wildlife management - Wildlife Management Pro

Aging Whitetail Deer by Their Teeth

Looking at the teeth of a deer can give you an idea of a deer’s age. It’s not a perfect science, but when it comes to wildlife management what really is? Wildlife, including white-tailed deer, do not lend themselves to close monitoring. However, biologists agree that analysis of tooth replacement and wear, though not perfect, is the most reliable method for aging white-tailed deer in the field.

Tooth wear works because regardless of where a deer lives, animals lose their “milk” teeth and wear out their permanent teeth on a fairly predictable schedule. At birth, white-tailed fawns have only four teeth. Adult deer have 32 teeth. This include 12 premolars, 12 molars, six incisors and even two canines. Continue reading Aging Whitetail Deer by Their Teeth

Grazing Land Stewardship: A Manual for Texas Landowners

Texas’ grazing lands are a critical natural resource and managing them is both a science and an art. With the introduction of the “Grazing Land Stewardship: A Manual for Texas Landowners,” even those who are new to land ownership and/or habitat management will have the tools and information needed to be good stewards of the land and manage for quail, turkey, and white-tailed deer. The how-to manual has three sections that include Grazing Basics (what makes land healthy, livestock nutrition, forage quality, water and fences, grazing behavior), Getting Started (setting goals, land inventories, grazing strategies), and Follow Through (record keeping, managing livestock, managing wildlife habitat).

The Grazing Lands Stewardship manual helps connect landowners and managers with trained professionals in the field. Many of these professionals have received specialized training and have worked with ranchers throughout the state and across the U.S. They have seen have practices have endured and have developed a core set of principles that can build a foundation for successful land management. Continue reading Grazing Land Stewardship: A Manual for Texas Landowners

The Wildlife Exemption and Management

The wildlife exemption is the most misunderstood valuation in Texas. First, it really is a valuation, or the rate at which a property is taxed. Many county appraisal districts do not realize the intention of the wildlife exemption or wildlife valuation or whatever you want to call it. No matter how you slice it, the widlife exemption is all about protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat in Texas.

One of the main goals of the wildlife exemption legislation is to protect animals that are native to Texas. This is a key component in converting land that from an ag exemption (1-d-1) to a wildlife exemption. Land may qualify for wildlife management use if it is instrumental in supporting a sustaining breeding, migrating or wintering population. A group of animals need not permanently reside on the land, provided they regularly migrate across the land or seasonally live there. Continue reading The Wildlife Exemption and Management

Texas Online Boat Registration Website

Wildlife News: Boat Registration in Texas is a must

Summer is just around the corner and that means boaters will be taking to the water. And that means everyone needs to get their boat registrations in order before hitting the lake. Here are few helpful reminders that may prevent problems for boat owners: Purchasing a boat from an individual? Check the ownership information first, it’s easy to do and free. You can see whether the boat has a title and determine who is listed as the owner and if that matches to the person (or their legal representative) that you are buying the boat from. Avoid buying a boat with existing problems by determining is a lien exists and whether it has been released by the bank. Avoid situations noted on the record where an issue exists that will prevent a smooth transfer of ownership. Remember, when a title has been issued, you’ll need the seller to provide the title with the purchaser’s name and address listed on the back of the title and a bill of sale to complete the transfer into your name.

Didn’t get your registration renewal notice? Check the ownership information to see if you need to update your address. Providing an updated address is free and easy by using Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s form PWD 143-M (boats) or PWD 144-M (outboard motors). All forms may be downloaded online or picked up at a registration and inspection office. Texas experiences all kind of weather events — did a boat wash up on your property during the most recent hurricane or flood? Use the ownership information to connect with the owners. Continue reading Texas Online Boat Registration Website

Bobwhite Quail Habitat Management

Habitat management is the key to bobwhite quail management. To better understand strategies to improve quail and quail habitat, additional research is necessary. One project in South Texas has been taking place on Tanglehead grass. This species is a native grass that has been behaving much like an invasive exotic grass in Jim Hogg and Brooks counties during the past decade. It does provide usable nesting cover for quail, but poor foraging habitat for bobwhites. This falls in line with of the research on buffelgrass from previous quail research.

In this on-going quail management research, research found that a combined brush control treatment (herbicide followed with fire followed with roller-chopping) versus summer prescribed fire, were about equally effective, and have similar effects, on grassland birds in the coastal prairie region of South Texas. Continue reading Bobwhite Quail Habitat Management

Wildlife Management: Soybeans for Deer

Soybeans can be great for supplementing white-tailed deer. Soybeans are warm season legumes that require more fertilization with additional phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) in order to provide a high level of protein and growth. Forunately, soybeans can be easily planted from seed and will germinate in only a few days if adequate moisture is present. In addition, the beans can be fed directly to whitetail if purchased in bags. Whole soybeans can be purchased in the “raw” or roasted form.

Soybeans are often eaten in food plots by whitetail in both the foliage stage (green beans) and after the beans have matured. Some varieties of beans can easily reseed after the seed falls to the ground. A few varieties will produce plant material into the late season up until frost. Inoculation improves growth by allowing the plants to develop their own nitrogen. Continue reading Wildlife Management: Soybeans for Deer

Great Land Management Takes Getting Involved

Learn how to manage habitats and wildlife

It can be awful lonesome out there, facing the challenges and opportunities of working with the land. But holistic land managers have a tool that not only provides someone to talk to who really understands what they are doing, but a social and practical network of problem solving, brain-storming, and the camaraderie of like-minded friends. If you could use some input on the best wildlife management practices on your property, think about getting involved in a management club.

Management clubs all over the world have brought managers together in regional groups who are likely to face some of the same social, economic, and ecological challenges. The design of the clubs and what they actually do when they gather varies with the club. Each one designs itself. The Red River Graziers, for example, meet at a different member’s place each month. The host takes the group on a tour, pointing out the areas where he could use some ideas. Everyone chews on it awhile as they chew on lunch (usually self-provided or potluck). The afternoon is spent creating a list of practices that are working, those to stop doing, and those new one to incorporate. Continue reading Great Land Management Takes Getting Involved