Hunter Managed Herds

[biglakeba$$]

No idea. When I saw them huddled around the trucks sunday midday when I stopped in, just a lot of blank stares when I told them we saw a total of 6 deer for the weekend for 5 guys and we shot nothing.........

 

[bat man]

No idea. When I saw them huddled around the trucks sunday midday when I stopped in, just a lot of blank stares when I told them we saw a total of 6 deer for the weekend for 5 guys and we shot nothing.........

Hopefully you see 12 this year and they see 2.

 

[MNAaron]

I was just happy to be included. When it comes to deer management stuff, I'm like the fat/slow kid on the playground. You know.. the last one picked for the kick ball game. Picked right after the last girl and the kid that wears a helmet all day and talks to himself a lot. :D

Jeff it sure is nice to see you back again. You always make me laugh. Looking forward to tomorrow night.

 

[MNAaron]

I do not have much to add at this point however a couple quick comments.
(1) It is critical to have the various groups on board. Not only for outreach purposes for but also for local buy in and funding.
(2) I personally do not feel we need to focus much on over browsing etc...we can include it in some statements but most landowners will not understand it. We might lose them in the details etc...
(3) I think we should somehow tie in the hunter survey results. If you are not satisfied then do something about it. If you are frustrated with deer numbers then pass a doe campaign. I personally think visuals are much better than lots of text on these posters. We only have a few seconds to get their attention.
(4) I think we need to use all the wildlife groups to help get the word out however I think we also need to hit up the local papers etc...since most of the masses are not members of these groups and we need to reach these mass somehow.
(5) KISS still rules no matter what for the masses. Potential verbage....Are you seeing less and less deer each year? If so what are you doing about it? Do your part and pass a doe.
(6) I wonder if we could get funds from somewhere to help push this campaign via Lessard Sams or something similar.

 

[bat man]

I do not have much to add at this point however a couple quick comments.

(2) I personally do not feel we need to focus much on over browsing etc...we can include it in some statements but most landowners will not understand it. We might lose them in the details etc...
.

Long term I vision having many volunteers across the state who can do quick visits of interested landowners and show them the browse and explain what it means for balance. Have the landowner bring in 6 to 20 buddies and you can have an impact on the area.

If someone of repute came and said 'You can handle, house and annually harvest 2 - 3 times the deer here by doing this this and this...' you have now brought the message home to that parcel. It works. We are doing it on our cooperative.

We dont lose them in the details, we educate them on the details.

 

[bat man]

^^^^so you're gonna send Art all over the state? :D

I use the term loosely. But Art committed to all of Morrison County as President of MCCMDHA.

 

[MNAaron]

Long term I vision having many volunteers across the state who can do quick visits of interested landowners and show them the browse and explain what it means for balance. Have the landowner bring in 6 to 20 buddies and you can have an impact on the area.

If someone of repute came and said 'You can handle, house and annually harvest 2 - 3 times the deer here by doing this this and this...' you have now brought the message home to that parcel. It works. We are doing it on our cooperative.

We dont lose them in the details, we educate them on the details.

I think site visits are good however I think to get the word out to the mass we need to put it into some kind of graphic that shows current state and then what over browsing looks like...demonstrate to them the difference and that their land can handle more deer.

 

[wiscwhip]

I think site visits are good however I think to get the word out to the mass we need to put it into some kind of graphic that shows current state and then what over browsing looks like...demonstrate to them the difference and that their land can handle more deer.

That sounds like a good idea, I would include a photo of what livable browsed understory would look like, in addition to the pics of unbrowsed and excessively damaged understory. You don't want to convey a message that the plants can't take any browsing, and that it is ok to have a % of the plants with bites taken from them. Cover all the bases, remember you will be dealing with many guys who will have no clue to start with. They may try to do some research online afterward and come across one of these "gloom and doom" tree hugging hippie forester types that will show a pic of a single trillium that has been eaten and claim that any deer browse is too much, you don't want them getting the wrong idea. Photos of similar plants would be more beneficial than just random pictures of a browse line on a bunch of random plants as well, to keep the browse comparisons easier to visually understand. Something along the lines of "Unbrowsed", "Acceptable Browse", "Overbrowsed" might be the ticket.

 

[bat man]

I think you create a chance to speak with a dozen or more guys who WILL have questions that will not be answered with 4 or 5 pictures online.

Growth will involve personal appearances, print, and site visits.

Until you bring it home to a guys parcel, it won't sink in. And its a tremendous opportunity t have a real impact. From experience.

 

[bueller]

I don't think that the average hunter or small property owner is going to grasp the concept of browsing/overbrowsing. I know you guys are talking about the browse species in the forest but I'd be concerned that your intended message is going to get transformed into; "What the hell, I can't grow a 1/2 acre of beans or plant any trees/shrubs/flowers without them getting destroyed, I must have too many deer".

 

[bat man]

I don't think that the average hunter or small property owner is going to grasp the concept of browsing/overbrowsing. I know you guys are talking about the browse species in the forest but I'd be concerned that your intended message is going to get transformed into; "What the hell, I can't grow a 1/2 acre of beans or plant any trees/shrubs/flowers without them getting destroyed, I must have too many deer".

The scenario you describe is a rarity in the areas of MN I play in.

 

[wiscwhip]

I think you create a chance to speak with a dozen or more guys who WILL have questions that will not be answered with 4 or 5 pictures online.

Growth will involve personal appearances, print, and site visits.

Until you bring it home to a guys parcel, it won't sink in. And its a tremendous opportunity t have a real impact. From experience.

I think the point is that you create that chance to speak with the use of posters and handouts with graphics like described above. Something on the lines of "Do the plants in your woods look like this?(unbrowsed) Or this?(acceptable browse) If they do you could easily increase the amount of deer using your property, if you would like to know how, let's talk!
That is not the training, it is the foot in the door.

 

[bat man]

I think the point is that you create that chance to speak with the use of posters and handouts with graphics like described above. Something on the lines of "Do the plants in your woods look like this?(unbrowsed) Or this?(acceptable browse) If they do you could easily increase the amount of deer using your property, if you would like to know how, let's talk!

I don't think any 2 parcels are similar enough for a comparison most guys could process. Not saying it won't work. But I have my doubts. My experience has been I can talk all i want to guys in the area, but only when we walk my place or theirs does it start to register.

This stuff is a lot like brain surgery. Its hard until you have done it once. Then its really pretty simple.

 

[MNAaron]

I agree that onsite visits are the preferred method how I just feel we do not have the manpower to pull this off. I also think we need to create outreach materials to open the door so these guys invite us out. I still think internet, social media and newspapers/tv news are the way to go in the short term. I think MDHA really need to assist with these outreach efforts since they have volunteers in place etc...

 

[bat man]

I agree that onsite visits are the preferred method how I just feel we do not have the manpower to pull this off.

Manpower will be an issue, but if you want change in your area it is needed.

A saturday morning spent helping the neighbors or a neighborhood will set the stage for success.

Beats the crap out of prepping for a banquet that accomplishes less for the hunting of your area.

 

[MNAaron]

I'd be more than willing to participate in a number of "work days" or whatever we want to call them...much, much, much happier than spending hours and hours planning and prepping for a banquet :rolleyes:

How are you going to get them (majority of hunters are not into habitat like us) to attend these workshops? I agree we need to find local leaders to spearhead these efforts however I still think we need to get the attention of hunters first and than one of the take homes would be a field day. I work a lot with farmers across the state on implementing N BMPs and whenever we want to truly get change done on the local level you need to find "The Man" for that area that all the area farmers respect and listen to. If you get his attention and he is onboard then the rest will follow. How do we find or empower "The Man" in all these various areas?

 

[wiscwhip]

I agree that onsite visits are the preferred method how I just feel we do not have the manpower to pull this off. I also think we need to create outreach materials to open the door so these guys invite us out.

This ^^^ is where you need to use comparison photos, make them obvious. You can have all the volunteer manpower in the world to do site visits, if no one invites you out because they think they are good to go, none of that manpower matters.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

Doing habitat projects and food plots/fruit trees needs to be part of the message in having a more enjoyable hunt and holding more deer. Why can't we sell this message? Somebody was responsible for all of us getting into the whole habitat game and I seriously doubt someone would say that it hasn't added enjoyment to the hunt.
I'm a bit surprised that some of the deer groups out there haven't been promoting the habitat/food plot movement. I would think they would be in a position to have seminars and seed giveaways. It could possibly lead to more membership interest for them as well.

 

[bat man]

Doing habitat projects and food plots/fruit trees needs to be part of the message in having a more enjoyable hunt and holding more deer. Why can't we sell this message? Somebody was responsible for all of us getting into the whole habitat game and I seriously doubt someone would say that it hasn't added enjoyment to the hunt.
I'm a bit surprised that some of the deer groups out there haven't been promoting the habitat/food plot movement. I would think they would be in a position to have seminars and seed giveaways. It could possibly lead to more membership interest for them as well.

I think guys are completely in the dark on everything we talk of here, and in moderation it can help the 'average' deer hunter. When on site its fairly easy to make some of these suggestions, but they don't have to be crazy time intensive. Access is a major factor, and some level of sanctuary a close second to housing more deer.

But we are all on this forum because we needed answers to a problem we had, and its similar to what he hunters of MN face right now.

How are you going to get them (majority of hunters are not into habitat like us) to attend these workshops? I agree we need to find local leaders to spearhead these efforts however I still think we need to get the attention of hunters first and than one of the take homes would be a field day.

I believe the man to be Sportsmans Clubs, MDHA chapters, QDMA chapters. 20 minute powerpoint, 30 minute Q&A followed by a field day activity inspecting browse on a local property and starting the ball rolling.

A 'trained' guy on hand with browse experience who is a third party with credentials makes the event work.

And whips photos do a great job of selling the concept. Pretty black and white and we need an acceptable shade of grey.

 

[MoLandOwner]

I think guys are completely in the dark on everything we talk of here, and in moderation it can help the 'average' deer hunter. When on site its fairly easy to make some of these suggestions, but they don't have to be crazy time intensive. Access is a major factor, and some level of sanctuary a close second to housing more deer.

But we are all on this forum because we needed answers to a problem we had, and its similar to what he hunters of MN face right now.



I believe the man to be Sportsmans Clubs, MDHA chapters, QDMA chapters. 20 minute powerpoint, 30 minute Q&A followed by a field day activity inspecting browse on a local property and starting the ball rolling.

A 'trained' guy on hand with browse experience who is a third party with credentials makes the event work.

The DNR and MDHA were are as well! Or they seem that way in my book!