KENNETH RALPH 'KENN' YOUNG  is an outdoor writer/photographer who makes his home, along with his beautiful wife Connie, in the Ozark Mountains of Northcentral Arkansas.
   Kenn began his outdoor writing career in 1980, and since then his articles and photographs have appeared in numerous local, state and national publications. Those include:
Arkansas Sportsman, Bowhunter, Buckmasters, North American Whitetail, Petersen's Hunting, Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and Whitetail Strategies.
   In addition he is editor and publisher of
'Arkansas' Biggest Bucks of All Time, Vol I and Vol II', the current state record book for whitetail deer, does an outdoor column for the Stephens Media Group, and hosts the Kenn Young Outdoors weekly radio show on KXIO radio. He is the owner of the ARDeerHunting.com website and the Monster Whitetails of Arkansas traveling big buck display, does seminars at various shows and events, and in his 'spare' time does field testing for several outdoor-related firms. 

"I am 'old school'. As a boy I was taught my hunting methods and ethics by a group of 'oldtimers' who treated the outdoors as a gift from God, and the game they harvested as the bounty of their hard work and skill. It is my fervent hope that when those men look down on me today they will take pride in the fact that one of them still lives." - Kenn Young

THE ARTICLES BELOW ARE TAKEN FROM VARIOUS SOURCES, PRIMARILY NEWSPAPERS, FOR WHICH KENN WRITES.



WHY POLAR BEARS MATTER

“Why the h--- do we care about polar bears? I ain’t seen one of them here in Arkansas in quite a while!”

The rather succinct question came from one of the older outdoorsmen who make their home at the local gun shop, after my weekly radio show aired two weeks ago. Normally at this time of year the show would be dominated by turkey talk, but the gobbler chasing in our area has been so bad that no one even wants to talk about it. So on this particular show I switched gears and discussed the various goings-on between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&W) and the conservation/anti-hunting groups who want the polar bear listed as an endangered species.

Here is a little background on the topic:

Back in 2004 three environmentalist groups; Greenspeace, The Center for Biological Diversity and the National Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) in an effort to have the polar bear put on the Endangered Species List (ESL). I'm sure all of us recognize those three names, particularly the first one, whose members go around blowing up people. 

The suit was filed in spite of the fact that studies have shown that today there are more polar bears (estimates run as high as 25,000) than there have been at any time in the last half-century.

The basis of the groups’ contention is that global warming and the greenhouse effect is causing the polar ice cap to melt, thus reducing the polar bear’s range. Through their own interpretation of various studies they have arrived at the conclusion that up to two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population may disappear by 2050. Keep that word ‘may’ in mind as we continue, and also understand that there are other studies that show the population may be harmed less; or even not at all. When you look 40-50 years into the future the crystal ball is clouded.

Somewhat buckling under to the pressure from these groups, the USF&WS in 2006 said that they would study the 'problem', and determine if a recommendation to place the great white bears on the protected list was necessary. Just to make things even harder on themselves they went so far as to say, in print, that 'such a move may be warranted’.

For a variety of reasons, none of which have to do with the fact that the polar bear is not under any danger of extinction today, they have now delayed their determination numerous times. One of those reasons is certainly the threat of other lawsuits, with the environmentalists now getting on board with the anti-hunting groups, and those will almost surely come if the USF&WS does not put the bears on the protected list. Fighting these lawsuits would be a no-win situation for the feds, since even if they won it would still cost millions of dollars in court costs, and that is money federal agencies simply do not have. The conservation/anti groups on the other hand, have almost unlimited funds, and via a trial would receive the national exposure that such groups crave.

Although rarely mentioned, there is another reason the feds have been loath to side with the conservationists. IF the polar bear is placed on the ESL the extensive oil exploration taking place in their home range would be severely cut back or eliminated altogether. If there is one thing the federal government is reluctant to interfere with today it is any possible source of new oil. It's OK to allow oil companies 300 per cent profits; but they do not want to give the public the idea that they are in any way hindering the finding of new alternative oil sources.

So the bottom line is that the USF&WS is caught between a rock and a hard place, and they have procrastinated on the decision so long that a federal judge has now ordered them to make their decision by May 15.

I believe that this decision will have far-reaching effects on wildlife, wildlife management and hunting, especially if the polar bear is indeed listed as being endangered. Why is that? Because IF the bear is placed on the ESL when all research tells us that today there is no shortage of the animals, it will establish the precedent that wildlife can be managed on the basis of what MAY happen in the future.

What about future habitat loss for whitetail deer, for quail, for elk? What about declining water quality for fish and waterfowl? The plain fact is that by using this murky criteria which may be established, virtually every wildlife species on the face of the earth could come under the banner of being ‘endangered’. 

Also don’t think for a second that the anti-hunting groups, which have millions of dollars in their coffers earmarked directly for filing lawsuits against wildlife agencies, don't understand that, and are licking their chops at the opportunity which may be presented!

And that my friend, is why every single hunter and fisherman in America should be concerned about what happens with polar bears!


THE FUTURE OF HUNTING

"My brother Stuart and I scouted a 60-acre property that belongs to my Aunt down in Van Buren County. We found some tracks in this one place, and they were big enough that a .30-06 shell would fit inside them. We thought it might be a buck."

Paige Gilmore is a 16-year-old young lady who attends high school at North Little Rock Old Main, where she does all the 'typical' things that high school juniors do. But she and her brother also head to the woods at virtually every opportunity. The 2007-08 season was her first time to deer hunt, and as Christmas neared she had already been successful, taking a ‘small 8-point’ during modern gun season.

(At Right) Paige Gilmore and brother Stuart with Paige's big crossbow buck, taken on Christmas Day.

"We put up a pop-up blind at a spot where there was a funnel, a place deer passed through on their way to feed in some nearby fields. We put limbs on top of it to make it look more natural, we had read to do that in magazines."

On Christmas morning the brother and sister team hunted their stand, but didn’t see anything except a lone doe. After taking a break for Christmas dinner they hurried back to their stand about 2:00 in the afternoon.

"I guess it was about 4:30 when we heard a rustling behind us," the excitement of the moment was evident in Paige’s voice. "At first all we saw was a deer’s nose, right there beside the blind, then we could see his antlers. He was huge!"

He was also looking right at them. With thudding hearts they waited as he stared, scarcely daring to breath because he was so close. Finally he took several steps forward and Paige got her crossbow up. The crosshairs of the scope shook as she tried to hold them behind the foreleg of the unsuspecting animal as he stopped some 30 yards away. Finally she squeezed the trigger, and the buck bolted out of sight!

"He ran a long ways!" Listening to her tell the tale I almost felt like I was there with the two of them. "It was getting dark so we went home to let my mother Karen know we weren’t lost, then we went back to look for him. I wasn’t about to let ‘my’ buck get eaten by coyotees, so we kept looking until we finally found him...about 1:00 o’clock in the morning!"

Two young people alone in dark woods on a cold night, looking doggedly for a spot of blood or torn leaves, ignoring the intense winter cold. I have to think that most youths would have given up and gone home, but these two didn’t. They finally found the buck lying in some dense brush, so thick that they almost had to step on him to see him!

In January Paige carried the rack to the Arkansas Big Buck Classic, and there the beautiful 10-point antlers were scored at 158 6/8 net Boone & Crockett typical points. Her buck was the largest typical taken by a woman in the entire state last year!

But it was as I talked to Paige that I came to realize there’s a lot more to like about this young woman than her hunting success.

"I just love being in the woods." There was an exhilaration in her voice as she spoke that left no doubt. "I love getting up early in the morning, stumbling around in the dark, trying to be quiet. I love that first breath of cold air when you get out of the truck, then sitting on your stand while everything around you slowly wakes up. I can’t explain it, but when you’re in the woods you just get the feeling that somehow you’re a part of it all."

Sometimes I find myself wondering what the future holds for hunting. What with all the anti-hunting groups, declining hunter numbers, and a shift in ethics caused by ‘win at all costs’ egos, it just seems there’s not a lot of good news out there.

But then you encounter young people like Paige and Stuart Gilmore, and you come to understand that the future is in good hands!


THE BUCK OF A LIFETIME

Most people today regard Kansas as being flatland, but that is actually not the case, at least in the northeastern region of the state. There numerous low ridges cut the fertile bottomland where row crops such as soybeans, millet, winter wheat and corn stretch in endless profusion.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving I was sitting on top of one of those ridges, glassing the edges of a 100-acre soybean field below. The beans had been harvested a week or so before, but there were enough left in the field that the deer had been feeding on them, evidenced by numerous ‘trails’ easily visible in the soft earth.

It was about 4:15 when I saw a deer come out of a thick area off to the north, and when I swung my binoculars in that direction my heart missed a beat! Ten long points above a 300-pound body, the rack amazingly large and massive, walking unconcernedly toward me was truly the buck of a lifetime!

He was moving along the edge of the field below me, and I saw that he would pass my spot less than 75 yards away. The problem was that there were numerous saplings along the hillside, and they would shield him from a shot if I stayed in my present position. But looking ahead, I saw a spot 50 yards away that offered a clear avenue to the bottom of the ridge. With the buck still quite a distance away I eased back until I was out of sight, made sure he was still coming, then trotted ahead to that spot. When I settled into my new position I had a clear shot at no more than 40 yards, the wind blowing directly from him to me.

I steadied my Thompson/Center Omega across a handy limb and waited...and waited...and waited...

Finally I eased my head up, and was amazed to see the buck standing on the opposite side of the field! With shots echoing around him all day, and hunters cruising the draws from dawn to dark, he had for some reason crossed that huge opening in broad daylight!

I mentally gauged the distance...one football field...two football fields...the buck appeared to be just over 200 yards away. Something had caught his attention and he was standing at the field edge, head up, staring back toward the north. The sight of him as I got the crosshairs of my scope centered about 3-4 inches from the top of his back was an image that is burned into my mind, and will remain there until the day I die.

Loaded with 150 grains of Triple-7 behind a 270-grain Platinum Powerbelt bullet, I knew that the Omega was capable of such a shot. The gun regularly produced 3-shot groups at 100 yards where the holes touched, and I had once knocked a coyote off a hay bale with it at over 200 steps. So as I steadied it across the limb I was about as confident as anyone can be in such cases.

Deep breath...half out...squeeze...BOOM! At the shot the buck turned his head to stare in my direction, but that was his only reaction to the shot! Then as I kept the scope on him he merely walked into the woods, disappearing like a ghost into the blackness under the trees!

I sat there reviewing the shot as I waited for my heart rate to return to normal, fighting to keep the foreboding of disaster from washing over me. I knew that the crosshairs had been locked on the spot at the top of his shoulder when I fired; I knew that there was no shaking thanks to the limb; and I knew that I hadn’t flinched. So in spite of his actions to the contrary, there should be a dead buck lying over there in the trees!

By the time I got there it was starting to get dark. I had marked the spot  where I fired with a strip of blaze orange flagging, and I found the small cedar tree he had been standing by when I touched off. Walking in the direction he had gone I found a muddy creek crossing 25 yards away with huge tracks in the soft earth, along with deep gouges where he had lunged up the opposite side. What I didn’t find was blood! 

I marked the spot where he had been standing with more flagging and started looking. Darkness came too quickly, and not wanting to mess up what sign there might be, I reluctantly headed back to the cabin.

My old hunting buddy Billy was there waiting, and we hashed over the state of events as we prepared supper. He could naturally tell that I was sick inside, and we even thought briefly about going back to the spot that night, but finally decided to wait until the next morning. Needless to say, it was a sleepless night for me!

It’s when something like this happens that you find out who your true friends are. Even though we were on a 3-day hunt, Bill went back with me the next morning, and 3 hours later we were both down on our hands and knees, still looking for blood. There were some of those brown leaves with red spots on them there, and we were literally picking them up one by one, rubbing the spots and then tossing them away!

Let me interject one thing here, I shoot a lot. Several times a month during the off-season, then 2-3 times a week leading up to hunting season. When you realize that one shot is all you may get; you want to be both capable and ready when the time comes. So even after hours of fruitless looking I still KNEW that I should have hit that buck.

It was along about mid-morning and both of us were standing back at the cedar tree, running out of options. Bill was staring at the orange flag on the opposite side of the field, his face considering.

"That’s where you shot from?" I nodded. Walking to his truck, which was parked 100 yards away, he came back with his rangefinder. Sighting on the distant hillside, I heard him exhale before handing me the small unit.

287 yards!

While I do a lot of practicing, the range that I use is only 100-120 yards long, and rarely do I have the opportunity to practice at longer distances. Being a mountain boy, my ability to estimate ranges is also limited, particularly beyond 100 yards or so. The old ‘one football field...two football fields’ simply hadn’t got the job done.

That’s why my ‘buck of a lifetime’ is still walking around up there in Kansas.



WHITETAIL RUT CHRONOLOGY

     About 10 years ago I wrote an article which appeared in Arkansas Sportsman magazine titled ‘Understanding Rut Chronology’, which dealt with the various phases of the whitetail breeding period in the Natural State. Apparently it was a topic that appealed to a lot of people, because for months afterward I received phone calls and letters (e-mail wasn’t that big back then) from hunters all over the state wanting to talk about the guidelines I had put down.

     Now virtually everything contained in that article evolved around one key date: the PEAK BREEDING DATE. What is that? Simply put, it is the single day when the most does in any given area get bred.

     Here in the mountains that date has for most of my lifetime been regarded as being November 15. I’ve used that date in many articles, and numerous others have too. It was, for a period of more than 20 years, the ‘accepted’ date for this region.

     How was it determined? Back before he graduated from college former Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC) Director Steve N. Wilson traveled throughout the state examining the carcasses of road-killed does. I guess it was his senior thesis, though it may not have been called that. By back-dating the embryos found in those dead does he was able to tell when they had been bred, and thus arrived at the November 15 date for the northern half of the state, about a week later in the southern half. Though the methods have changed, that is essentially the same process used today, and Wilson’s work was very thorough for the time (the 1960s).

     But I always had the vague feeling that there was something just a little bit off about Wilson’s peak date. Admittedly, most of that was bases on personal observation. I would see rutting activity (rubs and scrapes) begin to appear about the first week in October here in Johnson County, and by the last week of the month the bucks would really be tearing things up. That just didn’t quite correspond with November 15.

     I originally thought that all this activity was surrounding the ‘false rut’, which is the breeding that takes place 28 days prior to the primary breeding date/period. A few older does will ‘come in’ during that time, very few, and their availability just about drives the bucks crazy. Never forget that bucks are capable of breeding pretty much any time, and in every instance they must wait on the does.

     But still it seemed as if something was off. The heaviest scraping activity of the entire year, at least that I was seeing, was occurring from about mid-October until the end of the month. During that time my game cameras lit up with pics of bucks visiting scrapes, and many of those scrapes doubled in size almost overnight, indicating that the level of frustration of the bucks using them was at an all-time high.

     t was something I pondered many times, and as I said, I knew that my observations didn’t quite match up with Wilson’s finding. Close...but not quite.

     Then this past summer I was looking through the Deer Harvest Summary put out by the AGFC. If you haven’t seen one of these informative publications you should get one. Since Cory Gray took over as Deer Project Leader there has been much more testing done on the Arkansas deer herd, and that information has been far more available to the public, both good things. You can probably have one mailed to you by calling the AGFC offices in Little Rock (800-364-4263), or even by visiting their website (www.agfc.com).

     The particular item that caught my eye was the statement that according to testing done, the the peak date of conception here in the Ozarks is November 10. That date correlates with the Peak Breeding Date I mentioned earlier. I queried Cory about the method of determining this, and he explained that the G&F does extensive testing on numerous fetuses annually, and that this date is actually a 5-year average for that testing.

     OK, the week roughly before and after this date comprises the PRIMARY BREEDING PERIOD, making the actual dates November 3-17, not November 8-22 as I wrote in the articles I mentioned earlier. More importantly, particularly if you’re a bowhunter, that makes the PRE-BREEDING FRENZY, the last few days in which the bucks are looking for the still non-receptive does, take place during the last week of October, not the first in November as I had originally thought. Under this ‘new’ scenario, it is logical that visible rut activity should appear and increase during entire month of October! 

     Without going into all the needless details, those dates are far more in line with my own observations, made over the last two decades. So maybe you really can teach an old dog new tricks!


ANTLER RESTRICTIONS AND ALTERNATIVES

   I remember the conversation well. It took place back in June of 2000 and I was talking with Hugh Durham, who had just been hired as Director of the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC). We were  discussing his plan for deer management in the Natural State.

   "Antler restrictions are merely one piece of the puzzle," Hugh said. "They are not a stand-alone management program, nor are they necessarily a long-term answer."

   Here in the central Ozarks where I live, I believe that the 3-point rule has had a positive effect. Buck age structure has improved and both antler and body size have increased overall. In other areas of the state the results have been either great or terrible, depending on who you talk to, but a majority of hunters still seem to favor the rule.

   But questions do exist. Consider a statement made recently by Larry Castle, deer program coordinator for the state of Mississippi.
   "Mississippi currently has a 4-point restriction statewide," Larry told me at the Hunters Expo in Shreveport. "Our concern is that we may be highgrading future deer populations by the continued removal of the 'best' (larger-antlered) members of the yearling age-class."

   Stephen Demarais, professor of Wildlife Management at Mississippi State University, concurs with Castle's opinion. After intensive monitoring of buck kill on the state's Sunflower WMA, his statistics show a gradual but definite decrease of the Boone and Crockett (B&C) scores of 3 1/2-year-old bucks taken on the WMA since the 4-point rule was adopted.

   The 3-point rule has now been in use for seven years here in Arkansas. Are we on the edge of seeing antler size beginning to decrease?

   Cathy Helm is one of the prime forces behind the annual Arkansas Big Buck Classic held each January down in Little Rock, and is directly involved with the event's popular statewide big buck contest.
   "When the 3-point rule first went into effect we saw an immediate and dramatic increase in antler size of the bucks entered in our contest," Cathy stated. "But the last couple of years that trend has leveled off, and has maybe even decreased a little bit."

   Those comments, by someone who year after year sees a majority of the state's largest bucks, would seem to agree with the opinions mentioned above.

  So OK, if we do have a problem, or soon will have one, what are the alternatives? 

   Here's where it get 'dicey', because the answers are sometimes ones that a lot of hunters simply don't want to hear. So let’s look at some of the possibilities, along with the pros and cons of each.

*SPREAD REQUIREMENTS. Some biologists suggest adding a minimum inside antler spread to the current point restriction. 
PRO:
This would certainly protect more 1.5 year-old bucks, very few of which would have a 15-inch inside spread. 
CON: It would be even harder for the hunter to determine rather or not a buck was legal, and could possibly lead to more bucks being killed and left in the field.

*SLOT LIMIT FOR BUCKS. Hunters may take bucks with LESS THAN three points on one side;or MORE THAN four. This is being tried on a limited basis in some areas right now. 
PRO: It gives the 'meat hunter' an opportunity to take his venison; would protect the quality 1.5 year-old deer; and would also would help to take a few inferior bucks out of the herd. 
CON: Offhand I don't know of any. IF you're going to have antler requirements, this one seems to make the most sense.

Those two options are merely adjustments to current point restrictions. While many hunters view the 3-point rule as being the entire quality management package, that is not true. In actuality quality management is much more far-reaching, and there are numerous other herd/buck improvement options which have nothing to do with points.

*LOWER BUCK BAG LIMITS. Kentucky has drastically improved it's buck age structure by reducing the bag limit to one buck per year. Quite a number of other states utilize the same approach. 
PRO: It's certainly common sense that reducing the buck kill will increase the number
of bucks moving into older age classes. 
CON: This would be a hard sell with hunters from areas
that have allowed two bucks in the past.

*REDUCING SEASON LENGTH. Longer seasons result in more bucks being killed, so reducing days would cut down on harvest. 
PRO: In addition to fewer bucks being killed, shorter
seasons would also probably tend to make the 'average' hunter less selective, thereby reducing the number of older bucks taken.
CON: I'm like about everyone else, I don't like losing days afield.

*ADJUSTING SEASON TIMING. Kansas, a noted big buck state, and quite a few others as well, do not open their gun season during the breeding period. 
PRO: Since bucks move more when under the influence of their breeding urge, and since the Arkansas gun season opens during this time, changing season dates could definitely lower the number of bucks taken. 
CON: If you take away hunting the rut, my deer hunting enjoyment goes down greatly. I think probably a majority of the state's hunters feel the same way.

*MORE PRIMITIVE ARMS HUNTING/LESS MODERN GUN. The McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in Oklahoma is known for the number and quality of it's bucks. One of the primary reasons is that only bowhunting is allowed there for bucks; shotguns are permitted during doe-only seasons. 
PRO: Again, this certainly cuts down on buck kill, and overall kill as well. 
CON: It
isn't feasible on a statewide basis. Maybe on certain WMAs, but not as an overall solution.

To sum up, I really don't know that Arkansas is in dire need of any of the changes mentioned above right now. Aside from the 'slot limit', along with the 1-buck limit currently in use in certain zones, I have not heard about real discussion by the commissioners of potential major changes for the coming year. Of course that could change.

But it is time for us, as hunters, to educate ourselves, and to become aware of the various options, and even to begin making our opinions known about them. It is our right, and it is also our duty.


BUILDING EFFECTIVE FOOD PLOTS - PART I

   Back in the late 1980s I 'inherited' a 200-acre plot of ground located within the deeper reaches of the Ozark Mountains. Since I wasn't smart enough to figure out how to convince some major company to build a plant in the middle of nowhere, paying me millions of dollars in the process, I decided to use it as a hunting spot.

   For the most part it was typical Ozarks terrain, steep ridges covered with scrub oaks, but there were a few flat spots along a small creek that cut through the northern half of the acreage. About 30 acres along that waterway had been logged some 8-10 years before, then replanted in pine, and was at the time nothing more than one big thicket.

   Yes sir, I had me a deer sanctuary!

   Unfortunately, as I was to learn deer choose their safety spots with some definite objectives in mind, safety being first and foremost. I tried on many occasions, but I could never ease into the grown-up interior of that morass without spooking every deer long before I got into shooting range. The problem was compounded by the facts that there wasn't a tree big enough to hang a treestand in, and any type of ground blind had a maximum visibility of about 25 feet.

'When you can't go to the deer, make the deer come to you,' old hunters truism.

   Quality deer management was still pretty much a thing of the future back in those days, but at least I did know what food plots were. So one spring I paid one of the locals to disc up three of the flatter spots along the creek, about 8-10 acres in all, and then planted them with a 'mixed seed blend' I got at the local Farmers Co-op. When the bare ground started turning green I was on my way, or at least so I thought.
   That particular year was one of the driest in the state's history. The creek dried up, the food plots died, and by that fall all I had left was three bare spots that the deer totally ignored.
   But it was that same year, while on a writer's hunt at Kentucky Refuge near Benton, that I met a young International Paper (IP) biologist named Hugh Durham. Sitting around the campfire one night I made the mistake of mentioning my food plot woes to Hugh, and with about 10 of us providing a captive audience, in one night he taught us probably more than we ever wanted to know about food plots.
   According to Hugh, the first step was deciding why you wanted a food plot in the first place. In my ignorance I had no real goal, other than pulling deer out of those thickets. That night was also the first time I heard plots built strictly to hunt over referred to as 'killing fields', and I didn't particularly like the analogy. But today I have come to realize that very thing is the primary purpose many landowners build them for.
   As I was to learn, there were other purposes, with the most notable being 1) supplemental feeding and 2) food quality enhancement. Both of those objectives fall under what went on to become 'quality deer management' guidelines, which are now being utilized in pretty much the entire southern region of the United States.

   As years passed I learned that building a food plot is something of an art, far more than merely throwing out a few seeds and hoping that they grow. Trial-and-error is a great teacher, so the remainder of this column, and the next one as well, will be a discussion of how you go about building a multi-purpose food plots.
   Even before you begin, you have to know the pH content of the soil of your plot. What is pH? Without going into undue detail, it's a scale designed to measure how acidic or alkaline your ground is. That scale itself ranges from 1-14. The lower the number the more acidic your soil, which is bad, the higher the number the more basic, which is good, with 7 being about neutral.

   How important is pH in growing food sources? Biologists tell me more than even fertilizer. I won't go into the egghead explanation of the why, but instead just give you the non-scientific version. The nutrients within soil are bound to individual soil particles. The more acidic the soil (lower pH) the tighter those nutrients are bound, which in turn makes them less available to plants. So if your pH is low, no matter how much fertilizer you put out, it may not even get to the plants themselves.
   The key to this is that healthier plants will not only be more attractive to deer (and other game as well), but also more healthy for them. Also understand that you don't merely want the nutritional value of your food plot to be on a par with surrounding vegetation, you want it to be better. So finding out your pH level, and then improving it, is the correct way to start the process.

   How do you find out the pH level of your soil? There are pH meters on the market which will do this for you, but if one isn't available take several samples from different parts of your acreage. To do this, dig a small hole down 4-6 inches, take a small cupful from each spot, then put them all together in a plastic bag (don't worry about it all getting mixed together). Then take it to your local Soil Conservation agent to be analyzed. 
   When you know your pH level, the work actually begins. Early August is a prime fall planting time in this area, so in my next column we'll look first at how to correct your pH level, then how to go about preparing your plot, and lastly what to plant there.

   In the meantime, good hunting.

BUILDING EFFECTIVE FOOD PLOTS - PART II 

   In my last column we were to the point where we had the soil of our food plot analyzed to determine it's pH. For those just joining us now, the lower the pH value the less fertile your soil is. The hard fact is that if you have a low pH even dumping tons of fertilizers on your property will do little good.

   The most common mistake made by beginners is to think that their soil is 'OK'. The truth is that very little natural soil is balanced, and a vast majority will have a lower pH than is needed to grow productive plants.

   There's only one feasible way to raise pH, and that is through the application of lime. Lime comes in two forms, agricultural, which is powdered, and pelletized. The powdered is cheaper, and is typically delivered by truckload from the local Co-op. If you're building a large plot that you can get a truck to this is certainly the way to go since they will spread it for you. But since most of us want our food plots away from roads, pelletized lime, which is sold in 50-pound bags, is the more common method.

   How much do you use? It certainly depends on the pH level in your particular soil, but a general 'rule of thumb' is that new food plots will INITIALLY require 1-2 tons of lime per acre to bring your pH up to desired levels. I personally apply about one-half of the recommended amount, allow it to 'lay' for a couple of months, then go back and test the pH again, adding more if needed. I also realize that 1-2 tons per acre sounds like a lot, and it is, especially if you're using something like an ATV spreader to broadcast the pellets. But unless you're into large-scale food plots, most are only 1-2 acres, and can generally be done in a few hours.

   Once you have your pH level in a workable range, it's time to actually prepare and plant your plot. If there are lots of grasses and/or other plant cover on the plot spray a week or so beforehand with a herbicide such as Round-Up, then start watching the weather channel. Why? It is always better to have your seed in the ground a few days before rain. Any gardener can tell you that virtually anything you plant lives or dies at the whim of Mother Nature. Just as in my initial case, unusually dry weather can kill a young planting down to bare earth, or make it not start at all.
   Once the unwanted ground cover is dead, turn the soil over. This can certainly be done if you can get a tractor into the spot, and some of the disk attachments that pull behind ATVs will work if your soil is not too rocky. I know that in recent years there has been a move to 'no-plow' and 'secret spot' type plantings, and these do work - sometimes - but only on small areas. For the sake of this column we'll stick to an actual food plot construction. If you plow the ground, disk it too. This smoothes the soil, aerates it, and also makes it easier to work. 
   I actually plant the seed using an ATV spreader, or by hand spreader, depending on the size of the plot. You want to broadcast the seed as uniformly as possible, insuring good cover in all spots.
   Once the seed is on the ground go back and apply fertilizer, again using the ATV spreader. Mineral content of the soil is different in different areas, so talking to your county agent after you have your soil analyzed can tell you a lot about what types of fertilizer will work best on your plots. Once the plot is planted and fertilized , I use a roller to pack the seed into the ground. A chain-link drag works too - but leaves some of the seeds on top of the ground. I have had better coverage since I started using the roller.

   What do we plant? Today there are literally dozens of different seed blends out there, but if you read the labels carefully you will see that many contain the same seed varieties, just in differing quantities. Unfortunately, some that I have checked out also contain unwanted varieties of grasses - so read carefully. 
   Since my old editor Chris Eubanks now works for the Whitetail Institute, which markets the Imperial Whitetail clovers, I primarily use those. There are maybe others as good, and almost certainly cheaper, but whatever you choose, the key is always that you want your food plot to be MORE attractive than the surrounding browse. I also try to add variety to my plots by planting
small sections of them in the various cereal grains, brassicas, and this year I'm also trying turnips.

   OK, you've got everything in the ground. Now it all becomes one big crap shoot. If the rains come your plot will produce, if they don't you say a few choice words and try again.

   I realize that this column hasn't been overly scientific. That's a good thing, since far too many biologists today try to make growing something, be it plants or deer, sound like rocket science. Mostly it's just hard work, along with experimentation, and then that 'luck' factor.

   Good planting...


(D) WHAT IS CHRONIC WASTING DISEASE?

   Last week the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission (AGFC), fearing an outbreak of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in the state's deer and elk herds, passed an emergency measure banning importation of wildlife into the state. This is a move already instituted in both Missouri and Texas.

   What is CWD? Are the Arkansas deer and elk herds in danger? Is the disease a danger to humans? How do we recognize it? All of these are questions that have been asked since the AGFC announcement. 
    To explain what CWD is I'm going to have to use some of the clinical, egg- head language that sets biologists apart from normal people. I should also point out for clarity that when I refer to 'commercial' or 'penned' animals in this column I am talking about animals kept enclosed on game farms. As a group, these are entirely different from 'free-roaming' or 'wild' deer and elk.
   The first instance of CWD of which I am aware occurred nearly two decades ago in game farm herds in Colorado. Apparently wild animals contracted the disease from those penned animals, because there are reports of CWD found in free- roaming mule deer and elk in Colorado and Wyoming back during the 1980's.
   The bad news, and what led to the AGFC ban, is that CWD seems to be spreading. In the last decade infected animals have been found in commercial herds in Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma. Last year the disease was found in wild deer and elk in the southwestern corner of Nebraska, and in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. 
   CWD is a spongiform encephalopathy type disease, which means that it destroys brain tissue. What has many people alarmed is that CWD is classified in the same general 'family' as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, commonly known as mad cow disease.
   What actually causes CWD is still being debated. There are three main theories on the subject: 1) a prion, an abnormal form of a normal protein, most commonly found in the central nervous system. The abnormal prion protein 'infects' the host animal by promoting conversion of normal cellular prion protein to the abnormal form; 2) an unconventional virus; 3) a virino, or 'incomplete' virus composed of nucleic acid protected by host proteins. The prion theory is the most prevalent.
   At this point even the mode of transmission of CWD is unknown. Both animals born in captivity and in the wild have been affected. The most likely method is that CWD is passed directly from animal to animal. 
   Most cases of CWD occur in adult animals. The disease is progressive and always fatal. The most obvious sign of CWD is gradual weight loss. Behavioral changes occur in the majority of cases, including listlessness, lowering of the head, blank facial expression, and repetitive walking in set patterns. In elk, behavioral changes may also include hyperexcitability and extreme nervousness. Most deer show increased drinking and urination. 
   Species which have thus far been affected with CWD include Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and black-tailed deer. Other ruminants, including domestic cattle, sheep, and goats, have shown no evidence of disease transmission. 

   A nationwide surveillance effort was started in 1997-98, concentrating on wild animals. This on-going effort consists of hunter-harvest surveys conducted in many states, as well as observation targeting deer and elk exhibiting signs suggestive of CWD. Over 15,000 harvested free-ranging deer and elk have been tested to date, including 8,000-plus animals harvested from outside the previously-infected areas. No CWD has thus far been found in free-ranging animals anywhere in the United States outside those already-infected areas.
   According to the AGFC, there is no current indication that the disease exists in Arkansas. However, with testing just beginning, there is no way to be absolutely sure. Anyone witnessing animals exhibiting the behavior characteristics mentioned above should contact their local wildlife personnel. 

*Information used provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Veterinary Services Division.



GAME FARMS ARE NOT ‘HUNTING’

      Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘hunting’ as being ‘the act of a person to search carefully for, to try to find game’. It also defines a ‘hunter’ as being ‘a person who hunts’. Keep those two definitions in mind as you read the rest of this article.

     Have you ever thumbed through the hunting outfitters advertisements that appear in the back of most outdoor magazines? Have you ever noticed one that makes the claim ‘guaranteed kill’, or ‘no kill - no pay’.
     Over the years I’ve deer hunted on places in Alabama and Texas where killing a deer was about as sure a thing as anyone could want. But merely because there were just so many that you would have to work hard NOT to bag one. But to guarantee a kill...none of those landowners would go that far.

     Now I’ll tell you a story about a friend of mine who won a trip to one of those guaranteed-kill Texas ranches several years ago. I’ll call him ‘Mike’, but that’s not his real name.
     Mike was a good old hard-hunting Arkansas hill boy. He’d taken quite a few deer over the years, one even nice enough to place high at the Arkansas Big Buck Classic. The events that took place on his ‘hunt’ are as follows.
     "I got to the ranch on a Thursday," Mike said, "and Friday one of the ranchhands and I drove over the place. It was about as rough and rugged country as you’ll ever want to see. What game we saw disappeared into the brush and cactus as soon as they got a glimpse of the truck. When I went to bed that night I was looking forward to a hard hunt the next day."
     "The next morning the same cowboy showed up before dawn. When he told me it was time to ‘go get my buck’ I thought he was just being positive. We drove down a dirt road to a gate that opened into a fenced-in pen, maybe two acres in size. There was a feeder in the middle of it, and five whitetails were standing there eating as we parked the truck and got out, maybe 20-30 yards away."
     "OK," the ‘guide’ said without batting an eye, "yours is the second buck from the left."

     To Mike’s credit, he never took his gun out of the truck.
     "The whole idea just made me sick," he told me when he got back. "To just walk up to an animal and shoot it is not what hunting is all about."
     What makes that story significant is that today there are more than 1,000 of these ‘hunting’ establishments in operation nationwide, including several here in Arkansas. At each, for a specified sum, the shooter can kill whatever game species or size of animal his pocketbook will allow. This is done inside a high fence enclosure, in some instances of ten acres or less (in Arkansas the minimum is 500 acres), and may or may not involve feeders, drivers, or other methods designed to put the game into killing range.
     There is nothing remotely close to hunting about what takes place on these so-called ‘game farms’. They are killing operations - plain and simple. They thrive because to a certain percentage of the population it’s easier to pay money than it is to spend time learning woodsmanship and hunting skills. Such an attitude is ultimately a product of our modern mentality - where time is of the essence, and in all things the end justifies the means.
    
If they have to exist at all, and the almighty dollar says they do, at least call them what they are - killing pens - and never confuse them with real hunting.



If you have questions or comments about any of these articles,
please feel free to contact Kenn at-

kyoutdoors@centurytel.net

 

Boat Insurance
Boat Insurance