Hunt2Prove
On the Hunt for a Better Version of Ourselves, the Forests We Steward, & the Wildlife we Love!
What, Why, & How – The Land of the Pines Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association
In the latter part of 2014 I made the decision to start a local branch of the Quality Deer Management Association. I met with the Regional Director and in February 2015 things became official. The Land of the Pines Branch was formed. Here are some questions you and others may ask; questions that I asked myself:
What is Quality Deer Management? – For the best answer, as it pertains to the Quality Deer Management Association, click the link (the blue text)!
Why did I start a Branch?
I started the Land of the Pines Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association based out of Carthage, NC for several reasons:
1) To bring like-minded hunters together – Hunters who hunt for the future; hunters who work as hard as they can to improve the habitat on the lands they steward thereby improving the quality of life for wildlife that call those lands home; hunters who choose quality over quantity; hunters who share their passion with anyone willing to listen, especially the next generation; hunters who give; hunters who conserve.
2) I measure the quality of my hunting experience by the quality of the habitat on the lands I hunt and the quality of the deer & other wildlife that roam those lands.
3) To have more resources at my disposal to share what I know, what I’ve learned along the way about deer and deer hunting; what I’ve learned about Quality Deer Management & to learn from others!
4) Because seeing deer, managing deer, & hunting deer does something good for my soul & I want others to see what I see and feel a rendition of what I feel!
5) To Get Venison to families throughout our community who may need the extra food!
6) To raise funds for the creation of a Scholarship for a young man or woman looking to pursue a career in Natural Resources, Outdoor Writing, or Wildlife Law Enforcement.
7) To raise funds that can be used for seminars on: Wildlife Management, Timber Management, Predator Control, Deer Biology, and more. Why? When you get good people together, ideas become realities; things previously thought impossible become probable!
How does the Land of the Pines Branch and Quality Deer Management benefit local hunters?
We can all benefit from some of the above-mentioned initiatives that are the driving force behind the Land of the Pines Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association. Fun; Fellowship; Sharing of Knowledge; Sharing of Venison; Passing on the QDM Mindset, which over time will improve the health and vitality of the deer we hunt across a wider range of our area. Habitat improvement measures implemented by hunters who practice QDM also benefit a plethora of other wildlife ever-diversifying the North Carolina landscape.
Why, with all of the things going on in this crazy world, are you pushing Quality Deer Management and fundraising to support it?
Lets face it! The world we live in is wild and crazy at times. Always has been, always will be. In the midst of the war on terror, in the midst of all the negative happening across our great lands, the things we love and hold dear at heart are what give us hope; something to believe in. Can you imagine a world without white-tailed deer? How about one without any wildlife? Managing the properties that I hunt for Quality Deer keeps me grounded, gives me time to reflect and process the world outside of the deer woods, & inspires me to do more to keep what’s great about our country, what’s great about our world, great!
In the end, you’ll be the judge of whether or not The Land of the Pines Branch or any other branch of the QDMA is right for you. You’ll decide whether or not you become a QDMA member. What you should know is that the organization does need you! Local Branches, like Land of the Pines, needs you! We want to make your story part of our own. We want to be constructive and build positive relationships. We want to break down barriers that might have previously existed between hunters. We want to inspire others, especially non-hunters to take a look at who we are. And, perhaps most importantly, we want to be a better hunter & steward tomorrow than we were today.
If you’re free on Saturday, August 29th, 2015 we have a banquet coming up in Southern Pines, NC – Our 1st Annual Sportsman’s Banquet to raise the much-needed funds to put some of our ideas into play throughout our community. Be there if you can! We’d love to have you!
Banquet Information:
Date – Saturday, August 29th, 2015
Location – National Guard Armory – Southern Pines, NC
Time – 6PM
Dinner – 7PM
Followed by Silent and Live Auctions.
Taking out the Guesswork – This should be your 1st step before the creation of a new wildlife food plot…
Knowing your soil types and testing them regularly is essential to growing a good crop – the success of your food plots directly related to whether or not you take this fundamental step in the right direction. You’ve likely heard it before and you’ll likely hear it again – test your soil before planting. Not only that but, first find the best soil your property has to offer before ever creating a new food plot and you’ll save yourself a great deal of time, money, backache, and heartache in the end. No, you don’t have to go out and clear acre upon acre and take hundreds of soil samples before coming to a consensus as to whether or not an area of your property is suitable for a new plot. If I learned anything in college, it’s the importance of using websoilsurvey when it comes to soils and soil samples. It is one of the greatest tools at the disposal of hunters, farmers, land managers, & more. The best part – everything you put in your “shopping cart” is free and your customized soil report is available for download in just minutes.
Using the link above, which will take your directly to the Web Soil Survey Home Page, you can follow the simple directions and be well on your way to getting a custom soil report for the property you hunt. Once done, you’ll have a better idea as to which areas of your property are suitable for wildlife farmland and which areas are not.
So, you’ve done your homework – You checked out of Web Soil Survey with a site specific soil report. Your young pine plantation has just been thinned and you’ve hired a dozer and cleared specific logging corridors & old loading decks that fell within areas of your property that were classified by web soil survey as “farmland of statewide importance” or “all areas are prime farmland”. Now, what do you do? If you don’t have a soil probe – buy one! They’re available at various stores like Southern States and you can find them online at places like Forestry Suppliers. They’re not cheap, but the $60 +
– dollars you spend on a probe will more than pay for itself when it comes time to buy lime and fertilizer.
Now that you’ve got a probe, it’s time to take some soil samples. With a 5-gallon bucket and labeled Zip-Loc Bags I strike out for the areas I’m looking to plant. Regardless whether they’ve been planted before or have just been cleared and are ready to be cultivated for the first time, I take 10-15 samples per plot (most of our plots are 1 acre or less) -taking more than enough is always better than taking too little! I strive to get at least 4-6 inches of soil in the probe and up to 8-10 inches if the area has been plowed within the past six months to a year. Once I’ve got my samples in the bucket I do a rough mix of the soil and fill the appropriate bag.
Now, the fun part! I’m back home with all of my individual samples. You know those paper plates you have a stash of in your pantry? You’re gonna need them, as well as a sifter or strainer from the kitchen (she’s not gonna like this). I take each sample and pour onto a paper plate and diligently pick out any small rocks or other debris, running it through the strainer a time or two to ensure that only soil makes it through to the final step. Once the rocks, sticks, roots, and othe
r plant fibers are gone I allow the soil to bake in the sun for a minimum of 30 minutes – since I choose to use zip loc bags in the field, the drying phase is pivotal due to the fact that the bags help the soil to hold moisture.
I start the next phase of the food plot process by labeling each of my NC Agriculture sample boxes and filling out the accompanying “Soil Sample Information” Sheet (both the boxes and the information sheets available at your local Ag. Extension office or in most cases at the nearest Farm Supply Store). The sheet, the boxes, and the zip loc bags filled with dirt need to match – Triple Check! Don’t put the wrong soil in the wrong box and so forth! Otherwise, the results you’re ultimately provided and the following soil amendments will be carried out on the wrong piece of dirt!
Once your samples have been shipped to the soil testing facility, you should expect your results in as little as two weeks depending on the time of year. Personally, I choose to have a PDF of the results sent to me via email. My soil tests for Fall 2015 will be going out within the next week if I can help it. After I’ve received the results, I’ll follow up with a post about how to read them and where to go from there! Stay tuned!
Photos from the Wilder side of Life!
