Branch Committee members, David and Becky Olson graciously hosted the May 5th meeting at their home, located in the Cambridge/Andover, IL area. A pizza dinner, beverages and refreshments were supplied by the Branch, and Becky prepared and served a delicious rhubarb desert. Everyone had a chance to do some catching up, while enjoying a beautiful evening on the Olson’s back deck, and attendees discussed Branch business and plans for upcoming events. Notably, the Academic Scholarship Committee will be selecting a recipient for this year’s scholarship award, very soon, and it was announced that this year’s REACH Banquet will be held on August 25th, at the Big Red Barn (New Windsor, IL). Banquet planning will be conducted over the course of the summer, with meetings becoming increasingly more frequent, as the date approaches.
The Olson’s home is located one of the most diverse and beautiful woodlots in Henry County, IL. David’s father, a District Forester, managed the woodland, primarily, for timber production. David and Becky’s interest is primarily in optimizing the wildlife value of the property, for their viewing enjoyment and enhanced hunting opportunities, while at the same time creating enhanced timber value. Over the past 20 or so years, they’ve done a tremendous amount of work to carry on where David’s father left off, and it really shows when you take a tour of the property!
Our tour started with a look at the Olson’s target ranges. A wooden shooting bench marks the beginning of a 100yd rifle range, and a short distance away, tucked into a grove of white pines and spruce trees, is a multi-station archery range complete with several 3D targets and Blob Archery Targets (of which David is a dealer. As we leave the conifer grove, we entered a clearing that is in the early stages of regeneration, with a few years worth of plantings, including; Concolor Fir, various oak species, Chinese Chestnut, American Plum, Hazelnut, and Red Osier Dogwood. David explained that he’s converting the area into a diverse thicket that’s both a staging area and travel corridor for deer, as they move between an adjacent food plot and bedding area. Further down the trail, we find the first of several very nice clover plots, next to a shallow water wetland that the Olson’s created. We took a quick peek at the view from a handcrafted tower blind that overlooks the area, before moving on across the dam of the pond. Beyond the wetland, a logging road traverses the woodland, alongside a year-round creek. David pointed out a string of tulip poplars and bald cypress trees that his dad planted as “whips”, decades ago. He states that the current IDNR Forester recommended cutting the poplar, but he ‘wouldn’t cut them if they were worth a million dollars’. It’s evident to all of us that his ties to this land run deep. Before the end of the tour, David pointed out trees from which he’d harvested several of his largest deer (and there have been some dandies!), and a spot along the trail where he recently took a nice tom turkey. We, also, pass through an impressive grove of black walnuts before making it back to the homestead, at dusk.
The next Branch Committee meeting is being planned for early June and will hosted on a member’s property, to include a tour of more habitat improvements! The Branch is committed to providing opportunities for members and newcomers to meet like-minded people, and learn about habitat, food plots, and QDM from our property tour hosts and Branch Committee. So, we’re always scouting for new sites to host these gatherings on. Watch for our upcoming meeting schedule and make plans to attend the next one! Everyone is encouraged to join us, so bring along a friend.
The West Central Illinois Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association (WCI QDMA) is now taking applications for an academic scholarship, which is planned to be awarded to a high school senior who are interested in pursuing a career in wildlife ecology/biology/conservation/management, forestry or another natural science-related field. Applications are available below, or by contacting a member of the Committee. All applications are due to be submitted by May 1st, and a winner will be notified and announced by May 15th. Contact Scholarship Committee Chairman – Steve Hood, at (309)756-8350, with any questions. Cash award amounts may vary based on fiscal resource availability and the applicants’ merit. Last year, the Branch awarded $500, to one well-qualified student.
It is time to be thinking about, and planning, our habitat projects for the upcoming year, and once again the West Central Illinois Branch of the QDMA is hosting a group fruit tree buy. We are working again with Morse Nursery, who has made their entire catalog available for the group buy. (You may find their catalog here.)
All merchandise is priced according to the Morse Nursery catalog and we are eligible for all price breaks listed. Shipping will be set at the best rate possible, and will be paid proportionately by the orders placed.
Orders need to be in on or before March 9, 2012, and please use the downloadable order form and return to us at habitat@wciqdma.com or tjsonske@gmail.com or print the form, fill it out, and mail to Fruit Trees c/o WCI-QDMA P.O.Box 146, Joy, IL 61260. Delivery will be set for early-mid April for best planting dates and times for this area.
Last year, we had very good luck with the orders we placed and are looking forward to another successful order. Getting fruit trees and soft mass into your habitat plans is a major step you can take to help out your wildlife and make a serious statement about your habitat goals.
If you have any questions, please contact Tom Peterson at 309.912.0329, or Steve Hood at 309.756.8350. You may also contact us via email at habitat@wciqdma.com.
As a way of assisting QDMA members in their efforts to improve wildlife habitat on lands that they hunt and manage, the WCI Branch is, again, participating in the Living Lands & Waters Million Tree Program. Through this program, WCI QDMA has been able to place large bulk orders, on the behalf of our members, and has dispersed more than 8,500 saplings, FREE OF COST, to the public, over the past 3 years! Anyone can get these free trees. Simply download the Branch’s “FREE Tree Order Form” and email the completed form to habitat@wciqdma.com. Typical orders sizes for individuals range from 10 trees of various species, to 200 of each species. Quantities of each species available may vary, so place your order early, and if you have any questions about what you’d like to order, just email to the above address.
Let’s support the mission that this terrific program has set forth to accomplish, and restore the natural diversity that our watersheds once had! Species available in 2012, include: Bur Oak, White Oak, Red Oak, Black Oak, Pin Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, and Shagbark Hickory. For information about, and sites preferred by, each of the species being offered, Click Here!
Perseverance paid off for WCI QDMA Branch member – Megan Klauer (31) of Aledo, IL. After hunting hard, through the early season, and waiting for the right shot opportunity on a deer she wanted to harvest, she was finally rewarded on the evening of Thursday, November 17th (the night before the firearm season opener). Here is her story:
“Since opening day of bow season my husband (Aaron) and I have spent many hours swapping time in our deer stands, while the other stayed home with our three kids. Aaron had success early in the season and was nice enough to allow me to have my time in the woods. With no luck last year during the archery season, and simply not seeing many deer this year; I was having a significant dry spell.
Aaron happened to get off work early on Thursday, so I headed out to the timber for one last chance with my bow. We had just hung a stand the day before, in preparation for the upcoming gun season, but the wind was right for it, so I decided to give it a trial run.
Around 4:30PM, I had four does come from my left; three of which took a different path to the north and onto another property. The fourth doe was coming my way; nice and slow. For whatever reason, the three does to the north began to get a bit nervous and started off, behind me. I knew the doe in front of me was about to do the same, so I got my bow drawn back. When I got her to stop, she was about 30 yards out and quartering away, severely. Not a shot I was comfortable taking, so I let my bow back down. With my recent luck, I was just excited to have gotten to draw back, on something! Not five minutes later, I heard something else coming in from where the does had first come out. This time, it was a nice buck and he had his nose right to the ground, scent trailing that last doe. He came in grunting, and at 15 yards I took my shot. I knew I had a pass through, but was afraid the shot placement was a bit far back. I watched closely, as he headed through the tall grass in our CRP field. After an excited call to Aaron, and sitting a few minutes longer, I climbed down to find my arrow. There was a good blood trail, so I headed back to the house to get Aaron and the kids. We tracked him for about 80 yards, where we found him lying just beyond the tall grass I had seen him run into. It was a very exciting hunt and my first successful bow hunt on our property!”
Congratulations to you, Megan, on harvesting such a terrific whitetail! Thanks for sharing the story with us, and for sharing your love of the outdoors with your family!
As a bonus memento, the Klauer’s got a trail camera picture of Megan’s buck, early the same day that she harvested it. If you have a harvest or QDM success story you’d like to see featured, send an email to Chase Burns, at chase@wciqdma.com. Remember, there is no substitute for good harvest photos taken in the field; always have a camera ready. Good luck to everyone, through the rest of the season!
David Olson -Congratulations.
I still haven’t got a bow kill this year.
Passed a number of does and yearlings during gun season in hope of a bow kill yet. I don’t even care if it is a yearling.
Bow hunting is so much more fun.
When it comes to antlered deer harvest criteria, with regards to a QDM program, there is a plethora of guidelines that property managers can implement to restrict harvest of young deer, and, thereby, develop a more natural, graduated age structure. Some folks choose to use antler point restrictions (APRs), minimum antler spread restrictions, minimum B&C score, or another set of criteria that is based on the premiss that younger deer will be protected, given their smaller, less developed rack size. In general, those restrictions have some merit, and have yielded results when applied over large management areas, but they are flawed in several important respects. We’ve all seen a massive, trophy-class set of antlers, on a fully mature deer, that sits “high and tight”; amounting to less than a 14″ inside spread (a commonly used harvest threshold measurement). A deer like that would be off limits in many programs, where minimum spread restrictions exist. Likewise, we’ve all seen a skinny necked, long legged yearling buck, carrying a dainty 10 point set of antlers, that would be fair game, where APRs are used to manage the herd. With minimum score restrictions, mistakes are often made in field judgement, that can lead to passed opportunities on mature deer, or the harvest of a younger animal, than is desired to be taken.
Fact is, the best way to make harvest decisions on antlered deer, is to learn the technique of aging bucks “on the hoof”. It’s not an exact science, but biologists have developed a distinctive list of physical attributes commonly exhibited by whitetail bucks, in each year of life. And, through some study (and a lot of practice), all hunters can develop a high level of confidence in at least categorizing the bucks they encounter, or capture on trail camera, into age classes. For the purposes of most QDM programs, that’s truly all the more acurate hunters need to be. By training yourself, and others you hunt with, to age deer based on physical characteristics, and group them into age classes, instead of concerning yourself with guessing antler scores/spreads, you will be much better equipped to make field decisions, regarding which bucks meet your harvest criteria, and you’ll be that much closer to acheiving the goals of your QDM program!
Here is a great video tutorial, given by QDMA Northern Director of Outreach and Education – Kip Adams, on how to “Age Bucks on the Hoof”.
Watch for Kip, and other expert panelists, in the “Age This” section of your next issue of Quality Whitetails magazine!
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