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Adaptive Management for White-tailed Deer: How to Roll with the Punches
Every serious land manager will inevitably deal with failure at some point throughout the year. Whether it is drought, disease, equipment failure, or any number of other negative possibilities, the sign of a good manager is one that learns to deal with adversity and comes back smarter or stronger because of it.
Being an adaptive manager will help you stay positive even when times are tough and the situation appears bleak. Take, for example, one of our food plots in Nebraska. We had high hopes for this plot because it is in a secluded location that is surrounded on 3 sides by excellent bedding cover. We can approach the plot undetected from the east and with a west wind it seemed like a great location to plant forage soybeans for hunting all season.
Well, as it turned out, the plot worked great. In fact it worked so well that by the end of August, the deer had been using the plot so much that we only had about 8 inches of growth outside our utilization cage and had well over 2 feet where the deer could not browse.
Instead of complaining about the situation, or throwing in the towel, we decided to make the best of what we had to salvage the plot. We ended up broadcasting a blend of New Zealand brassicas right over the bean plot, and in the areas where the most browse pressure occurred (the far west end of the plot), we re-worked the ground using a tiller and seeded that section with a blend of forage oats, winter wheat, and winter peas. The deer ended up concentrating more on the remaining soybeans which took just enough browse pressure away from the west end of the plot that it was able to establish nicely. We also added a feeding site using Supplement Gold in the area so that deer had more options for nutrition. One great aspect of supplemental feeding is that deer are better able to cope with fluctuations in their natural environment. It is always a nice option for the adaptive manager.
To buffer that plot against future failure, we are also planning on expanding the size of that food plot as well as harvesting more does in that area. These techniques will help to relieve the browse pressure on that part of the farm.
If you face a challenge, think about the steps necessary to right the ship. Sometimes, it’s as easy as calling an audible and going a different route to reach the end goal of harvesting a mature buck. Just remember that all is not lost and there is always a way to adapt your management scheme to reach your objectives.
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