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Winter Thermal Cover for Upland Birds

2/7/2019

The last few weeks we have had severe cold, wind and snow impacting much of the midwest. If you are a upland bird hunter, this may have you wondering how those birds are doing. How can they survive in this weather? This is a question I have been asked a few times in the past few weeks.

Two main factors are going to get them through these winter months. Thermal cover and food. In many instances these are two in the same. The best bet for thermal cover in native warm season grasses, and where they'll grow, cattails serve as good winter cover. In many of these native grass stands, the seeds produced by the grass and forbs provide food for the pheasants. However, supplemental food can be beneficial. I'll get to that next but first lets look how these grasses provide thermal cover.

If you look in the photo at the bottom of the page, you will see a clump of big blue stem and some switch grass. Nestled down a the bottom is a pheasant bed. The grass caught the snow, while remaining rigid providing vertical cover. This allows the bird to get nestled in, protected from the wind. This photo was taken on the Southeast side of the grass, right after a bird was flushed, on a day with a Northwest wind.

The positioning was in such a place the bird could still escape a ground predator if needed, was protected from the wind, while also being protected from aerial predators with the vertical structure the grass provided. This particular grassland has very few trees around it. Now shelter belts besides a few trees around the farm place. However, it has been managed well. It was burned about 4 years ago. Two years ago it was grazed. This has been great for managing a good grassland to produce birds. We saw about 150 birds on the last hunt of the season on this farm.

Although trees aren't necessary, they are another good option for food, thermal cover and even nesting cover. In particular, shelter belts consisting of evergreens and shrubs. Shrub thickets and occasional evergreens in a grassland, can provide great cover for birds. They can get on the south side, settle in and soak up the sun on a cold afternoon. The vertical structure again protects them from aerial predators.

The next option for consideration is food plots. My favorite plots for pheasants have milo in them. Either a straight milo plot or something like the Brood2Rooster mix, consisting of milo, sunflowers, sorghum and buckwheat, to name a few. The stalks are tough enough to with stand snow and wind, allowing a place for birds to get under and out of the wind. They will provide more than enough food to get your local flock through the tough months of winter.

Remember to manage today for a better tomorrow!

Brett Kleinschmit

2017 Montana Mule Deer

1/21/2019

Mid September, my friend Tom and I headed west to Montana. I had a mule deer tag in my pocket and bow in hand. Tom, was supposed to have a tag as well, unfortunately he did not draw his tag. The entire drive out we had rain and the forecast was showing rain for the 2 of the 4 days we had plan to hunt.

As we were pulling in to hunt a familiar area to me, we spotted a mature 3x4 mule deer buck in a stalk-able position. After running out of real estate at 50 yards, I had a perfect broadside shot presented to me. I drew back, settled the pin, and feeling more confident than ever, I released the arrow.

Much to my surprise, the arrow flew right over his back. After a quick look, we noticed that my sight had come loose during the drive west. The rest of the hunt was as good as we could ask for. We pursued a giant 5x5 whitetail, while we had bugling elk, coyotes and rutting antelope running between us and the buck. We were never able to get close enough for a shot. We saw tons of deer on the trip, just not another mature buck.

Immediately after leaving and heading home, I knew I wanted to go back in November with the rifle in hand. I would hunt a ranch very familiar to me, that I have antelope hunted many times. I had always wanted to hunt mule deer there and figured this was my chance to go explore a new part of the ranch during the mule deer rut.

November 14th, 2017. The truck was packed the night before for the trip west to Montana. By far the hardest part of the trip was upon me. Leaving my wife and daughter at home, even though for a few days, is always the worst part of every trip. I got up well before daylight to hit the road west.

I had plans to hunt the eastern part of Montana, not far off the South Dakota state line. A quick 7 hour drive would get me there around noon the same day. I would have 3 full days and a half day to hunt. Once I arrived, the first thing I did was set up a target and be sure the rifle was still dialed in.

I then set out to explore the part of the ranch I had never been on. This area had not been grazed yet for the year, had big sage flats with a creek running through the middle. With high winds and rain moving in I hiked a few miles getting a quick grasp at the lay of the land, property boundaries and to determine what kind of deer I could lay my eyes on.

I saw a few small bucks and does, but with the weather conditions they were not moving all that much. With the rain moving in, I headed back to the truck to get to town, grab some food and a room to get rested for the next days hunt.

As shooting light approached, I headed towards the NW corner of the ranch. This was the area that from a distance looked like the best area to hunt, and was the area I hadn't gotten a chance to look at yet. As the sun was rising I was seeing the sights that you dream about.

The flat between the creeks was full of deer. Mostly does, but from a mile away two bucks immediately stood out from the crowd. They were pushing does around, and running each other off from one side to the other. I instantly knew I would have to move quick. Being concealed by the taller vegetation and eroded ground along the creek, I was able to cover a lot of ground rather quickly.

Along the way I came across, a few small bucks heading out to find their own does. Soon I was in the area the bucks were in. As I crept to the edge of the flat I noticed ears. There was a doe standing a hundred yards out. Right behind her antlers began to rise above the horizon, while my heart rate also began to rise.

Was this the buck I came out here for? As I got a full look he was a big heavy, wide and tall 3x3 with daggers for G2's. Only front forks, a type of mule deer I have often dreamed of harvesting. He was chasing does in and out of the sage brush. Back to the creek on the other side and back out. Never presenting a great shot or a great look besides his antlers. Finally, I made a move to the other side, he came out and presented an excellent opportunity at 100 yards.

After a careful look, I flipped the safety back on. He was only a 3 year old deer. Not a deer I wanted to take, despite the nice set of antlers he carried. Soon that buck and his does worked their way off to a bedding area. I just couldn't think of what had happened to the other buck I saw at first light. I didn't see any sign of him. It was late in the morning so I decided to head back to the truck grab some lunch, study the maps and make a game plan to find him during the afternoon hunt.

For the afternoon I decided to walk another part of the ranch, with the wind in my favor, heading towards where I had saw the bucks in the morning. This area was full of deep draws and cuts with sage brush. I figured somewhere between where I was starting and where I saw them would be a good place to find that other buck or another buck.

As I made my way through I glassed diligently through each valley. Finding does and young bucks bedded throughout. As I crested the last big ridge, I stopped to glass the flat, over half mile away, where I saw the deer that morning. It didn't take long before I could see some chasing going on. It looked to be a mature buck and two does. I slowly worked my way down the draw until the deer were over the horizon from me. At this point I quickly walked to cover ground as fast as I could. I only had about an hour of daylight left. As I was about to cross the fence in the bottom and start working up the other side, one of the does ran up over the hill.

I knew he would soon be there too. As I loaded a round and set up on my shooting sticks, he came over the hill. Instantly I knew this was my shot and that he was the mature deer I was hoping to find on this trip. I calmed my breathing the best I could, flipped the safety off, settle the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger. Whack!

He bolted back over the hill, after what looked and sounded like a great shot! The does came out from around the hill, but I did not see him. I quickly worked up the hill to see if I could find evidence of a fatal hit. As I crested the hill, I could see antlers laying on the ground! It was a perfect heart shot and he hadn't gone 30 yards!

I couldn't believe that it had happened so fast and on the first full day of hunting! What a great feeling accomplishing a goal that you have. It had always wanted to mule deer hunt this ranch, and missing the buck in September gave me the perfect reason to come back out and have a little adventure of the unknown. Some of my favorite hunts have come from those first hunts on a place you know little about or have only looked at one a map. They don't always pan out but when they do it is one of the greatest feelings an outdoorsman can have.

The opportunity to harvest an animal on a hunt is great. My family and I got to enjoy the meat throughout the year and the mount will be in my office for years to come as a reminder of an great adventure and to tell the story over and over when my kids or anyone else asks. But often we get too caught up in the harvest. Myself included.

Get out there and just go have an adventure. Harvest your target animal, great. If not have fun, enjoy the process and you will still have memories to share. Don't be afraid to go try new places, hunt new species, or just experience a new adventure of any kind. Live with no regrets. Finally, when it comes to hunting and well life in general, follow your gut. Often times it is more right than you would think.

Remember to hunt hard, hunt smart and hunt safe!

Watch the full hunt unfold by clicking HERE!

Brett Kleinschmit

Montana Archery Antelope 2018

10/1/2018

September 1, 2018 at 5am, my cousin Nick and I hit the road heading west. Although I have made the trek west every year for the last 10 years, this was Nick's first time heading out after antelope. Heading out I knew things may be a little different from years past hunting antelope. Record amounts of rain had fallen throughout the summer. While Nick was excited and was looking forward to an opportunity to harvest his first antelope, I had hopes of arrowing a antelope I have had dreamed of, to have a shoulder mount of.

Our anticipation was high on the trip out and the weather was cooler than normal but still looked to be good for our stay. Nick had heard all of my stories on how many antelope were in this area. As we were nearing the ranch he was certainly not disappointed in the numbers of antelope roaming the prairie. As we arrived during the late morning hours, we quickly decided to scout a few of the ponds I knew generally had antelope sign. Due to the amount of water we not only had to look for antelope tracks, but we had to find a piece of water that was small enough to hunt well. Some of the ponds were close to 5 acres in size, that traditionally one could shoot every corner of the pond.

The first water hole we pulled up to, was about the perfect size. With the proper blind positioning one could should the entire pond. A quick walk around the pond quickly revealed many tracks, indicating the antelope were using this pond. We decided to get Nick's blind set and for him to start hunting. From here I continued to scouting for a place to set me own blind.

As I scouted the next few hours, I found little antelope sign on specific ponds, though there were antelope everywhere. One thing In common with these ponds was that the cattle had access to them. I knew I had to find a pond where the cattle were not at. There was one pond I needed to go at yet, it was in the same pasture Nick was set up in but about a half mile apart. So I headed that direction.

On the way there I spotted two bucks just off the road on the neighbors. As I got closer I quickly realized one of the bucks fit the criteria of the type of buck I was after on this trip. The pond I was headed to would only be about a quarter mile, as the crow flies, from these two bucks. However they were near another pond on the neighbors also. I could only hope there were tracks on the pond I was headed to and that maybe sometime in the next 3 days they would visit.

The pond was larger than I wanted, but there were a lot of tracks on the waters edge. The majority of the tracks were on the west ends where the water runs into the pond. The water in this area is longer and narrow. So I set my blind between these two tails, and hunkered in for the rest of the afternoon hunt.

I had no visitors to the water that afternoon. Nick and I had decided we would stop hunting about an hour before dark so we could go get the tent and camp set up in the daylight. After I picked him up I told him about these two bucks and I again wanted to go scout them to see what was going on. They were still in the same place I had seen them. My gut told me they were not going to leave this area on the neighbors.

As we headed towards setting up camp, We decided to stop into the neighbors and ask permission. After a little visiting, we learned those two bucks have been there all summer. He granted us permission to hunt those two bucks. As we left to set the tent up, we both decided we would continue hunting were we were due to all the sign, especially considering these two bucks were not too far from either pond. With the rut approaching you never know where they could go. After all Nick had antelope walk by him they just never came in to water.

The next morning we both had high hopes for the day. I dropped Nick off at his blind as I headed to my blind. We had both planned to sit all day. However by 1pm neither of us had any action at all. This was a big surprise to me. The sun was hot, it was windy and there were a lot of antelope in the area. But there was also a lot of water in the area. I still could not stop thinking about the bucks on the neighbors. I decided to make a quick scout trip to see what they were doing. They were still in the same spot as the day before.

I returned to my blind thinking about what my next move was. I was going to sit the rest of the day to see what happened at this water hole. The hours creeped by and all I observed were the blue winged teal that had been dabbling in the pond all day. My gut was telling me we had to make a move.

We both decided to pull our blind about 45 minutes before dark and move both of them to the neighbors pond. Why both blinds? This pond was big, and with both blinds we could then cover the entire pond. This way, hopefully, at least one of us could get a shot at the bucks if they watered. We went in and set the blinds close to dark. As we finished setting them we had a group of does want to come water. With one and a half days left to hunt, and temps in the low 90's, we were both excited and anxious for the next day's hunt.

We headed out early and got settled into the blinds in the dark. We both were hoping today was the day. As the morning went on I found myself observing the teal, mallards and gadwalls on the pond again. There were no antelope in site but I still had high hopes. I continued to read my magazines to help pass the time. About 9:30 I was going to take a quick nap, so I took a quick look around to be sure nothing was nearby. There they were on the backside of the blind and heading towards me!

I got the camera tuned on, arrow knocked and range finder ready. They were both slightly hesitant to come to the water and kept a close eye on the blind. As they approached I didn't know if it would happen. They were hanging up about 70 yards out with full attention on my blind. Finally, the target buck came forward and approached the water. As he bent down to drink I ranged him at 56 yards. I clipped the release and drew back. As he was still drinking I split the 50 and 60 yard pins, settled it behind the shoulder and squeezed the trigger.

As the arrow impacted he he wheeled to the right, I saw the arrow stick into the ground in front of him and immediately nothing the white and yellow fletchings were now crimson colored! I couldn't be more excited! The buck ran about 15 yards and stood there. I could see the wound and the blood flowing from it. I didn't think it would be long. He walked another 15 yards and laid down. It was all over and the plan had come together! This is my biggest antelope to date and to top it off I got him with my bow!

After we gutted and hauled him out of there, Nick settled back into his blind to finish out the day in hopes another would come by him. Although he had antelope come near him, nothing ever did present a shot. There are a few tips I want to share with you that will hopefully help you on your next hunt.

First with the water holes. In an instance like we had, with lots of water and the ponds were big, find the smallest pond possible. If they are still too big focus on the narrow tails of the pond. That is where these bucks came to water. Most of the tracks on other ponds were also near these tails. The second tip is to always follow your gut. This hunt and last years mule deer hunt, on the same ranch, I had gut feelings on what to do. Both time's I went with the feeling and the plan worked out. The last tip is to not be shy to ask for permission. On this hunt I watched a truck from Minnesota drive by these antelope many times. I assume he was hoping they would cross the fence onto some BLM ground. Luckily for me he didn't, but if he had just went and knocked on the door, it may have been him not me wrapping a tag around that antelope buck.

Good luck out there this fall! Remember to Hunt Hard, Hunt Smart and to Hunt Safe!

You can watch the entire hunt right HERE!

WATCH VIDEO

Springtime Supplemental Forage Stocking

5/1/2018

If you want to take your fishery to the next level of fish production, I am a firm believer in doing supplemental forage stockings. That forage can be anything from more bluegill, fathead minnows, shiners, shad or even trout. We typically use fathead minnows, unless the natural forage production, typically bluegills, in lacking in recruitment.

At this time we will stock more bluegill, with fathead minnows, to help try and boost the bluegill population. A healthier bluegill population means more forage that produced naturally through spawning. If I am trying to better the population in a pond we will stock larger sized bluegill. The fathead minnows are used for immediate forage.

When the forage populations are fairing well we will still stock a forage such as fathead minnows each spring. How many? Well as many as one wants to pay for. Constant attention to the fishery is necessary to know what, how and when to act. If there is still minnows left after ice off, you can cut back on the spring stocking. If you see no sign of them in the shallows, then it is time to stock as many as you feel comfortable.

The time of the stocking can be critical depending on desired results and species you are wanting the forage to benefit. When we are trying to grow large bass for example, we stock around the time the bluegill are spawning. This helps to take the pressure off of newly hatched bluegill fry for a little while. At least giving them a little better chance of making it. Most, likely won't make it, but if they can live longer and grow bigger this means more calories in that meal for the bass or other predatory fish.

This strategy should hopefully get more of your natural forage species, to make it into late summer and early fall. This is when we will typically do another stocking of minnows, just before the ice comes on.

Remember to manage today for a better tomorrow!

Establishing Mineral Sites

4/9/2018

Why establish mineral sites on your hunting grounds? I get this question often. No it is not a magic bean that, over night will give you bigger antlered bucks for the coming fall. In fact mineral supplementation alone, is not going to result in larger antlered bucks on your hunting ground.

Think of mineral sites just like our multi-vitamins we take. They alone will not get you into the best shape you can be. Instead you have to eat and exercise correctly. Those multi-vitamins simply help you be as healthy as possible, reducing the risks of illness. Well the same goes for wildlife.

These mineral sites are their vitamins. They help that deer be as healthy as possible putting their bodies in the best condition possible. With the proper use of mineral sites, while properly managing your herd, native habitat, food sources, predators and stress on the herd, all combine to help maintain the healthiest herd possible. Healthy animals means those animals can and will express their greatest potential!

With antlers beginning to grow and does are in the last stages of gestation, now is a great time to get those site either started or refreshed for the upcoming growing season. The next 4 months are vital for your deer herd. Does will be lactating and bucks growing antlers, both requiring large amounts of nutrition and mineral supplementation.

I always recommend keeping mineral out year round. Fall and winter months they don't use or need it as much but again aids in making those deer as healthy and is as good of condition as possible. In some states you cannot hunt over mineral sites. This worries many hunters about keeping them out all year.

In this situation just read your states regulations. Often times you just have to place the mineral so many days before the season or cannot have a stand position within so many yards of the site. Simply place the mineral sites in areas you don't hunt. Whether that be in sanctuaries or just hard to hunt place where wind swirls or there aren't good stand sites.

There are many minerals out there to choose from. Just be sure to do your homework to be sure you are getting the best bang for your bucks. If you have questions on choosing the right mineral feel free to email.

Remember to manage today for a better tomorrow!

Predator Management

9/25/2017

I often hear how the game numbers are not what they used to be. People discuss with me how they don't see the pheasants today like they did 20 years ago. Quail used to be in many of the plum thickets. Deer numbers were a lot higher before the 2012 EHD outbreak than they seem to be today. Many of the deer herds are taking longer to recover to those numbers than many people may have expected.

There are, what I think, two major reasons why the above statements are heard and true in many cases. The first reason is loss of habitat. It is rare to see plum thickets in fence lines, cattail sloughs a being drained to farm, shelter belts and tree groves torn out to gain a few more acres of crop ground. Pasture and CRP was being torn out at alarming rates with high commodity prices. Although a lot of CRP has been going back in over the last few years it takes time to rebuild those populations. We can plant trees but unlike a stand of CRP they take 10 years to establish. The other major reason for declining or slow rebound of populations is predators.

Not long ago I received Nebraska's 2015-2016 season fur harvest summary. Reviewing the summary it is no wonder we don't see the game populations that many people talk about. Every species on that list, except woodchuck, had declined in the estimated number trapped and hunted compared to both the previous season and the 5 year average.

The top 3 nest predators, raccoons, stripped skunks and opossums, declined in the following ways. 46.1% fewer raccoon were harvested in the 2015-2016 season compared to the previous and that number was 53.9% fewer than the 5 year average. Stripped skunk were 29.1% lower than the previous and 31.2% lower than the 5 year average. Opossum harvested was 19.4% fewer than the previous season and 23.2% fewer than the 5 year average. Why such the decrease in predator harvests?

There could be many options to this. Maybe people did not respond well to the survey to get better numbers. I feel a big part of it is likely economic. Many people I know stopped trapping due to the very low fur market. Furs have not been going for much the past few years making it less appealing for hunters and trappers to spend their money on fuel and baits for not much return if any at all. Maybe we are losing people interested in the sport?

If you are experiencing unsatisfactory game populations on your property, maybe it is time to start observing predator populations. Start trapping with family and friends. Teach your kids or grand-kids the past time. Invite others to hunt or trap predators on your property. Trapping and hunting predators can be a great time to get outdoors after all our game seasons are closed. Most trapping seasons run through February or March.

Bottom line if you want to increase game populations good habitat management and predator management both are keys factors. So get out there and enjoy the outdoors.

Remember to manage today for a better tomorrow!

Brett Kleinschmit

Managing Clover Plots

8/24/2017

We are only a week away from the opening day of Nebraska’s deer season and a few short weeks later many of the other Midwestern States seasons open. Are you fully prepared for the season? Don’t think only about your tree stands and shooting your bow. Yes both are very important but what about those food plots? Right now is the perfect time of year to do that final management practices to clover plots.

August is the time that I like to do the last mowing for the season. Usually it seems we start getting a little more rain and the temperatures start to cool. This can provide ideal growing conditions for the clover. Mowing Clover helps with two things. It helps to control weeds in the plot along with rejuvenating the plants. That rejuvenation helps provide new succulent growth that wildlife love to come a browse. I base mowing these plots off on when the archery season opens. Trying to mow about 2-3 weeks before the opener seems to be best. That way by the time you are ready to climb into the tree that clover is thriving once again.

This time of year is also good for fertilizing your clover plots. Using something like potash or a high potassium fertilizer along with some potassium will also help you obtain those lush plots into the growing season. It is said that doing this fall fertilizing may also help lessen the effects of possible winter kill on clover. I plan to do some of my own side by side testing this year to see the different results on how stands come back the following spring.

In the past I have sprayed clover to knock out the grass and broadleaf weeds about this time of year as well. However I have found that spraying is likely best done in the spring and early summer months. Spraying does work now but given the time of the year, typically mowing the clover now will set most of the weeds back that they won’t be an issue the rest of the fall. I will follow the plots up with spraying next spring to get ahead of the weeds early. Remember to take soil samples this fall and follow those recommendations for spring fertilizing as well.

With the proper management and care of your clover plots you can get them to last 3-5 years, and maybe longer in some instances.

Remember to manage today for a better tomorrow!

Brett Kleinschmit

Fall Preparation

8/1/2017

As I stood there staring at all the fallen trees entangled in itch weed and thistles my imagination led me to September. I could see myself sitting high above a lush clover plot as the deer came out to feed. First the does with their fawns, followed by the younger bucks. As evening turned to dusk, a mature buck came walking out 20 yards from my stand. I imagined myself coming to full draw and sending an arrow through double lung city leaving a frothy red trail as he ran back to the woods.

As I sat there daydreaming of fall, I knew I could turn this tangled up weed patch into something spectacular. The next night I was back with a chainsaw and began going to work. Even after working 12-13 hour days I still found the motivation to come cut up some brush for an hour a couple of nights a week. Finally, after a couple of weeks of cutting off and on with the chainsaw I had cleared the area of brush and trees and even had dug a few stumps out which seemed to make the area double in size. On to the next step, I had to get rid of all the weeds and thistles which had grew to about 5-6ft. tall. I filled the sprayer on the four-wheeler up and headed back down to the plot. Being careful not to get my young apple trees on the edge of the plot, I gave the whole area a healthy dose of round-up.

A week or two later and all the weeds and thistles were dried up and falling over. Now was the time to hit it with the rotary mower. Although the ground was covered with bark and branches, it was no match for the mower lowered all the way to the ground and the tractor roaring in first gear. A short 20 minutes later the plot was looking better than ever with the weeds gone and the wood chopped to tiny pieces.

As it was the middle of July, the plot could be planted anytime. I just had to play the waiting game for rain. However, work slowed before rain came and since I was only summer help, I got cut for the summer. With nothing better to do, I headed back down to the plot and cleared even more trees out and at least doubled the size of the plot. Now as July is coming to an end, the plot is prepped and ready to be planted with the first sign of August rain. As long as all goes well, come the beginning of September the plot will be a luscious green with a frothy red trail leading into the woods.

James Kleinschmit

Limiting Factors

3/15/2017

We as humans like to push the limits of Mother Nature, and some like to think we can control it. That is far from the truth, we are quite small in relation to Mother Nature and she is a powerful force to reckon with. No matter how much we think we know she will always adjust things as she sees fit to make it all work out. There are, however, management techniques out there that we can perform to make our personal dreams and goals a reality. One may following the plan by the “book” yet still not be observing the results they desired. This is likely due to one or more limiting factors. Whenever we try to push the limits of Mother Nature, whether it be growing large numbers of bigger and more fish in our ponds, large deer populations or an abundance of upland birds there is generally always going to be at least one limiting factor preventing these goals from being attained.

Generally speaking with most situations the most common limiting factor is food. Many think well that sounds easy to handle. Plant more food plots, put supplemental wildlife or fish feeder out or stock more bait fish in our ponds. Well it is not always that easy. Yes all of this may help to some degree but it is more of a band aid to a bigger problem at hand, populations above the carrying capacity. Is the predator/prey ratios out of line or maybe not enough harvest is taking place? Maybe food is not the issue and there is plenty to go around. What could it be? Maybe there are too many furbearing animals on your property making it difficult for upland birds to recruit individuals into the population? Maybe there are not enough or the proper predators in your pond to keep the bluegill population in check so they can grow to preferred sizes? Perhaps it has nothing to do with food or predators.

There may be a habitat issue at hand. There may not be enough fawning or brood rearing cover to safely harbor those young individuals from predators. Perhaps there isn’t enough submersed vegetation in your pond to hold young of the year fish for both as a food source for those Largemouth Bass or to harbor the young bluegill so they can be recruited into the population. Water quality may also be an issue in your pond. The water body may be overloaded in nutrients causing major algae blooms or maybe the pH of the water is not in the acceptable range or there could simply be not enough dissolved oxygen in the water body to allow for healthy fast growing fish.

Whatever the limiting factor may be in your particular situation remember there are management strategies that can be done to correct these factors. Remember that for every management action you take there will be some sort of reaction to that action. So make sure you do your research to make sure you are making the correct adjustments to get your desired results. We as humans love to push the limits of Mother Nature and every scenario is going to have its limits. It is up to us to determine those limits to best meet our goals.

If you would like help determining what those factors may be in your situation feel free to contact me. We can set up a date and time to come and meet up to discuss goals, dreams and the issues you are noticing.

Remember to Manage Today for a Better Tomorrow!
Brett Kleinschmit

Timing of Antler Casting

2/1/2017

Over the past month I have had quite a few questions regarding when deer begin to shed their antlers and why. Some have been concerned that they were seeing deer drop antlers in December and others wonder why some bucks hold onto their antlers long into the winter. There are a number of factors affecting antler casting and I cannot say anyone knows the exact answers. However in my experiences I have noticed trends relating to when along with doing quite a bit of reading on the subject.

First off I want to discuss how antlers fall off. Antlers are essentially dead material once they harden and velvet is rubbed off. They attach to the pedicle which is living bone. This connection is only maintained during high testosterone levels. The combination of the rut being over and photoperiod shortening, testosterone levels begin to diminish. The bone cells known as osteoclast, reabsorbs calcium between the antler and pedicle, weakening the connection resulting in the antler falling off.

Although low testosterone levels and photoperiod changes are the main contributing factor to antler casting there are a number of other factors that can influence the drop. All of these factors relate to some level of stress either in the entire herd or in an individual. As one may expect, nutrition is very important and herds and bucks in great physical condition will likely hold their antlers longer. If you are seeing many of the local bucks dropping antlers earlier than expected there is likely a habitat issue going on. This could be simply caused by an over populated herd, crop failures due to extreme drought, extreme heat or even extreme cold. This year I think weather factors have lead to some increased stress in many parts of Nebraska and South Dakota. We started off with unseasonably warm temperatures into mid to late November. This was followed by snow storm and extreme cold throughout December and January with again unseasonably warm temperatures mixed in between. These weather related stresses could have led to early casting in some areas.

Breeding will also play a factor. If the buck to doe ratio is skewed towards does, and all does are not being bred in the initial rut, then this can leading to prolonged breeding. This causes testosterone levels to stay elevated resulting in longer antler holding. If bucks are frequently fighting, this too will cause elevated testosterone levels, resulting in the holding antlers longer. However, if the buck to doe ratio is nearly even and all the breeding is done in short amount of time this could result in many of the bucks casting early.

However, if you notice only one or two bucks casting early there is likely some sort of stress on that individual deer. This could be due to age, injury, and dominance status. Maybe there is a mature buck on your property and he gets very stressed out from a worsened body condition after a long rut and is having a tough time putting the body reserves back on. This added stress certainly does the deer no good. One of the bucks may have been injured in some fashion either from fighting in the rut, running from predators, hit by a car or many other scenarios. His body taking over trying to heal itself can cause added stress to the individual. In times like this the body will use nutrients where there are most needed. Finally a younger buck may have been “The Boss” on your farm all season, when sometime in the late season a much more dominate buck moved onto the property making him lose dominance. This loss of dominance can result in reduced testosterone levels. All of these factors can lead to individuals casting their antlers early.

In closing there are many factors that can affect the “when” factor of antler casting. I personally think the winter weather has more to do with it than many think. It was the middle of April 2016 when I was drilling some CRP grasses for a client of mine. That morning as started out around the field, I was coming to where a shelter belt and a wooded draw met, when 6 whitetail bucks came running out of the draw. All of these bucks were still holding both sides of their antlers. If you remember the winter before was one of the warmest I can remember. The ground did not freeze, we had maybe half a dozen snow storms, and the snow was melted within a few days of those storms. The deer had very little weather related stress that year and it showed in the number of bucks holding antlers well into the early spring.

Remember to manage today for a better tomorrow!

Brett Kleinschmit

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