D&DH Television Show to Document
Major Land-Improvement Project
by Daniel E. Schmidt, Editor
Over the past decade, our annual Deer & Deer Hunting Reader Surveys have shown increasing interest in the number of readers who want us to address land-management tactics and techniques. We’ve obliged by adding increased coverage throughout the year, including Charles Alsheimer’s popular “Quality Deer” column.
Our coverage abilities took a major step forward when D&DH-TV hit the Outdoor Channel’s airwaves in July 2005. If you’ve seen any episode from Season 1, you’ve no doubt noticed our references to a project we’ve been anxiously waiting to unveil: The Tiger Ridge Experiment. Think of it as our version of ABC’s popular show, Extreme Makeover ... in a hunting land edition!
The Tiger Ridge concept was the brainchild of D&DH Group Publisher Hugh McAloon.
“We wanted to find land that was basically worthless from a deer hunting standpoint and, over time, turn it into a fantastic hunting parcel,” said McAloon. “However, at the same time, we wanted to do this on a relatively small scale — 200 acres or less — so the average guy can relate and, most of all, realize that you don’t need thousands of acres to grow and hunt quality deer.”
After searching for more than a year, McAloon located a landowner who had just purchased 1,280 acres of timber company land in central Wisconsin, just a short drive from D&DH’s home office. After outlining our mission, McAloon secured a lease to 200 acres of that property (five contiguous 40-acre parcels).
We couldn’t have asked for a better, or should we say “worse,” situation. The land, which was open to public hunting for more than 50 years, can best be graded as a 1 on a scale of 10 (with 10 being the best) as far as deer habitat is concerned.
It’s all woods, but this parcel’s in serious need of help. The woods consists mostly of saw-timber red oaks and maples. One redeeming trait is the property includes a cedar swamp that snakes from east to west through the middle of the property.
Assessing the Situation
To transform Tiger Ridge into the ultimate whitetail property, we turned to Neil Dougherty, one of the nation’s brightest private land managers. He is a wildlife specialist for The Whitetail Institute of North America.
Dougherty and his father, Craig, also own and operate North Country Whitetails, a 500-acre whitetail demonstration center in Steuben County, N.Y. The Doughertys started their consulting business after more than a decade of intense management in New York’s Finger Lakes region.
After assessing Tiger Ridge, Dougherty said it is surprisingly similar to what he encountered with his property when he was just starting out. Essentially, Tiger Ridge is an extremely mature forest with a closed tree canopy. The forest was grown for timber, so trees are severely competing against each other to grow taller. That results in very little daylight reaching the ground.
“In situations like this, regeneration is dismal,” Dougherty said, “and deer quickly eat up all the available browse. In fact, the browse production could be as low as 100 to 150 pounds of (deer) food per acre (per year).”
To put that in perspective, one deer needs 6 pounds of food per day. Therefore, a mature forest simply cannot and will not hold many deer throughout the season.
However, through managed logging and food-plot creation, we expect to grow bigger and better whitetails. We also expect to improve the overall habitat for all wildlife. Dougherty predicts the land’s natural food production will increase to 600 to 1,000 pounds of food per acre once the first logging stage is completed.
The ace in the hole is the fact that food plots will provide an additional 6 to 8 tons of food per acre.
“This will create a dramatic increase in the number of deer sightings on the property,” Dougherty said. “It’s simple: If you want big deer, you must supplement the natural browse.”
Dougherty stresses that you don’t even need 200 acres to experience positive results. “With just a little bit of work on any parcel, you’ll have a nicely tuned-up piece of property.”
Mapping Out the Mission
When considering buying or leasing hunting land, it’s crucial to conduct your own “due diligence.” If you analyze every little detail, you’ll be less likely to be disappointed after the ink dries on the purchase order or lease contract.
Scouring plat books and aerial photos is a given, but — as we found out with Tiger Ridge — nothing compares to a hands-on fly-over.
Armed with aerial photos, maps, notebooks and pens, Dougherty and McAloon hired a local pilot and took an overhead tour of the Tiger Ridge property in Summer 2005.
Aerial surveys not only provide a unique bird’s-eye view of a property, they allow you to see what’s going on at neighboring properties — something that usually cannot be done from the ground. The unique perspective comes in really handy when strategizing on where to (and where not to) place food plots and sanctuaries. Here are three steps to improving your deer habitat:
1. Designate Sanctuaries
The No. 1 key to improved deer hunting on any land is to reduce hunting pressure. That means designating certain areas as sanctuaries — specific areas where no human activity is allowed.
Through his years of developing land plans, Dougherty has learned that 20 percent is the key figure to keep in mind. That’s the minimum amount of land mass you should set aside as safe havens for deer.
The Tiger Ridge property will have four sanctuaries, one of which is 35 acres of dense cedar swamp that’s furthest upwind of the property.
“This is a natural area to make into a sanctuary,” said Dougherty, “because deer will feel safe there as they access the (future) food plots. If your goal is to grow and hunt big deer, you have to set aside places where they’ll feel safe and secure.”
There will be three other smaller sanctuaries — one in each of the remaining corners of the property.
Although no daytime human activity will be allowed in these areas, one exception will be made: Hunters will be allowed to trail wounded deer at night.
2. Stagger Logging Activity
Wise timber management is another vital key to improving a deer hunting property.
Because Tiger Ridge is part of a large forest block, we know it’s crucial to stagger logging activity to maintain sustained browse growth.
“It’s important not to log the whole thing off at one time,” Dougherty said. “If you do that, five years from now you’ll have the best hunting you’ve ever had, but nine years from now, you’ll have all this growth mature at the same time.”
3. Create Temporary Food Plots
When starting from scratch, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and want immediate results. That’s a mistake that can burn you out rather quickly. However, when starting with a piece of land that’s as nondescript as Tiger Ridge, it’s prudent to create early food plots in areas such as log landings (areas where pole timber is stacked for mill pickup).
“The key to any plan is patience,” said McAloon. “Hunters sometimes get so excited that they rush into things without thinking things through. In the case of these early log-landing food plots, we know that we can’t just throw down some seeds and wait for the plants to grow.”
Log landings are usually littered with piles of sawdust, bark, twigs and brush. After removing this debris, the Tiger Ridge crew will test the soil’s pH and then apply the necessary lime and fertilizer. This preparation is a must to prevent a lot of wasted time and effort, because forest soils are typically comprised of decomposing leaf litter, which makes them acidic and not readily conducive for most plot seeds.
(Just before this issue went to press, we learned that the Tiger Ridge soils tested at a dismal 5.4 pH level. As a result, Dougherty has recommended that 7 tons of lime per acre be added to the early food-plot locations.)
Looking Ahead
During Year 2 of the Tiger Ridge experiment, we’ll provide D&DH readers and D&DH-TV viewers with regular updates on the progress we’re making on our four immediate goals:
1. Establish sanctuaries.
2. Plan a logging operation.
3. Create immediate hunting food plots, and
4. Devise and stick to long-range goals.
“This is hard work, but for the serious whitetail enthusiast, such projects are a labor of love,” said McAloon. “It is our mission, however, that all of our work at Tiger Ridge will further educate the Deer & Deer Hunting readership and TV viewership and eliminate the huge learning curve and growing pains that come with any land-management project.
“This is going to be educational, but it’s also going to be a lot of fun,” McAloon said. “We welcome all you loyal Stump Sitters to tune in and follow along for the journey!”
For more information on Tiger Ridge visit: www.hunttigerridge.com
