Extreme Deer Habitat

09/26/2024

I am pretty sure nothing else in a kids world can beat this. https://fb.watch/uRhfNS3eKo/

09/11/2024

With habitat season ending it is time to think about our goals for buck harvest this season. I seldom end up shooting one myself just because of my threshold for trigger restraint but I like to think about it. Understanding the life cycle of a whitetail buck can help you set those goals for your area. This is from a presentation on the life cycle of a whitetail buck I did to a fishing group a few years ago.

Most Michigan hunters have never seen an adult whitetail buck in the wild. BUY THE BOOK: EXTREME DEER HABITAT: https://extremedeerhabitat.com/buy-the-book/Th...

09/11/2024

The things we do to create great deer habitat.

09/11/2024

My neighbor recently had his woods logged but it is not going to be nearly enough to encourage daytime deer usage. This kind of canopied woods is the last place you are going to find a grownup deer in daylight. On the other hand, deer are moving about in my heavy cover all day long. This (providing regenerative growth with a chainsaw) is the number one thing you can do to improve deer hunting on a small property.

08/19/2024

I should listen to myself more often. Well, at least it’s not a severe case…

03/17/2024

This is the 11th and final video in a series comprising a discussion between Jim Brauker and Jim Ward while walking Jim Ward's 137 acre south central Indiana...

03/16/2024

Part 10 of my video series, A conversation about deer habitat with Jim Ward. In this segment we discuss his pollinator field, how to manage cool season grasse3s, and how to manage oak trees. To many landowners are afraid to cut oaks, but to have good oak timber growth, and especially good acorn production, it is necessary to make sure trees are spaced appropriately. Too much competition is bad for both timber and acorn production. You have to cut oak trees to grow oak timber, and you have to cut oak trees to grow acorns.

This is the 10th in a series of videos comprising a discussion between Jim Brauker and Jim Ward while walking Jim Ward's 137 acre south central Indiana white...

03/16/2024

Part 9 of my video of my conversation with Jim Ward about his deer property in Indiana. This video shows what I consider to be the most perfect deer food plot I have ever seen.

This is the 9th in a series of videos comprising a discussion between Jim Brauker and Jim Ward while walking Jim Ward's 137 acre south central Indiana whitet...

01/18/2024

Part 8 of my conversation with Jim Ward about deer habitat. This one is mainly a discussion regarding the importance of cover and browse. So many books, magazines, and consultants focus on food plots as a central theme in deer property management but they are NOT the most important thing.

In order to have an optimal deer hunting property, cover and the associated browse are the most important thing. Food plots are useful but not necessary. Cover is absolutely necessary to good habitat. But we go on to discuss how to properly design food plots for maximal daytime use in combination with heavy cover.

This is the 8th in a series of videos comprising a discussion between Jim Brauker and Jim Ward while walking Jim Ward's 137 acre south central Indiana whitet...

01/16/2024

Part 7 of my conversation with Jim Ward. Scent control, scent control, scent control.

This is the 7th in a series of videos comprising a discussion between Jim Brauker and Jim Ward while walking Jim Ward's 137 acre south central Indiana whitet...

01/13/2024

I am thankful for all of the support in 2023, and am excited to head into 2024 with so many great clients, and connections who have played a vital roll in Legendary Habitat’s network of professionals.

Now is the time to start designing and developing your property for next season!

I am currently booking clients through 2024. If you are interested in being on my winter/spring schedule please contact me soon, as spots are limited.

What you get when you Hire Legendary Habitat:

-One of few full-time whitetail consultants in the country, who can provide a flexible timeline of consulting, and habitat development.

-Someone who truly cares about your success and will be available long after I visit your property.

-We are not sponsored by any given product or company, and will give you unbiased feedback and recommendations based on real world experience and knowledge.

-Striving to learn more through continued education, both in the field, and in the office.

-Someone who will understand your goals and objectives, and create a habitat plan around those.

-Has personal experience with many habitat and hunting challenges; extreme hunting pressure, small properties, poor soil, etc... and knows how to help you find solutions to those problems.

-A team; when you hire Legendary Habitat you are now connected to a network of other professionals.

-A comprehensive habitat plan that is easy to understand, edit, or share with other hunters in your group.

-Consulting packages that range from standard, all the way to the most advanced consulting service available today.

To contact me, or for more information visit our website: Legendaryhabitat.com

12/22/2023

There is a storm on the horizon of the deer management world in Michigan.

In order to understand what lies ahead it is wise to consider what history has to teach. I think everyone who wishes to consider options for improving deer hunting in Michigan will not be able to fully engage in the conversation unless they understand the history of modern deer management. It is best understood by reading "Deer Wars" by Bob Frye. And by reviewing the data from recent efforts in Michigan related to Mandatory Antler Point Restrictions (MAPRs).

In 2002, Pennsylvania was a one buck rule state with the worst buck age structure in the country and a yearling harvest rate of 80%. In the following years it was completely transformed by the implementation of modern deer management approaches as defined by Pennsylvania
Wildlife Commission biologist Gary Alt.

Those of you who have been involved in the battles in Michigan and have decided it is an impossible task to accomplish real change have not seen anything until you have absorbed the story of Gary Alt and modern deer management in PA. He was, without question, the most hated man in PA history, at least since the lead-up to the Revolutionary War. He suffered death threats, character assassination, and a host of other travails and hurdles but succeeded in radically improving deer hunting in PA with the adoption of rational antlerless harvest approaches and statewide Mandatory Antler Point Restrictions.

The approaches adopted there serve as a model of the most recent advances in managing deer. I cannot believe some of the criticism I have heard lately, with people saying that the data from very recent evaluations related to MAPRs are "outdated". In fact, the data from PA which started MAPRs in 2002, or that from Leelanau County, Michigan, DMU 045, which started MAPRs in 2003, or that from the Northwest 12 counties of Michigan, which started in 2013, or the data collected for the Lower Peninsula Deer Management Initiative in 2014, are without question some of the most recent evaluations we have had of this modern deer management approach. And the results are overwhelmingly favorable.

I am currently exploring the mood of various people in this state who have been involved in the Michigan Deer Wars in the past to see what the mood is. I am inclined to think that people are fed up enough with the nonsense, and motivated enough by the huge successes in areas where MAPRs have been tried, to re-engage with a new effort.

However, it has been several years since we have had an initiative, during which I am sure very talented and motivated younger (or older) people who have not engaged in past efforts may wish to volunteer to help improve deer management in Michigan. If you are so inclined, please drop me a PM and describe how you might be able to help. While I am not the right person to lead such an effort, I know some people who are, and I am here to lend my support to whoever wants to engage in an effort to get statewide MAPRs implemented. If you are interested in OBR implementation, by all means go for it. But I will not waste any of my time promoting something for which there is no valid evidence whatsoever of utility.

Meanwhile, if you want to be the leader of this effort, you are the wrong person to do it. Whoever wants the job cannot possibly know how painful their life will become. So, if you are so inclined, you are not ready for it. LOL. Whoever leads this effort will have to be coerced into doing it. And I know she good elbow lock moves.