Well, herexe2x80x99s to all you gungho Thunderchicken hunters out there celebrating the moving earthtones of Springtime like you mean it! Many of my Spirit BloodBrothers have already connected with the big game of the bird world all across America: Rios, Merriam’s, Easterns and Osceolas, even Goulds and Ocellateds. As of this moment in time, I remain turkey-less, though I sincerely believe for only a short time.
Turkey hunting, along with fishing, is a wonderful hands-on conservation spring ritual that so many of us enjoy, but there is still much more work to be done during this exciting annual early season of rebirth and re-awakening.
With sacred family hunting grounds in both Texas and Michigan, my family, like many millions of others, and our team have plenty to do in our never-ending, continuing saga of private property owners’ stewardship responsibilities everywhere in America.
I always feel at my best when my hands are worn, torn, filthy dirty and abused with sweat dripping off my brow! I am convinced that the great Foreigner song, Dirty White Boy, was written about me.
My land-improving list of chores and duties came to me instinctively and naturally way before I had any actual education or information as to just what it was I was supposed to do to improve wildlife habitat.
Through trial and error, and paying attention to the details of every outing about terrain, topography and conditions on the public and private lands I hunted on going back to the 1950s, it soon became crystal clear to me in which sort of habitat I experienced the most critter encounters and the best chances of filling my game bag.
Even to an uneducated, goofy guitar-player, I figured out soon enough that only squirrels were found in mature standing timber, and that all the grouse, woodcock, pheasant, quail, rabbits, turkey and deer were always most abundant in the thicker, understory edge cover.
It was at that time I began to plant 1,000s and 1,000s of various coniferous seedlings along with autumn olive bushes and various vetch vegetation in thick pockets to create security cover.
Once I became owner of land that included stretches of standing timber, I realized that opening up the canopy created the most desirable habitat of all for all wildlife.
With a combination of select timber harvest and replanting both cover and mast producing seedlings, it wasnxe2x80x99t long before a jungle of thickets and multiflora rose tangles and scrub appeared, and with it, a near-instant increase in game!
A little hinge cutting done properly goes a long way in keeping deer and small game safe and secure on your property, and thank God, lead by hunting families, farmers and ranchers, more and more American landowners are implementing these proven methodologies for the amazing benefit to all wildlife, both game and non-game.
Add to this recent phenomenon the dedication to foodplots and wildlife dedicated row crops, and there is no wonder that game animals across America are thriving and expanding like never before.
In fact, an actual industry has emerged and quickly growing specifically dedicated to wildlife habitat enhancement for the ultimate win-win-win-win.
I wasnxe2x80x99t able to attend the wildlife habitat seminars conducted by Tony LaPratt in southern Michigan, but both my son and buddy Jim Knapp came away very impressed and excited as to all the new ideas they learned from Tony.
As one of us, Tony discovered long ago, probably through the same trial-and-error observations that I did, just what types of land management best attracts, holds and supports wildlife, and he turned it into a killer deerhunting lifestyle business.
The graduates from Tonyxe2x80x99s Whitetail Boot Camp seminars have raved about the increase in quality hunting on their lands, and he provides information on some very interesting, subtle details that have proven fortuitous to critter lovers everywhere.
The hunting lifestyle is surely the ultimate rugged individual, self-sufficient, independent lifestyle there is, and with springtime coming on strong all across America, now is the time to plunge our greasy blood-stained mitts into the good mother earth to give back way more than we take, working hard so we can play hard come fall.
Check out Tonyxe2x80x99s amazing Whitetail Boot Camp at https://www.tonylapratt.com/whitetail-boot-camp
Get out there with family and friends and get down and dirty in the great outdoors. It will cleanse the soul and cleanse the good earth.
Good luck with the Thunderchickens, too!
Multi-platinum guitar legend TED NUGENT announces a new full-length album THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT, due out Friday, November 9, on Round Hill Records. The album is available now for preorder everywhere, and the title track xe2x80x9cThe Music Made Me Do Itxe2x80x9d is available to download and stream wherever music is sold.
Ted Nugent xe2x80x93 xe2x80x9cThe Music Made Me Do Itxe2x80x9d (Official Music Video)
With more than 40 million albums sold, rock legend Ted Nugent is equally well known as the nationxe2x80x99s most outspoken proponent of our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights, conducting thousands of pro-gun, pro-freedom, pro-American interviews in major media worldwide. Nugent is a New York Times best-selling author whose works include Ted, White & Blue xe2x80x94The Nugent Manifesto; God, Guns & Rock xe2x80x98nxe2x80x99 Roll and Kill It & Grill It.This year, his award-winning Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild TV show celebrates its 500th episode! For all things Nuge, visit www.tednugent.com