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Land and Habitat Chat with Brady Bradley

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During this week's podcast consultants Matt Dye and Brady Bradley discuss a wide range of habitat topics. They are playing 'Where's Waldo?' in the realm of where all the Land & Legacy Team has been during the last few weeks of consulting. The team covered a wide range of states, topographies, and ecosystems from sandy soils to rocky ridges. Habitat is going in the ground across the country. We also review some common mis-conceptions about deer herd dynamics, heavy equipment, food plot techniques, and habitat enhancement features that many landowners face yearly. This podcast will make you think and consider next steps on your farm! Every mistake costs you time and key windows of opportunity.

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Land and Habitat Chat with Brady Bradley

Land & Legacy - Habitat + Hunting

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Land & Legacy - Habitat + HuntingLand and Habitat Chat with Brady Bradley. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

This is Atlanta Legacy Podcast brought to you by Whitetail Properties Real Estate We're your host Adam Keith and Matt Dye. This is your weekly resource for Habitat Management Wow Life Management and Recreational Real Estate. We hope you guys enjoy the show Guys, our 2026 workshop offerings are now available online. We have three different offerings for 2026. You guys ready? May 22nd through the 24th. We are headed to Southern Iowa, Greg Glessinger's, Huntworks, Farms, Touring them all. Very limited spot opportunities. You're going to jump on that quick. Go to shoplandlegacy.com to register for that event. Guys, the second offering. June 5th through the 7th. We're going back to Hartland Bowhunter talking all about Habitat techniques, teaching those techniques and the skills that you can learn

how to be efficient, a land manager and hunter. So you're not going to miss that event back in Northeast Missouri for that event. 5th through the 7th of June. You go to Hartland Bowhunter.com to register for that event. Lastly August 7th through the 8th. We're doing our first ever wealth strategy service workshop. It's a fantastic opportunity to learn how to own recreational land better, smarter, more effective and efficient, strategic way. We're teaching people how to work through that and develop some very useful skills in saving lots of money through tax strategy. Guys, that's going to be a fantastic event. We're going to the first ever client 828 events in Sue City, Iowa. Please join us there. You register for that event at shoplandlegacy.com. That's shoplandlegacy.com. 2026 workshop offerings. See us. Please come. We would love to meet you.

We appreciate everyone listening following along every single week. Come to a workshop is well worth your time and money. In the field, in the office, on a desktop, on a phone, it doesn't matter. On X is always up for us. We are building plans, touring farms, hunting all the time. On X is a tool, a vital tool that we have to be able to use to do our jobs. We know it inside and out, the amount of tools within the toolbar itself is incredibly organization that you can have within the app to guide yourself through working on land is incredible if you know how to use it. But we want to make sure you guys are in the app and really understanding the value that it does provide landowners, hunters, and those who are seeking to become a landowner and or hunter. So get an elite membership, use the code legacy20, get 20% off, become an on X member today.

All right, guys. Welcome back to another Land and Legacy podcast. Here we are. Brady Bradley. We're rolling down the road. We're heading south. Oh yeah. Heading south to the mid 70s for the week. And I honestly like, you know what? I'm kind of ready for spring. Man, I'm a little excited. I'm a little excited because it's been you know, so up and down here in Missouri. It's been all a cold hot, cold hot. Now we're getting seven days of rain. Right. We're heading head and head rain seven months. But yeah, we're going to go, we're going to go south and land to the cottonmouths and I'm excited. I'm sure we'll probably see some. They're going to be just waking up. But it'll be that time where it's like consistently warm and enough. That's where the tornado went through right there. Consistently warm enough that they're out and about. But you know what? It is what it is. There's always something in the Mississippi Delta that's going to bite you, sting you,

make you swat after them. It just is what it is. But guys, welcome to the podcast. I'm excited for this podcast. We've got quite a few updates in some announcements. And then we've got just kind of this more laid back approach to this podcast, just some more conversational considerations of hot button topics, if you will, that that braiding I'm going to cover as we're moving down the road. But just some updates. First and foremost, hopefully you guys have been catching up with the new landbeats on YouTube, whitetillproperties.com. Or you can give me white-till properties on YouTube. A lot more landbeat content is rolling out every couple days. There is a new video. So be sure to check that out. But we also at the beginning of this year launched our Wealth Strategy Service. And that has done very well here at the beginning of the year. We're having

5, 6, 7, 8 people kind of coming through getting the first roll out, let's say, of that program. We're constantly refining the approach. And it's working really good. Ryan Eldridge, who is part of the lane legacy team there, doing a fantastic job. And I'm very excited for where we're at. And just a reminder, we're taking about 20 people throughout the entire year to go through the program itself. We want to make sure that this first year as we go through and launch the new service that we're not growing too fast with it. And that's what we want to make sure that the quality and consistency remains the same throughout each and everybody, each and everyone that we work with. So if you're interested in that Wealth Strategy Service, please email in, there's a tab, a brand new tab on the website that you can click on, read through that information, give you a lot of additional details about what it is, the purpose of it, and how the steps and phases work for

that new program itself. But it's helping a lot of people in different parts of the country, landowners who are looking to improve their business tax strategy around recreational land. So appreciate everyone who's been interested in that and encourage more people to do so. And if you're not ready for the program itself, we are offering a workshop for the Wealth Strategy Service, the one day workshop in Su City, Iowa this year, where we're going to be covering a ton of different topics, but kind of going through those phases and looking at your personal situations and kind of walking you through what the program is, how it works with people and just opening up the doors in your mind to new opportunities out there. So you can definitely check that out too, that is at shop.lananlegacy.com. That's where all of our workshops etc are located at. So I guess

with that update too, we have like two, there'll be three spots left for the Huntworks Land Legacy collaboration and that one's going to be hosted in southern Iowa. There's only just a few spots left for that one. That is going to be an incredible event going to a, right, you've been on it, killer farms. Awesome farm, killer farms. And so yeah, we get to pull the curtain back on on a few farms that have been absolutely productive killing slammers each and every single year. You're not going to want to miss that one's kind of like our very detailed Hunt Strategy Habitat workshop for the year and then we also have the collaboration workshop with Heartland Bowhunter. And that one is going to be held in June and we're talking more Habitat techniques like really teaching the hands on of how to become skillful with all the different Habitat techniques that we do.

So you're going to have tools in your hands and you're going to get to work out there on that workshop itself. So that one's going to be definitely fun. And so for that one, if you're interested in it, you've got to go over to heartlandbowhunter.com or rate as you get onto the web page, bam, there it is, right in your face, click on it and see us there. It's always light bulbs that go off Brady. Like you know, like when you get some time in the field with landowners and hunters, just with the way that we prioritize education and value it, the light bulbs that go off in these events, it's like it's encouraging, it's fulfilling for us, but like it's encouraging to see like what they're learning, they can go home and take these key aspects and go apply it elsewhere. Yeah, I mean that's always so neat, you know, because it's a they come into it. Kind of know what to expect, but but really no landowner really knows what to expect to come

on their property. And then when that all home moment hits that it all just kind of comes together and clicking and they can see it in a whole new perspective. They hear about Timberstain improvement. They hear about Hackenscourt. They hear about edge feathering, but they don't know what it's supposed to look like. Like that that's that's there's a lot hundreds of videos on on YouTube through the landbeat that like we showcase it, but like people want to be immersed in it. If you want that immersion type experience come join us in the field whether whether it's at the Huntworks workshop or it is the Heartland Bowhunter workshop in Northeast Missouri in southern Iowa for the Huntworks one. Like those are perfect golden opportunities to get yourself in the field learn. Like it's an investment into you being a better land steward, a better hunter, a better woodsman, a better habitat manager. So I not everyone may be able to do a consultation.

Yeah, totally understand that. This is the opportunity to learn at a very a different different rate, right? So like yeah, I just encourage anybody who's interested in that come get hands-on experience. Yeah, that's essentially what it is. But Brady, we've been we've been we're not probably going to cover all of them, but everyone in legacy has been kind of shaken, moving and grooving and covering some ground going a bunch of different a bunch of different places. But you've had some new projects start up and some more kind of coming and on the way. Where have you been at in the world? Well between real estate because a lot of people may not know either they you're a white-tailed properties real estate agent yourself in western Missouri. So you've had that on top of a bunch of different land legacy projects and whatnot. Oh man Matt, we've we've been all over. I mean I think it was a couple of weeks ago. I was a consultation at Arkansas

the next day in the Flint Hills of Kansas. Yep. The next day after that Northeast Missouri on a timber harvest. Next day after that I was in the central Missouri on a timber harvest there and back down to Arkansas for another you know property evaluation. I mean it's just it's full border right now. I mean you know this time of the year is just absolutely crazy always but this year it's it's pretty excessive right now and and now we're headed to Mississippi. The opposite direction yes. Now it's it's been it's been incredible. Last week I was in South Carolina all week and worked with three different great landowners. A couple of revisits a couple new folks and it's just really cool to like go to one area and then within like 45 minutes of we've got three different actually four or five just of people I didn't visit but have visited within the past four or five like just really good practitioners like they get it they're invested like and and

I'll say that's marked my words there will be a southern workshop at one to two of these farms. One particular landowner in the future and he knows who I'm talking about we preface that conversation down there last week but it's like give this farm two years two more growing seasons and it is dialed it is it is it is ready to be showcased and walked and immersed and it's going to blow the pants off people because it's like I don't see that in the south like I don't get to see that type of detail that type of thought that type of really approach and and just like yeah it's just so it's so pine production mindset down there it's like I just want to pull my hair out sometimes but it's like no sure there's pines on the property like you walk in it and you know you know this farm is meant to kill deer yeah and it's like fantastic fantastic he tells me all

the time he's like I drink the cool aid I was said yes you did and I'm so glad because this is working and it's amazing so that was that was definitely a fun trip but North Missouri I think three times this year and two or three farms each time up there Iowa Kentucky Kentucky next week and then what's the end of next week Kansas for a couple days on a on a on a great track with another great landowner new purchase for him Florida's coming up like it did just Alan's been all over in all of these Adams been out to his his favorite Oklahoma and Kansas several times in Missouri today and he's going to meet up with Alan next week on a large track in southern Alabama it's just every which direction yeah and I love it and we're blessed to be able to do it and call it um call it work and be passionate about it still it that's other things like

someone asked me the day he's like how did you get into this like I was like dude I got to be honest with you like this is all I've ever done yeah like I I that's the that's not normal I get that and then like I I'm so grateful for it was like man out you know doing this for different company many years ago and then had my struck out on her own and God's blessed us and like allowed us to be successful with it and call this full-time forever it's all I've ever done yeah and uh it's it's it's it's truly amazing to look back like okay now we've got a team around the country that's that's doing these these same things um and assisting the land of legacy it's like it's just just crazy yeah but we work with so many great people and except people that are very excited about owning land the legacy that they get to leave with it the opportunities that recreational land affords them from an enjoyment standpoint and it's like

whoa I get like I I pinch myself sometimes sure like we're on the road today road warriors everything a week um but like what a one awesome opportunity is to be able to do this and call it work and yeah um support our families around it cage and uh cage reminds me just about every day how jealous she is and uh she called me this morning she said I don't even want to talk to you I don't know where you're going yeah and I ain't there yeah so that's funny yeah you hit it on the head man that's some of the people we made is just you know just just amazing individuals and then then getting to getting to be on some of these properties we get to see is a man it's and that's incredible yeah definitely blast yeah it it truly is um but it just yeah constant guys everyone who listened like thank you for listening and uh being loyal listeners to the podcast

and um just soaking in the information that we're blessed to blessed to be able to share because um really this the podcast was the start of it the kind of the origin story of land and legacy so it's just wild to think back it's like it it's almost like I mean we're we're nine and a half years into this thing it's almost ten years it it doesn't seem like that it doesn't seem like that at all I still remember the first time I met you and Adam and it's like man that that was last week you know down in Arkansas a few last great years yeah that's for sure my joints didn't pop as much yeah no that but yeah I know it's it's it's absolutely flown by my wife and I were reminiscing we're so like right when we started land legacy her and I got married and uh so like kind of the origin and and anniversaries and stuff like that's one it's easier for me to remember

um both both the dates and the times yeah it was like oh it all happened at one time yeah I look back now I'm like I don't know how like you you talked yourself into it but like essentially that time frame you you said it was okay to marry some guy who was like just left the job and getting ready to go start something but essentially just flying by the seat of his pants yeah I don't know that makes you dumb or just you really love me but I'll take it whatever it was I'm thankful for it I think about I think about uh what Nicky and Emily's parents must have thought with you and you and Matt Mary and them and you're both going at or you went out of Mary and them and you're going both going out on this big leap of faith you know yeah girls what are you doing you sure are we sure about this thing um and that's why I like it this like literally I'm always thankful for it and give credit where credit is too but like

thank god bless us with yeah with the opportunity and the knowledge base to be able to do it um because I tell it's my wife because she wants you heck she already knows she doesn't need a reminder I'm like listen I'm not good at many things yeah but I do know this yeah and thankfully we were able to pursue a career in this because if not I don't know I don't know I don't know what I do what we would be doing but thank the Lord man but man there's there's I got a few common like questions if you will frequently ask questions um that we get on on podcast bread and they're and they're relatively hot but kind of type topics that um you know people are just considering because they hear a lot of different information out there on the old inner web and read this and read that or I heard a guy say this or what do you think about this

or you know and it's always like when someone says well what do you think about this and it's always like one I'm going to be honest with you yeah I'm not going to I'm not saying I I delivered in a educational professional manner but like I'm going to be honest with you exactly what I think because I don't want someone to potentially like you know make a mistake or um you know get set back because they had a wrong perception um or a wrong understanding of something like you need to know what I know and how I've seen this work or not work and and and under these certain situations and scenarios too because that also is hugely determined upon if something is going to work or not going to work right um so that that is just incredibly important like the the situation scenario so you know when we see stuff on social media it's like a 30 second 50 second I can be five minute video I don't care yeah

but Brady you and I both know like there's no way in 30 seconds 60 seconds that you're going to fully understand the entire situation that you know whatever idea or thought process or technique it is this a match for it well maybe it worked in that scenario or maybe it just failed in that scenario but you can't just write it off or think that that's the silver bullet like that that's not how this stuff works here like we intentionally prefaced the podcast about like the different places that we've been to just in this month like the next few months we've got a lot in Pennsylvania we've got a lot in Virginia we've got um Indiana we've got several in Tennessee I forgot I'm free and forgot about those was there ever been a Tennessee we're going back like Arkansas a ton of Texas I'm going to text isn't early April like that's a giant geographical range no and mixture of habitat types deer

densities vegetation types climates eco regions etc that like all matter what we're talking about things so I just I just say when you're watching things like always understand before you make a determination the context in which it's being talked about or the context in which something's been applied yeah before you make a judgment call on whether something is right real wrong and it's just like we've got to sometimes slow down and caution to those people who you know talk in absolutes or deer never do this this won't ever happen this always happens those statements are just likely wrong yeah because it's not involving context it's not involving you know that that's that might be applied to the situations that that person has experienced but there might be a lot of other situations that like hey you haven't experienced yet

or in this context that actually does work like it's just and I like this is this is an outlier but it's I've worked probably over 20 farms that have had this situation of like there's dog hunting in the area who who in the Midwest expects there to be dog hunting no one yeah but like in in parts of North Carolina in parts of South Carolina and in parts of the eastern half central and eastern half of Virginia huge huge disturbance right that needs to be managed appropriately and understood around the way you set up and operate a farm like you got to understand those aspects so like again there's just there's no absolutes and nothing I think replaces referrals yeah right for people like talk to people who've worked in those areas like does this all check out does this all make sense like no it just it's it's vital it's actually absolutely vital but let's get into

some of those like conversational discussion points here hot top hot button topics okay so number one Brady what do you think it's easier is it easier to buy a farm that's got matured to your on it but has heavy invasives that would need to be managed invasive species or buy in a farm with less age structure and solid habitat that doesn't have invasives that can like be improved easier better etc what what do you think is better scenario or easier if you're easier to find no not easier to find but just easier from like being successful on I would in my opinion um I'd I'd much rather have the age structure yeah and I can deal with the

I can deal with the habitat side of it yeah the age structure side of it's a little bit harder it's going to take longer to get to that point that I want yep see what I'm saying so absolutely the age structure is already in place I can I can deal with the habitat those are adjustments that I can make in a year or two yeah potentially and turn that farm completely on its head and for the better uh-huh but having that age structure already in place being in the right area that's that's hard to find very times very hard to find I don't disagree you know I think someone would be like oh how dare you how dare you shut great native habitat I mean I mean I like it just as much as the next guy yeah but but at the same time frame I know what like you have a struggle either way we'll say that like you're it's you're gonna fight invasives you're gonna it's gonna be difficult um you're gonna have to probably use obviously you're gonna have to use herbicide you're gonna have to use mechanical means of reduction it's gonna take time

for you know for to treat it and then for the response to happen so you're gonna have challenges there then the method of treatment the schedule all those things let's be realistic I mean if we're trying to manage trying to manage a deer herd and trying to manage the habitat on our property one of those things is running all over the place and a lot of times we're not we we call ourselves the ultimate predators but let's be realistic a lot of times we're we're not that good they make it through sometimes so but hey those trees that in those invasives they're not necessarily running from us you know yeah they're spread and seed but we can take care of those um you know with a couple methods where trying to completely change the herd dynamic it's nearly impossible in a relatively short period of time well I think I think what the important aspect here is what is it that I can change yeah so so when you have that going going to like the core root of the issues

there is like okay if you don't have age structure deer aren't naturally dying unless it's EHD yeah something like that like like at exceptional rates that would cause the area to not have a great age structure yeah it's due to hunters yeah it's due to hunting pressure and it's due to neighbors and those things are out of your control so I like to look at things and say okay what can I do how much sweat equity do I put into this place for it to work out or am I still relatively at the mercy of other people and and the way that they choose to hunt and the way that they choose to enjoy their property um yes that has impacts on you but like you can't really do anything about that yeah like and and it is what it is but knowing that there's already an age structure in place and the neighborhood is allowing deer to get to older age classes I'm instantly yeah

impressed yeah and attracted yeah I'm saying hmm well this battle is going to be a little bit different because they're already there not to say that improving habitat won't have dramatic and good big effects to attract deer there that absolutely will but if you're losing deer at a quicker rate then what you would need to to be able to just support mature deer or enough mature deer on the landscape to have increased odds at harvesting them like this is just a numbers game yeah like the more deer that are a maturity on the landscape the easier it is to encounter them yeah that's it like period so it I'm gonna have a higher success like you just need to go no going into it that essentially you got you know two battles you can fight the invasives or you can be frustrated and not have probably nearly as many harvest opportunity on the second option of less age structure

good habitat then you will on an area that's already got the deer yeah like already got good well around an age structure you might be going you know kill a buck or two depending on state regs there each year versus another might be every two three four years in which you're harvesting and that's a reality and people don't like that and I think also the reason I if you will propose and wrote this question in is oh which one like do you want to be successful every single year like people don't understand the value of the herd aspect yes habitat management is critical and very important man but so is having them like having them at the age in which it's gonna trip your trigger and get you excited and that's different for everybody that's fine but it's it's is the area already supporting that or are you going to wait for a neighbor to sell out or someone to not lease this place or whatever that's a that's something that you can't really

control unless you got stupid money and hey that okay great I mean fantastic um but that's not always the case and even then sometimes you don't have stupid money people don't want to sell yeah okay it's just that one's that's a harder one to go into thinking that I'm gonna turn this thing around even when it looks good has good habitat or or has like I look at me like hey this has got great timber on it dude I can I can turn this thing around super quickly and get um right the right mixture of quality habitat on this thing with big crew in about six months and then just be maintaining I mean I love it but if there's if there's no age structure there I'm not saying what's the point you should always right be a good land store and do those things but if your goal is harvesting mature deer that's gonna be a

challenge and that's gonna be a frustrating challenge because what gets you is like man it looks so good why is it not functioning it looks like it looks exactly like it should yeah well they have to be there to you to be able to use that right well here's a flip side to that one would you rather would you have a rather have a property with an over abundance of deer you're going out 30, 40, 50 deer at a time or easy to see or have a property with a relatively lower deer density and your property is not being just completely hammered yeah and your food plots aren't being hammered I mean that's the flip side of it because a lot of people they say huh I'd love to have property I mean we've been on farms where it's easy to see 80 to 100 deer night yeah you know and in the late season or you go to another property that has great success throughout the year and maybe they're only seeing 10 deer you know I mean what what would you're there what are your

thoughts you know for a for land owner because on both sides of that we see it to where they have an over abundance of deer but you can't even manage them because there's so many yeah you can't even shoot enough deer that's a that's a yeah huge another problem yeah I'm going on the the load of moderate yeah because one if I with quality resources that herd's going to grow yeah if you want it to but it's way easier to grow a herd than it is to reduce the herd yeah so and and and I say grow a herd as in sure numbers but but grow quality deer out of it with one assumption yeah and the assumption is that it's not a low to moderate herd because of excessive hunting yeah so like if you have a lower number of output of

funds per year in a high-hundred area like you need that to be able to get enough bucks to alter a to class to shoot but if it's a lower to moderate number or herd density um and you're not having overharvest then that's the sweet spot for for growing giant deer yeah versus way overstocked high social pressure and a lot of times bucks are going to be on the absolute fringes of that that core density yeah like the the quality ones that you're wanting to shoot so you might have all the deer but you're but but neighbors and etc might be the ones reaping some of the rewards of you know this this really dense herd um and that right there probably was a light bulb to several people like oh man like I like I enjoy seeing all these deer but like every year I'm not the one that's holding yeah the big ones and they get shot on my periphery well hopefully you send us an email yeah because there's problems and you know we can help fix that but

yeah too many deer is absolute problem and a problem that I don't want to have now I mean now with drone surveys you know with I mean it being able to fly these farms and and look at the dear density on them yeah it's eye-opening you know we've seen farms where we wholeheartedly thought there were far more deer on it um and right they fly and like oh man they're hardly any deer there yeah why is that yeah um and then we've got other farms it's like oh my word we knew there were a lot of deer but we had no clue there were that many deer yep you know what's their biggest issue well we don't have enough tags right or you know and the other people on the on the flip side of that um they may not have an overabundance of deer but they're still shooting quality deer correct year correct um it's just a little bit different different management techniques they're different goals I guess you could say and ultimately if you're shooting you know some of these places they're shooting 70 plus dose a year and you're still not

even seeing the deer right right that's work it's work yeah I mean that's another full-time job yeah absolutely is um let's see what's my other okay another question Brady what's more valuable mine more enclosed honey blinds we're getting taking that same money and getting betting cuts done oh man those hunt and blondes are comfortable man what a company and warm comfy and warm lovely too when you got us in there a lot of season I'm going on bed and thickets I'm going bed and thickets all day long isolate and bedding thickets can be can be I'm I should I should probably change that day just offering distinct secure cover yeah and I say that because it doesn't have to be like a timber deal yeah but um just like

offering that distinct quality dense cover that is going to securely hold deer during daylight hours consistently like that is without a doubt without a doubt the most important aspect that majority of farms right out of the gate don't have one of the farms in north Missouri significant I worked it was like whoa I'm barely going to have to um I'm barely even going to have to you know recommend bedding thickets the way that was cut previously to bind um now again if if it was I wouldn't have done it the way that they did it or should be the previous owners necessarily did it but they didn't do it for the same purposes so it's like okay well hey that's fine we have excessive but positively excessive um dense cover on the way like we're okay I mean great well manage this um and the other portion of the problem that hadn't been cut they own previously what was cut like probably say probably 12 14 years ago yeah high stem count a lot of

oak regeneration is like okay let's throw some fire in that yeah but um bully it's like you guys are going to hold some deer and yeah I was just like all right like this this I am extremely excited about walking into a farm that's going to be offering this and we don't have to create it right away so yeah what wonderful change of pace because we just rarely ever see that yeah I mean rarely do we say oh well let's just put fire on it you know right yeah right it's always get a saw in here some some kind please open up some canopy please put some structure on the ground um but but yeah it's like man you know four thousand dollars for a blind 4,500 I just look at that I'm like man that's that's like you take eight acres of eight acres of bedding cuts that one completely changed easy your property and your your hunts overall the hunts themselves yeah I'll continue you know

change like that that's the most important aspect of the bedding cuts is like most of your most vulnerable during the rut you know like you you want to carry over and secure more bucks from getting shot yeah have cover like this isn't just even the hunting side of things it's if you got an age class structure thing um cover bedding cuts yeah it's so it's like okay so you so you hunt out of a pop up or you hunt out of a nagum tree stand or whatever for for two more years dude lay off on the blind put in the habitat put in the right cover of course where begins the next question totally another podcast um but like you gotta know those things you gotta you gotta know the importance and the value of it but like people like the comforts of of or the the look in the feel of hunting from the enclosed blind that's great that's cool but wouldn't you just

rather be more successful wouldn't rather the farm hold more hunt better hunt more consistently like that that's what you're essentially when you're making those kind of decisions those are things that you're you're uh you kind of sacrificing in a way it's like you know if you're on a budget which you know to some degree everybody is oh yeah you you start to make these decisions of like which is which is important you know what comes first the cart or the horse well it's good to have blinds but one if they're not in the right places and they're not going to be successful where they're on the farm because the deer aren't there or they're not they're consistently well then I would suggest that like you do the cuts first then you're gonna know exactly where they're at yeah yeah I mean hopefully you're tagged out for you even need to sit in it absolutely it's still 80 degrees in November I mean you don't even need to be in a blonde right then

right yeah so yeah I mean that that's so true I mean we see it you know and and I think a lot of people don't think the impact they don't know the impact that they can make without amount of money you know they think it's going to be far more yes expensive to to put a betting unit in or or you know to spray a field uh get the cool season grasses out of it right I mean it's just but it's it's minuscule a lot of the times compared to you know the price of four blondes I mean man am I goodness that's that's a lot twenty five thousand dollars actually I mean they're not going down um but hey you can get a chainsaw you can go get a tank of chainsaw fuel and some oil I mean you can even go buy brand new chainsaw if you want and everything to go with it and then go out and implement a one acre or two acre three acre bed unit across your property you know in multiple spots and or hire it or hire it because you don't you don't know what you're doing that's fine or for the cost of you know a couple blinds like do you get a plan yeah get no exactly

what you're doing yeah on a given farm so like you've got you've got an idea of how to make it better don't just you know essentially throw darts at the wall and be like well I've got blinds hope the deer here yeah no don't hope that they're here it will I mean it'll change the property I mean we we've seen it from we've seen it all across the country I mean from our south as you can drive as far north as you can go I mean we've seen it yes and uh until you run out of trees out west and then yeah then we just make it a different way yeah you know so um I mean it's just it's it's so beneficial so beneficial yeah and uh people need to see that when you experience it people need that comparison yeah well when you experience it's like man wish you haven't done this years ago no question like no question man um so what's more valuable new skid steer implement or improved access road system to solve your

hunting problem yeah I think that's a given but I think though too and I know someone sitting there well I could use that implement to make the road I mean showcase sure absolutely maybe it's not that but I'm just saying essentially for the for the price tag of a new implement dude there's quite a bit of dosing that could happen on a given farm that like changes your road system and changes your access to be able to you know reconfigure how you approach a property yeah like and and I don't think that everybody gets it how important and delicate the road system is into the overall strategy of the hunt the farm and how it's going to operate it's like into several farms and it's like all right talk with me through before we even see the farm like just digest with me like what's the lowest hanging fruit blah blah blah what's the problems

of how do you access this how do you go around that and it's like quickly you get into it's like I can I know what the problem yeah I mean my gosh you had to drive right here but you're hunting here yeah you do this are you drive through these two fields to get to that one well no no wonder that you're having problems and you know air quote nocturnal activity or you're not successful here on these and it's like bro it's it's the access but dosing in some new roads and maybe some boundary or like this creek that you thought you couldn't cross you have to cross like you like hold off on the implement let's get this figured out first and then you might figure out you don't even need the implement you you need well something like well I could write off I can write off that piece of equipment well guess what if if you understand the farm it's got a business purpose you can write off improvements and if you don't know how head over to well stretch

and we'll teach you but like that's that's the sign of it it's like you everyone can can identify typically problems or or or excuse me they can talk about the symptoms right we come in we provide like here's what you're dealing with like here's the problems of the farm here then the solutions to fix that like everyone can talk about symptoms and super important to know of course and talk through but like that's what our job is is to find the holes in the bucket fill them as quickly as possible and you know move on about the day but oftentimes some of these some of these issues aren't habitat related some of neighbor related some of them this and that some of them either they're they're access issues they're hunting approach issues they're another big one is their trail camera issues like

these deer are here but you're the strategy is is is not in place to document what's happening on the farm so it's like giving you misleading information of what's actually occurring and you're going off that but like you're hunting over here but all the activities right over here yeah yeah trail camera placement we see it so much oh man you're my word you're just ten yards off or you may be a hundred yards off right the funniest one is one of our clients was a really tall individual and I remember looking at some of his cameras when we're walking the property and they are hitting me all in the forehead you know yeah it's like you're deer walking around under the dang camera you know tips of antlers yeah he's like I'm just not seeing many deer well it's because you're seven foot tall and you're putting them at your chest all the deer walking across you're looking at the birds in the sky yeah we just looking at turkey's roosting of trees that's funny yeah I thought that was funny I had to throw that one in the yeah I mean yeah it's just

like that I mean well and I just tell tell people all the times like listen think of the the trail camera as as a hammer like it's a tool it's in the tool belt yeah I can build things but I'm not a builder like I don't do this every single day but you know I can I can hold my own yeah but I'm as good as everybody else okay same thing with a camera you can give five people bunch of different cameras and say go put them out yeah and they'd all put them in different places yeah absolutely they'll get then different information so they'll have different information they have different perception of how and where and what you would do right from a standpoint of approach that to hunting so like it's skews your information so you get you gotta know you've got you've got to be able to know but maybe yeah maybe maybe it's not maybe it's not the implement that you buy maybe it's just

10 12 extra cameras get some more eyes in the sky out there 24 seven bacon given you information sending you information like that's that's vital yeah we got we got one more here okay same the best for last uh-oh what's more valuable not using the herbicide on food plots and struggling to grow food fight weeds or use an herbicide to produce quality forage and fighting invasive in the woods 100% in the woods well let's use it in the woods it's use it in the use it in the fields and in the woods and the fields in the woods yeah but creating habitat ultimately not really not relying on that failed food plot to feed my deer or my turkeys I mean if you're relying on that oh man um I it's gonna be tough especially the last four years it's done nothing but no rain dry and you're planting a fall plot you might as well just be throwing seed out there on

the ground for the for the birds I mean it's yeah it's been horrible well if you're relying on that food plot to hold the deer on your property your your season probably hadn't gone very great that's a couple years right right and it's like I've seen unfortunately like the downside of food plots have gotten way too complicated like one in the last you know 10 years yeah it's just this is way too complicated to produce quality forage um like let's simplify the process here and produce quality groceries you know because that's that's the point of the food plot is to attract deer with quality food to kill them and it's like when that's not happening we're going down we're going backwards yeah that's that's not like functional it's not useful think things are a huge part of like the system and strategy is is broken there so like we

we got to fix that um and so like we are I and I've seen it I've seen nine times out of ten more failures of the no herbicide cold turkey you know situation food plot regime then I have like I mean like like literally 90% and the let's say the one the 10% was a guy who just started doing it that year and you've been using herbicide yeah it's like you generally in most places you can't go multiple years without some aspect of herbicide on a food plot to do it yeah right and so it you got to know that same breath just like the trail camera you've got to know when to use it like it's a skill it's a tool and also break like the first say if I can limit it I will limit it yeah but I'm not going to eliminate it

I'm not going to pull it off I'm not going to pull it completely and remove it as an option right but like I produce a lot of perennial plots and uh it's been two years I went two years on some alpha stands where I didn't need it yeah and then they weren't even round up ready which obviously round up I would be using it if I needed it but the fields didn't need it so guess what I didn't get it like there's ways to go about the things but like I to save the stand and to improve the quality when it was getting compromised I stepped in and then I used it and I feel great about it from a standpoint of like that was the right call to save the food plot from you know becoming compromised completely from its function and usage and if you're doing annual plantings I think it's even more because your the ground is exposed far

more times you've got seeds starting you've got seeds coming you like it's it's it's it's important to really consider that weed pressure and balance that with browse pressure too of summer plots a lot of the blends have got like 60 70% of the you know crop in there is is is forage crop and then other is structure and root system diversity et cetera which I totally get I understand the purposes of of having those blends put together but when you've got a high deer density and they go and they eat the good stuff and the only thing left is is less desirable or or not let's say food quality or at least it's it's not forage during the growing season well guess what happens you get better ground and you get weeds no that just is factual and and it's an expectation of this is going to happen here and so if you don't have a plan for it within it's going to be a

compromise situation and then someone's going to wait wait wait delay and not do herbicide and then you're going to build up a weed a huge weed presence crab grass goose grass et cetera those those grasses that pop in the late June early July time frame and just persist produce a lot of seed oh yeah and it's like take over yeah just use it wisely as the as a tool because if you're going to use it in the in the timber like wait it's used yeah it's used there's some differences there on soil activity et cetera this and that but like in the grand scheme of things the point is it's a tool it it shouldn't be completely thrown out eliminated or if so then

quality food plots are practically going to be literally it's just not going to be a reality not at all right it's just not going to be a reality so um I just across the board right with all these questions the whole purpose is like me and there's there's always a situation there's always a a balance there there's always a uh there's always a balance there's always a there's always a should I eliminate no no because that's an absolute like keep it on keep the options on the table just be educated on what tools to use win win yeah or how you might spend money to accomplish different things on a farm like just know what is important win it's not important to have a blind in place when you don't have deer get the deer then get the blind then get the blind right um it's not important to have a new implement that you're barely going to be able to use when you have a crummy road system anyways

like just again food for thoughts good conversations to be had but the point of it is is right find the balance and and understand that there's a there's a there's a process and there's an order and there's a procedure for these things that just make more sense right and it's not always follow follow status quo from from whatever one else is doing it's like ah that that what's weight on that let's know that that that's probably we need to do that yesterday yeah but far that chainsaw yeah get the thing cranking um braiding anything else four wrap up been a good conversation been good been real good um appreciate everyone listening hopefully we'll see you guys at the workshops coming up here in May and June and then one in uh august as well so check it out hope to see you guys there we appreciate your listening and we'll see you here next week

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