wildlife management

The subject is about how to manage woodland to provide better habitat for wildlife with often the goal to "harvest" meat. Any sugestion on wich game we should start with? Or any experience people who have knowledge of this kind of management? I just want to say that I've been in a small part of a virgin forest and there was so much animals that i wasnt able to make a step without having animals running away from me. So that kind of management is more for disturbed or exploited forest in my opinion.

We're practicing wildlife management on our 20 acres, but for songbirds and amphibians, not game animals, although we have tons of deer, 20 acres is not considered a large enough parcel to manage for them. We sort of have to manage around them, since they like to eat a lot of the native shrubs and other plants which are needed as bird habitat. Though we don't like to put up fences, we're having to put fences around small patches in order to get anything growing. We also have loads of squirrels, as well as armadillos, skunks, porcupines, raccoons, ringtails, foxes and possibly a visiting bobcat (haven't seen him yet, but the neighbors have).

Texas may be one of few, if not the only state, which grants special property tax valuation for wildlife management. It's slightly difficult for new landowners to get, as one has to practice agriculture for five out of seven years and get agricultural tax status before one can apply for wildlife management qualification, and one has to submit a fairly detailed management plan. Here are more details about it: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/private/agricultural_land/

Tyler Ludens wrote:We're practicing wildlife management on our 20 acres, but for songbirds and amphibians, not game animals, although we have tons of deer, 20 acres is not considered a large enough parcel to manage for them. We sort of have to manage around them, since they like to eat a lot of the native shrubs and other plants which are needed as bird habitat. Though we don't like to put up fences, we're having to put fences around small patches in order to get anything growing. We also have loads of squirrels, as well as armadillos, skunks, porcupines, raccoons, ringtails, foxes and possibly a visiting bobcat (haven't seen him yet, but the neighbors have).

Texas may be one of few, if not the only state, which grants special property tax valuation for wildlife management. It's slightly difficult for new landowners to get, as one has to practice agriculture for five out of seven years and get agricultural tax status before one can apply for wildlife management qualification, and one has to submit a fairly detailed management plan. Here are more details about it: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/private/agricultural_land/

Yes its a bit small to manage deer but you still can do somethings if you get wildturkey or somekind of partridge mebay rabbits too. it can be an easy way to get food with no real expenses. And if you manage it very well there is little chance for wild animals to get seriously sick because they will be in good health

Next year, I will begin to manage my 97 acres woodlot to get more hare and ruffed grouse and if I have time for moose too. For the ruffed grouse, I will put an old log on the ground between 1 foot and 1 foot and a half in diameter in a place a bit less dense at ground level but dense forest like spruce in the surrounding. The male can do his drumming and feel secure at the same time because they are attack by air from bird of prey. This assure female to hide after the coupling too. When I say less dense it can go like 15 to 20 feet almost clear around the drumming site It's important to point the male will go at the same place for drumming year after year until he die. Then the male will live between 1200 feet around his site all year long. Then for the nesting right after the coupling the female will look in the surounding for a pile of dead leafs, small branch or little depression in the ground a place where they can see predators comming like at the base of a tree. So the place need too be clear at ground level with no or almost no bushes and the like. Then at spring time, when the babies gave about 10 days they begin to fly but they need 3 to 4 weeks of trainning to become good wich is making them very esay to get by predators, so they need to move a place with a much denser coverage but still pretty much clear at ground level to help them moving around. Until 6 weeks olds the babies eat bugs and then they begin to eat more and more of fruit, grain and other vegetations so they need a place with youngs trees the kind of 3 to 4 years after a cut in the forest. At fall and winter when the babies or gone, they will look for spruce or fir to protect themself from the cold and the snow but at the same time they need leaf tree to eat like poplar, birch, cherry tree or sorb. I hope people understand what I wrote.

The grouse look like they are very particular as to habitat!

If you are looking to provide good habitat for (Bobwhite) quail, I highly recommend the following links:

https://extension.missouri.edu/p/G9432
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-19QuailCoveyHeadquartersFINAL2008.pdf
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-18EdgeFeathering_408.pdf
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-15PresBurn_408.pdf
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-24LightDiskingFINAL2008.pdf
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-14FSIforWildlife_408.pdf
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-23WCCPrairiesGladesSavannasFINAL2008.pdf
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-27TemporaryForestOpeningFINAL2008.pdf
http://www.mo.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/forms/out/wildlife_js/JS-BIOL-25FoodplotFINAL2008.pdf

Well thought out system. Thanks to MO Extension service.

Martin
Being in a virgin forest with lots of animals must have been exciting. Did you notice what was going on there. I bet there were large trees with varied under growth. Edges where the plants change. Water supply of some kind. Mimic what you see there and you will be on right track.

Russ White wrote:Martin
Being in a virgin forest with lots of animals must have been exciting. Did you notice what was going on there. I bet there were large trees with varied under growth. Edges where the plants change. Water supply of some kind. Mimic what you see there and you will be on right track.

I dont think this is not possible on my land because a road cut it in two and I have neightbours on each sides. Just before I bought it they cut all the white spruce. I tought at first I could do it because I have a about 3 cares and a half on the other side of the river and no one else have land there. And beyond of that the forest is protect and beyond there is two zone of controlled exploitation but I heard chainsaw and atv 2 or 3 weeks ago for moose hunting. It was so close I tought they could be on my land. For the virgin forest I say that because it came to my sense it was a virgin part of the forest because this was on a plateau aside of a lake with no trail with no trunks and have all size of trees. Me and a friend just took a map to find a "secret" lake old guy told us where it was some 50 years ago. He had pretty impressive fishing in the lake. We went to the closest trail by atv in the area we tought and we walk until we cross that part of the forest. Just to mention in the same area, We found a natural saline around a dead lihgtning stoke tree use by white tail deers and mooses this was of an incridible beauty, I can even say there was something spiritual in it.

this is not always good to mimic natural forest to manage wildlife for exploitation. For an example: where I come from if you let the forest alone for let say something 75 years your more likely end up with thousands acres of pure black spruce. Ofcourse there will be a lot of wildlife in it but you will be limited to some species when you may want others too. Like for beavers they largely prefere poplar to eat and wolf prefere beaver too so it is not a good combination in a black spruce forest

For me that is the thing that rubs me the wrong way. Of course once we have cut some thing, some thing else will grow. I am not for just leaving all alone for 75 years to see what happens. To manage we need to some times plant, some times remove. I am not sure anyone knows what is natural. If we do not have any untouched forest we can go by. I do however think it would have varied plants, with varied micro climates that promote habitat for wild life. If we consider man a natural part of the process, than man should not just say I took what I wanted from the forest, now who cares. It is my understanding of permaculture that man is part of the big picture and he should be part of the betterment of his/her environment.

Russ White wrote:For me that is the thing that rubs me the wrong way. Of course once we have cut some thing, some thing else will grow. I am not for just leaving all alone for 75 years to see what happens. To manage we need to some times plant, some times remove. I am not sure anyone knows what is natural. If we do not have any untouched forest we can go by. I do however think it would have varied plants, with varied micro climates that promote habitat for wild life. If we consider man a natural part of the process, than man should not just say I took what I wanted from the forest, now who cares. It is my understanding of permaculture that man is part of the big picture and he should be part of the betterment of his/her environment.

This is exactly what I think also. LIke the beavers, we have to destroyed others habitat to create a new one that is most suite for our needs. In that way of thinking you end up with a kind of food forest, a kind of a human vital area that include vital area of others species. We integrated ourself in the environnement much like cavemen did but with better knowledge and better tools for our quality of life and confort. By the way you are the first person who likely understand my opinion. I always talk to person who freaked out by knowing animals killed by human or other they just want a machine gun to kill evrything.

Martin love the analogy that man can be like the beaver. Think I will use it to explain about how edges happen in the wild.