge cut the betting area. You saw that. 754 00:41:14,920 --> 00:41:18,000 Speaker 1: Then we hinge cut a transition zone in between. So 755 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,799 Speaker 1: we're gonna hunt just inside the woods. And then we 756 00:41:20,840 --> 00:41:22,640 Speaker 1: have this field next to the woods that was an 757 00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:25,719 Speaker 1: old field overgrown with brush and trees and that sort 758 00:41:25,719 --> 00:41:27,960 Speaker 1: of thing. And what we do is create little micro 759 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:31,360 Speaker 1: food plots in there. And these food plots are about 760 00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:34,320 Speaker 1: point one five acres that's the largest, down to a 761 00:41:34,440 --> 00:41:38,440 Speaker 1: point point five acres or point zero five acres the 762 00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:42,960 Speaker 1: one an acre. And we want six or seven or 763 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:47,520 Speaker 1: eight of those food plots adjacent to the transition area 764 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,319 Speaker 1: that the dose are going to move into. And the 765 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:53,680 Speaker 1: more of those little food plots you have the earlier 766 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:56,680 Speaker 1: the movement of the dose out of the betting area 767 00:41:56,719 --> 00:41:59,160 Speaker 1: is going to be. So we have the hinde cut 768 00:41:59,160 --> 00:42:04,200 Speaker 1: betting area, we have uh less aggressively hinge cut transitionary, 769 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:06,520 Speaker 1: and then we have these little feeding areas, and we 770 00:42:06,600 --> 00:42:09,760 Speaker 1: make sure those feeding areas are completely surrounded by cover, 771 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:13,439 Speaker 1: so I call it two jumps to cover. The deer 772 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:16,200 Speaker 1: will use it all earlier in the daytime if they 773 00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:18,200 Speaker 1: feel like they can just take a jump or two 774 00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:22,040 Speaker 1: and being heavy cover. If if we made one large 775 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,480 Speaker 1: food plot that let's say was point five or one 776 00:42:24,560 --> 00:42:28,080 Speaker 1: acres in science, uh, they would not use it nearly 777 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:29,920 Speaker 1: as early. And that's the mistake that a lot of 778 00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:31,960 Speaker 1: hunters make when they set up in an egg field 779 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:35,359 Speaker 1: or they put a two acre food plot on their 780 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:37,520 Speaker 1: property and they wonder why the deer aren't coming out 781 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,040 Speaker 1: in daytime, and new is because those deer don't feel 782 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:43,959 Speaker 1: secure in there. So we want these little teaving food plots. 783 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:48,960 Speaker 1: And then because these those are highly competitive with each other, 784 00:42:49,880 --> 00:42:52,439 Speaker 1: they will use it earlier in the day. So let's 785 00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:55,120 Speaker 1: suppose instead of doing it this way, we had a 786 00:42:55,880 --> 00:42:59,120 Speaker 1: betting area and we had a single transition zone and 787 00:42:59,120 --> 00:43:02,879 Speaker 1: then a larger food plot. Uh, And we hunted that 788 00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:06,560 Speaker 1: single transition zone that people usually caught a funnel. Well, 789 00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:08,560 Speaker 1: that's a funnel that deer traffic is going to come 790 00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:10,960 Speaker 1: down to. Now, I have three or four gold families 791 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:13,800 Speaker 1: in my woods, and they're all going to use that funnel. 792 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:16,120 Speaker 1: We'll guess what. They don't all use it at once. 793 00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:20,000 Speaker 1: They're highly competitive with each other, so the first most 794 00:43:20,080 --> 00:43:23,040 Speaker 1: dominant doll family might use it first and the other 795 00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:25,600 Speaker 1: goals are going to hang back because they don't want 796 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:28,520 Speaker 1: to get the slap crap slapped out of them, which 797 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:32,000 Speaker 1: she's gonna do if they come too close to her territory. 798 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:35,040 Speaker 1: So when you have a funnel situation, you can watch that, 799 00:43:35,120 --> 00:43:37,960 Speaker 1: and hunters really like that because they go, oh, well, 800 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:39,560 Speaker 1: all the deer are gonna come through here, so I'm 801 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:41,920 Speaker 1: gonna see them all. Well, maybe you will, and maybe 802 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:45,319 Speaker 1: you won't. Um, maybe they won't even make it out 803 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,480 Speaker 1: of there until after dark because they have to come 804 00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:51,120 Speaker 1: out single file, and the bucks are going to be 805 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:54,360 Speaker 1: the last ones to follow them out. And when you 806 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:58,360 Speaker 1: have a funnel situation like that, a buck can stand 807 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:01,280 Speaker 1: in one spot and check out every single doll family. 808 00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:03,839 Speaker 1: So we don't do that. What we have is these 809 00:44:03,880 --> 00:44:07,640 Speaker 1: several little food plots strung out, and then we have 810 00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:10,400 Speaker 1: a trail from the betting area for each one of 811 00:44:10,440 --> 00:44:13,200 Speaker 1: those food plots, and each one of those trails goes 812 00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:17,360 Speaker 1: by a potential stand site. Now we're getting the goals. 813 00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,000 Speaker 1: They're no longer competing with each other. They don't have 814 00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:22,960 Speaker 1: their own route to take to their own food plots 815 00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:28,840 Speaker 1: from the betting area. And it forces buck movement because 816 00:44:29,200 --> 00:44:32,479 Speaker 1: the box cannot stand in one spot and check out 817 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:34,879 Speaker 1: all the dough. They have to move, and they move 818 00:44:35,080 --> 00:44:38,680 Speaker 1: perpendicular to the dolls. But we set up buck trails 819 00:44:38,719 --> 00:44:42,640 Speaker 1: in the transition zone that have licking branches all along 820 00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:45,359 Speaker 1: them and scrapes all along them, and those bots are 821 00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:49,759 Speaker 1: gonna continue to move back and forth perpendiculre to the 822 00:44:49,760 --> 00:44:53,080 Speaker 1: movement of the dolls. That's a quality dare any situation. 823 00:44:53,400 --> 00:44:58,080 Speaker 1: So these these what I call transitional food plots, I 824 00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:00,480 Speaker 1: want to have a variety of food in them. I 825 00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:04,279 Speaker 1: will have perennials like a mixture of let's say, how 826 00:45:04,360 --> 00:45:09,160 Speaker 1: falfa clover and UM chickory. The next food plot might 827 00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:13,600 Speaker 1: might have UM Austrian winter peas and ryan. The next 828 00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:16,360 Speaker 1: food plot might have a mix of winter greens like 829 00:45:17,440 --> 00:45:21,759 Speaker 1: braskas and kales, and and maybe some winter week the 830 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:24,319 Speaker 1: next food plot might have some crimson clover in it. 831 00:45:25,000 --> 00:45:30,440 Speaker 1: And we're creating this variety of locations, variety of food, 832 00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:34,719 Speaker 1: variety of trails to force the bucks to move to 833 00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:41,719 Speaker 1: check out the dolls. Uh the most um uh uh. 834 00:45:43,040 --> 00:45:47,040 Speaker 1: The best way that pattern deer or the um when 835 00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:52,120 Speaker 1: the time when you observe, observe the most predictable patterning 836 00:45:52,160 --> 00:45:55,399 Speaker 1: of gear is in this evening gear movement. So that's 837 00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:58,760 Speaker 1: what I talk a lot about when I'm talking about transmissing, 838 00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:03,000 Speaker 1: transitioning from food to cover his evening movement. And the 839 00:46:03,120 --> 00:46:05,680 Speaker 1: thing about evening movement that I think most hunters don't 840 00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:12,440 Speaker 1: understand is evening movement is controlled by bonds. Bonds are 841 00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:16,040 Speaker 1: sitting in that betting area. They're hungry, especially the buck 842 00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:19,680 Speaker 1: fawn and their auntsie, and they get up and they move, 843 00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,640 Speaker 1: and they forced the mom to eventually stand up and move, 844 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,840 Speaker 1: even though she may not feel comfortable doing so. So 845 00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:29,440 Speaker 1: those um, you see these the whole families coming out 846 00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:32,880 Speaker 1: of this area. The buck fond pulls them out. Eventually 847 00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,920 Speaker 1: the mom follows and the other part the rest of 848 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:38,680 Speaker 1: the family group, and then the box are left back 849 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,040 Speaker 1: and they're in the woods. Nothing smells good back, so 850 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:43,720 Speaker 1: they move out there and they start that perpendicular movement. 851 00:46:43,920 --> 00:46:45,319 Speaker 1: That's what we're trying to set up. So we want 852 00:46:45,400 --> 00:46:50,400 Speaker 1: quality food. And then if you go, uh, you know, 853 00:46:50,480 --> 00:46:53,319 Speaker 1: you go into these transitional food plucks. Now they're I 854 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,440 Speaker 1: have available for them a one to two acre food 855 00:46:56,480 --> 00:46:59,759 Speaker 1: plot that they're going to move out into as dark approaches. 856 00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:05,319 Speaker 1: And uh so you want the betting, the transition zone, 857 00:47:05,440 --> 00:47:12,080 Speaker 1: transitional food moving out into a more shared destination plot. 858 00:47:12,480 --> 00:47:16,319 Speaker 1: And that destination plot is more central on the firm 859 00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:19,399 Speaker 1: and it's shared by other betting areas, so those deer 860 00:47:19,400 --> 00:47:21,400 Speaker 1: will all meet up in the center of the farm. 861 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:24,799 Speaker 1: And unlike a lot of deer management people, I do 862 00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:28,440 Speaker 1: not want the deer moving from this. I don't want 863 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:31,520 Speaker 1: a central sanctuary in most cases and the deer moving 864 00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:33,960 Speaker 1: out and getting more diffuse. I want the deer to 865 00:47:34,040 --> 00:47:36,600 Speaker 1: move be moving in in the evening and becoming more 866 00:47:36,640 --> 00:47:42,440 Speaker 1: concentrated on my property. So so we've got a pretty 867 00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:45,960 Speaker 1: good blueprint here for how to create some salid betting areas. 868 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:47,799 Speaker 1: And I feel like you've got a good understanding of 869 00:47:47,840 --> 00:47:51,560 Speaker 1: how are utilizing food now with the transitionary food moving 870 00:47:51,560 --> 00:47:54,000 Speaker 1: onto the larger central food sources, and how you like 871 00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:57,960 Speaker 1: to space those out so you can force that buck movement. Um. 872 00:47:58,000 --> 00:47:59,839 Speaker 1: But I think the final piece of the equation then 873 00:48:00,040 --> 00:48:03,040 Speaker 1: for me, if I'm trying to understand your philosophy here 874 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:06,080 Speaker 1: is then how do I hunt this property the best 875 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:08,040 Speaker 1: way possibly? And if I'm if I'm hunting in a 876 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:11,239 Speaker 1: high pressure hunting or a high hunting pressure situation a 877 00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:14,440 Speaker 1: small property, what do you think is the most important 878 00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:16,400 Speaker 1: thing for hunter to think about? Or maybe what are 879 00:48:16,440 --> 00:48:18,920 Speaker 1: some of the biggest mistakes that the average hunter is 880 00:48:19,000 --> 00:48:22,280 Speaker 1: making in that kind of situation. The number one mistake 881 00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:27,040 Speaker 1: I always made and the average hunter makes is uh 882 00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:31,440 Speaker 1: not paying attention to set control. And that's the number 883 00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:36,359 Speaker 1: one thing. So, UM, if you have a forty acre property, 884 00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:41,480 Speaker 1: I can almost guarantee you that if you walk back 885 00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:45,799 Speaker 1: to the back of that property into areas that um 886 00:48:46,400 --> 00:48:49,320 Speaker 1: where there's betting and transition zones and funnels and that 887 00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:53,400 Speaker 1: sort of thing, You're gonna shut down your chances to 888 00:48:53,480 --> 00:48:58,440 Speaker 1: the seeing on the tour box uh indefinitely. Uh. And 889 00:48:58,760 --> 00:49:02,440 Speaker 1: you're gonna greatly curtailed the number of deer that you're 890 00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:07,520 Speaker 1: going to see indefinitely. I have an observation cult from 891 00:49:07,520 --> 00:49:11,280 Speaker 1: my barn. I have an absolutely superb deer habitat behind 892 00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:14,480 Speaker 1: my house at just a third team acre. Uh well, 893 00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:16,759 Speaker 1: it really it's eight acres a deer habitat, and I 894 00:49:16,800 --> 00:49:19,440 Speaker 1: observe how those dear behaves as they come into the 895 00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,719 Speaker 1: transitional food plots from my barn window. I have lats 896 00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:25,879 Speaker 1: of videos on my YouTube, like um that I called 897 00:49:25,920 --> 00:49:28,600 Speaker 1: the Behind Behind the Barn series where I watched these 898 00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:31,319 Speaker 1: deer in September and October. And I can tell you 899 00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:35,160 Speaker 1: that I can walk back there in my full set 900 00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:37,880 Speaker 1: control and I'm not gonna the next night that they 901 00:49:37,920 --> 00:49:39,720 Speaker 1: will be doing the same thing they were the night before. 902 00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:44,040 Speaker 1: If I walk through those food plots without any set control, 903 00:49:44,400 --> 00:49:46,879 Speaker 1: I will shut down that food plot for daylight use 904 00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:51,759 Speaker 1: for several days afterwards, guarantee. So can you describe your 905 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:55,520 Speaker 1: scent control or regimen? Then? Well, um, you know, it's 906 00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:57,640 Speaker 1: the biggest chapter in my book, even though the book 907 00:49:57,719 --> 00:50:00,319 Speaker 1: was supposed to be about, um, you know, using a 908 00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:02,759 Speaker 1: chainsaw to shape your deer property. The most important chapter 909 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:05,880 Speaker 1: in the book is the control, and I go to 910 00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:11,720 Speaker 1: great extremes in se control. Uh and UM it starts 911 00:50:11,719 --> 00:50:16,680 Speaker 1: out with UM. Just it's really important attention to details, 912 00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:25,680 Speaker 1: understanding that your boots have to be absolutely pristine, because UM, 913 00:50:25,719 --> 00:50:28,240 Speaker 1: that's when you're going to get busted. The most most 914 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:31,880 Speaker 1: deer hunters never see themselves get busted by a deer. 915 00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:35,360 Speaker 1: When I I used to sell set control products and 916 00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:37,920 Speaker 1: I talked to thousands of hunters at shows, and I 917 00:50:37,920 --> 00:50:40,480 Speaker 1: asked them about step bust, and they always talk about 918 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:44,040 Speaker 1: deer stopping their feet and blowing and running. That is 919 00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:47,200 Speaker 1: a rare set bust, and if it happens to you, 920 00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:50,400 Speaker 1: you probably have pretty bad set control. The way you're 921 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:54,399 Speaker 1: getting busted nine times on a ten is from two 922 00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:56,920 Speaker 1: to three hundred yards away and there's no blowing and 923 00:50:56,960 --> 00:50:59,840 Speaker 1: there's no stopping. But deer just picked you up and 924 00:51:00,080 --> 00:51:02,920 Speaker 1: decided not to come in your direction. That's how it happened. 925 00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:06,160 Speaker 1: And the other way it happened is you have your 926 00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:09,640 Speaker 1: trail into your stand. They picked that trail up. They 927 00:51:09,680 --> 00:51:13,040 Speaker 1: react very badly to such things in areas where they 928 00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:16,600 Speaker 1: don't expect to see human footprints, and they will just 929 00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:19,319 Speaker 1: alter their pattern. The baby they don't shut down. They 930 00:51:19,320 --> 00:51:22,279 Speaker 1: don't become nocturnal. In most cases, they're just going to 931 00:51:22,400 --> 00:51:25,239 Speaker 1: move in such a way that you can't see them 932 00:51:25,280 --> 00:51:27,840 Speaker 1: anymore from that location that they know. You're using so 933 00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:31,080 Speaker 1: extreme control of our boots. And we do that. The 934 00:51:31,080 --> 00:51:33,960 Speaker 1: boots live better and sixty days a year and have 935 00:51:34,040 --> 00:51:39,319 Speaker 1: been that ben is filled with activated carbon powder, which 936 00:51:39,400 --> 00:51:41,400 Speaker 1: is the most powerful way that I know of to 937 00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:47,960 Speaker 1: control sent Every time I go hunting, I spray my boots. 938 00:51:48,160 --> 00:51:50,960 Speaker 1: I laugh at these hunters I see on TV that 939 00:51:51,040 --> 00:51:53,840 Speaker 1: there's two or three little sprintses of their clothes with 940 00:51:53,920 --> 00:51:57,640 Speaker 1: the best phrase, it's ridiculous. They're not doing anything except 941 00:51:57,719 --> 00:52:02,479 Speaker 1: selling fest spray. I spray. I hose my boots down 942 00:52:02,560 --> 00:52:08,600 Speaker 1: with set spraytty prays hurt each boot until they're soaking 943 00:52:08,640 --> 00:52:12,480 Speaker 1: wet all over except on the inside, of course. And 944 00:52:12,520 --> 00:52:14,120 Speaker 1: then I put them in a bin and I put 945 00:52:14,600 --> 00:52:17,319 Speaker 1: a couple of table spoons evactivated carbon powder in there, 946 00:52:17,320 --> 00:52:19,200 Speaker 1: and I shake it up, and I now have a 947 00:52:19,640 --> 00:52:23,319 Speaker 1: thin film of the most powerful set control agent in 948 00:52:23,360 --> 00:52:27,200 Speaker 1: the world and my boots and my boots never get 949 00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:30,800 Speaker 1: busted by deer. I watched deer walk across my trail 950 00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:35,959 Speaker 1: all the time, the does, especially more mature does, will 951 00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:39,440 Speaker 1: notice that there has been ground disturbance there, but they 952 00:52:39,440 --> 00:52:43,880 Speaker 1: will not um pick up human set whereas if you 953 00:52:44,040 --> 00:52:46,560 Speaker 1: just walk in without any set control into a region 954 00:52:46,600 --> 00:52:49,719 Speaker 1: that you are not used to spelling humans, they will 955 00:52:49,719 --> 00:52:52,359 Speaker 1: react for several days to add and they'll avoid that 956 00:52:52,400 --> 00:52:59,120 Speaker 1: location work around it. So the boots are critically important clothing. Um, Ever, 957 00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,360 Speaker 1: any bit of clothing that touches my body is re washed. 958 00:53:03,640 --> 00:53:06,719 Speaker 1: That I have my own washer and dryer dedicated just 959 00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:09,160 Speaker 1: to deer hunting. And by the way, that the guys 960 00:53:09,200 --> 00:53:11,920 Speaker 1: that buy these eight nine hundred dollar boats, you'd be 961 00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:14,239 Speaker 1: a lot better off with a two pound boat and 962 00:53:14,719 --> 00:53:18,600 Speaker 1: a washing machine that doesn't have your wife's um that 963 00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:23,120 Speaker 1: senate detergi incentate, I have them. Um. I have gone 964 00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:28,000 Speaker 1: for six months using a washing machine changing over from 965 00:53:28,040 --> 00:53:31,600 Speaker 1: scented uncented detergents, and I can I could still smell 966 00:53:32,360 --> 00:53:35,840 Speaker 1: the scented detergent sent it after six months of hundreds 967 00:53:35,840 --> 00:53:40,399 Speaker 1: of washes. You just can't. In a strontloading washers like mine, 968 00:53:40,480 --> 00:53:42,319 Speaker 1: you just can't get rid of that older You have 969 00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:45,600 Speaker 1: to tear the whole machine apart. So having a dedicated 970 00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:48,640 Speaker 1: washer and dryer really important and there are a lot 971 00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:50,040 Speaker 1: of ways you can do that. I bought mine for 972 00:53:50,160 --> 00:53:53,279 Speaker 1: less than five hundred dollars from the series Dented Store. 973 00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:56,000 Speaker 1: I have a room in my barron that it's in 974 00:53:56,080 --> 00:53:58,239 Speaker 1: that's heated. But you can also you can put it 975 00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:01,280 Speaker 1: in your garage like my friend Tony if dous rolling 976 00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:04,600 Speaker 1: out Hawka hos to us and do all your wash. 977 00:54:04,840 --> 00:54:07,920 Speaker 1: There's lots of ways to accomplish that, but using the 978 00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:10,560 Speaker 1: family washer is a great way to shut down dear 979 00:54:10,600 --> 00:54:15,280 Speaker 1: activity around your stand. Um. Then the use of activated 980 00:54:15,320 --> 00:54:18,600 Speaker 1: carbon and zeo light powder, which is a volcanic powder that, 981 00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:22,840 Speaker 1: like activated carbon, is very powerful taking up sins. We 982 00:54:23,000 --> 00:54:26,480 Speaker 1: use that and our clothing on our skin growing area 983 00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:31,960 Speaker 1: gets the zeolite powder, armpits an extreme shower. Um. I 984 00:54:32,040 --> 00:54:34,160 Speaker 1: do all this stuff. Marketing people would say why would 985 00:54:34,160 --> 00:54:37,120 Speaker 1: I want to go through all that? And I say 986 00:54:37,160 --> 00:54:40,560 Speaker 1: to people, what if I could guarantee you it takes 987 00:54:40,600 --> 00:54:43,359 Speaker 1: me about an extra forty five minutes to an hour 988 00:54:43,400 --> 00:54:45,319 Speaker 1: to get ready over what it used to without set 989 00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:48,319 Speaker 1: control in the morning or in the evening, So what 990 00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:50,759 Speaker 1: if I could guarantee you that you're hunting for the 991 00:54:50,840 --> 00:54:54,680 Speaker 1: season would be five to ten times better, you would 992 00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:58,640 Speaker 1: see more mature gear. You would see five to ten 993 00:54:58,719 --> 00:55:02,080 Speaker 1: times more, dear, No matter what your situation is, if 994 00:55:02,080 --> 00:55:04,319 Speaker 1: you only see one deer a day, you might see 995 00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:06,080 Speaker 1: by a deer a day. If you see twenty deer 996 00:55:06,080 --> 00:55:08,279 Speaker 1: a day, you might see them. What what if I 997 00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:10,640 Speaker 1: could guarantee you that? Would you come to my house 998 00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:12,640 Speaker 1: to do forty five minutes of work? If I could 999 00:55:12,680 --> 00:55:15,960 Speaker 1: guarantee you five times better? Honey? And the answer always 1000 00:55:16,080 --> 00:55:18,000 Speaker 1: is yeah, if it well, why aren't you willing to 1001 00:55:18,080 --> 00:55:22,480 Speaker 1: do that to get ready for your own hunts? Because 1002 00:55:22,640 --> 00:55:25,720 Speaker 1: that's what will happen. And it isn't that on any 1003 00:55:25,719 --> 00:55:27,840 Speaker 1: given the hunts you're gonna walk un in the woods 1004 00:55:27,880 --> 00:55:30,920 Speaker 1: and see five times as many deers the loss of 1005 00:55:31,120 --> 00:55:34,120 Speaker 1: deer signings, And this is just classic for our state 1006 00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:37,000 Speaker 1: like Michigan, and I went to it for decades of doing, 1007 00:55:37,640 --> 00:55:42,240 Speaker 1: you know, hunting. Rather stupidly, I would say that, um, 1008 00:55:42,280 --> 00:55:44,840 Speaker 1: you're shutting down the deer in day one. You'll see 1009 00:55:44,920 --> 00:55:47,919 Speaker 1: a number of deer day too. Its slow down. Day three, 1010 00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:50,320 Speaker 1: you're not seeing anything more. Day before you're sitting in 1011 00:55:50,400 --> 00:55:52,879 Speaker 1: the coffee shop with your buddies. Thing the DNA are 1012 00:55:52,880 --> 00:55:55,279 Speaker 1: is killing too many those or the deer of all 1013 00:55:55,360 --> 00:55:59,160 Speaker 1: gune nocturnal You've caused all that, The hunter causes all that. 1014 00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:02,279 Speaker 1: When I talk about five at ten times better, I'm 1015 00:56:02,280 --> 00:56:07,840 Speaker 1: talking about whatever hunting you had on November, you're still 1016 00:56:07,880 --> 00:56:11,920 Speaker 1: gonna have on November if you do the extreme sack control, 1017 00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:14,520 Speaker 1: because the deer are not going to be aware that 1018 00:56:14,520 --> 00:56:16,560 Speaker 1: you're hunting up. There are other things that go into 1019 00:56:16,560 --> 00:56:19,359 Speaker 1: this mark, like band approach and all that sort of time, 1020 00:56:19,840 --> 00:56:22,839 Speaker 1: but the set control is is the main thing that 1021 00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:26,719 Speaker 1: is going to make the difference. So that I I 1022 00:56:26,840 --> 00:56:31,800 Speaker 1: keep very careful records of how many bucks those bonds, 1023 00:56:31,840 --> 00:56:35,480 Speaker 1: et cetera. I see per hours, and I see twice 1024 00:56:35,640 --> 00:56:39,719 Speaker 1: as many bucks per hour in December as I do 1025 00:56:39,800 --> 00:56:43,200 Speaker 1: in October every year year and in year out. And 1026 00:56:43,239 --> 00:56:47,400 Speaker 1: that's mainly because my set control and so half the 1027 00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:50,640 Speaker 1: boxes have been killed off. But I'm seeing twice as many. 1028 00:56:50,719 --> 00:56:55,600 Speaker 1: What's causing that My neighbors are using poor SAT control, 1029 00:56:56,480 --> 00:57:00,200 Speaker 1: and the deer are dumping into areas where they don't 1030 00:57:00,239 --> 00:57:02,160 Speaker 1: feel that they're being hunted or they don't feel there's 1031 00:57:02,160 --> 00:57:05,160 Speaker 1: a human presence. So this just makes an absolute world 1032 00:57:05,160 --> 00:57:08,440 Speaker 1: of difference. It isn't a small difference. It's a huge 1033 00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:12,399 Speaker 1: difference once you decide that you're gonna start doing it. Yeah, well, 1034 00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:15,680 Speaker 1: I uh, I certainly can't argue with that at all. 1035 00:57:15,719 --> 00:57:18,880 Speaker 1: That makes, like you said, a monumental difference. When you 1036 00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:22,160 Speaker 1: start taking se control into account and really take it seriously, 1037 00:57:22,200 --> 00:57:24,240 Speaker 1: it's gonna make it's gonna make all the difference in 1038 00:57:24,280 --> 00:57:28,480 Speaker 1: the world. So, Jim, we are coming up here on time, UM, 1039 00:57:28,520 --> 00:57:32,440 Speaker 1: and you've you've shared really a a tremendous amount of knowledge. 1040 00:57:32,440 --> 00:57:35,440 Speaker 1: You're almost overwhelming so much stuff that I know that 1041 00:57:35,600 --> 00:57:37,280 Speaker 1: I'm personally gonna have to go back and look at 1042 00:57:37,320 --> 00:57:39,720 Speaker 1: your book to to kind of recant some of these 1043 00:57:39,760 --> 00:57:41,720 Speaker 1: things in my own mind. But for others out there 1044 00:57:41,720 --> 00:57:43,800 Speaker 1: who want to learn more about these different philosophies that 1045 00:57:43,800 --> 00:57:46,680 Speaker 1: you've talked about in your different strategies, where can they 1046 00:57:46,680 --> 00:57:49,880 Speaker 1: go to learn more or to buy your book? Yeah? 1047 00:57:49,880 --> 00:57:53,480 Speaker 1: The bucket being about at my website www dot Extreme 1048 00:57:53,560 --> 00:57:56,800 Speaker 1: Deer habitat dot com. You can also to reach it 1049 00:57:56,880 --> 00:58:01,960 Speaker 1: at www dot int dot com. It's easier to remember. Uh. 1050 00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:05,520 Speaker 1: And then there is a how by the book UM 1051 00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:09,440 Speaker 1: tab that you can hit and uh it is for 1052 00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,960 Speaker 1: the book. It is an electronic book. A lot of 1053 00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:17,640 Speaker 1: people don't care for electronic books. But I will probably 1054 00:58:17,680 --> 00:58:20,080 Speaker 1: never do the print version of this book because by 1055 00:58:20,120 --> 00:58:22,600 Speaker 1: making an electronic book, I have over four dred and 1056 00:58:22,640 --> 00:58:27,560 Speaker 1: eighty color illustrations in it. I had forty eight videos 1057 00:58:27,600 --> 00:58:29,160 Speaker 1: that you can click on. So if I'm showing a 1058 00:58:29,240 --> 00:58:32,120 Speaker 1: chainsaw technique and you don't quite get a click on 1059 00:58:32,160 --> 00:58:34,880 Speaker 1: the video and you can instantly watch the video. So 1060 00:58:34,960 --> 00:58:36,520 Speaker 1: I wouldn't be able to do this as a real 1061 00:58:36,680 --> 00:58:42,400 Speaker 1: multi media experience. Uh. And um, I hope that those 1062 00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:45,320 Speaker 1: of your listeners that have never done any book, well, 1063 00:58:45,400 --> 00:58:48,200 Speaker 1: yes you have. You've done a pdf. Uh, everybody's looked 1064 00:58:48,200 --> 00:58:50,600 Speaker 1: at PDF documents. That's all this is. It's a clickable 1065 00:58:50,920 --> 00:58:55,040 Speaker 1: PDF document you downloaded on your computer and uh, then 1066 00:58:55,160 --> 00:58:57,920 Speaker 1: you can click on the links and and uh. It's 1067 00:58:57,960 --> 00:59:00,720 Speaker 1: just a lot of people have talk to me about 1068 00:59:01,560 --> 00:59:05,120 Speaker 1: being afraid to eat books before. But it's a great experience. Yeah, 1069 00:59:05,160 --> 00:59:07,840 Speaker 1: I can definitely test to that. I I've personally had 1070 00:59:07,840 --> 00:59:09,840 Speaker 1: a lot of experience with them, and once you get 1071 00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:11,880 Speaker 1: getting figured out and get them on your device, they 1072 00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:15,720 Speaker 1: are awesome to work with. So yeah, and it's it's 1073 00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:19,160 Speaker 1: the future. Yeah, you know, I think ten years from 1074 00:59:19,160 --> 00:59:22,160 Speaker 1: now there will be no such thing as print books 1075 00:59:22,200 --> 00:59:26,040 Speaker 1: for how to stuff like my My book is showing 1076 00:59:26,040 --> 00:59:28,560 Speaker 1: you how to do things, and for that you need 1077 00:59:28,600 --> 00:59:31,120 Speaker 1: the illustrations, you need the videos and all that sort 1078 00:59:31,120 --> 00:59:34,560 Speaker 1: of things. The direction the world textbooks is going on 1079 00:59:34,680 --> 00:59:37,360 Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, I agree. Well, I will make sure 1080 00:59:37,400 --> 00:59:40,160 Speaker 1: to include links to your website in the book on 1081 00:59:40,200 --> 00:59:42,280 Speaker 1: our show notes page. So for everyone listening, if you 1082 00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:45,160 Speaker 1: go to wired hunt dot com slash episode fifty three, 1083 00:59:45,400 --> 00:59:46,840 Speaker 1: you'll also be able to get those links that you 1084 00:59:46,880 --> 00:59:49,600 Speaker 1: can click on straight to jim site. So, Jim, thank 1085 00:59:49,640 --> 00:59:51,520 Speaker 1: you so much for your time. This has been incredible. 1086 00:59:52,240 --> 00:59:55,200 Speaker 1: Thank you for your interest, Mark and look forward to 1087 00:59:55,280 --> 00:59:57,320 Speaker 1: talking to you in the future. Sounds great, Have a 1088 00:59:57,320 --> 00:59:59,240 Speaker 1: great night. I'll see you at a q d M 1089 00:59:59,280 --> 01:00:02,760 Speaker 1: a national con nicely. Looking forward to Jim okay Man. 1090 01:00:04,560 --> 01:00:06,680 Speaker 1: All right, that is going to be it for us 1091 01:00:06,720 --> 01:00:09,439 Speaker 1: today on the show. So before we close things out, though, 1092 01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:12,080 Speaker 1: a big thank you to the companies that are keeping 1093 01:00:12,120 --> 01:00:15,120 Speaker 1: the Wired Hunt podcast alive. If you enjoy the show, 1094 01:00:15,440 --> 01:00:18,200 Speaker 1: please support these companies as we wouldn't be here if 1095 01:00:18,200 --> 01:00:20,760 Speaker 1: they didn't help us out, so big thank you too. 1096 01:00:20,800 --> 01:00:24,919 Speaker 1: Sick of Gear Trophy Ridge, Bear Archery, Redneck Blinds, Hunt, 1097 01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:29,200 Speaker 1: Terra Maps, Ozonics, Carbon Express, Lacrosse Boots, and the White 1098 01:00:29,200 --> 01:00:33,400 Speaker 1: Tail Institute of North America. And of course, thank you 1099 01:00:33,760 --> 01:00:36,520 Speaker 1: for spending the last hour with us. I appreciate it 1100 01:00:36,640 --> 01:00:39,080 Speaker 1: and I hope you enjoyed this episode of the podcast. 1101 01:00:39,440 --> 01:00:42,080 Speaker 1: So until next time, have a great rest of your week, 1102 01:00:42,640 --> 01:00:45,720 Speaker 1: get outside and stay wired to hunt.