Land & Legacy - Habitat + Hunting

Latest Episodes:

Do Soybeans Really Grow Antlers? May 19, 2020

Show notes

Sit back and enjoy! Yup, we went there and put a bullseye on soybeans! This week, we invited Kip Adams of the QDMA to discuss how bucks grow antlers. This is a complex subject and one that many folks are severely misunderstood about. The timing is critical to understand when evaluating the driving factors and influences revolving around antlers.

Many people are focused on turkey hunting or food plots to slow down and see that antler formation begins during late March or April each and every year. Soybeans in most areas are still two months away from being a beneficial forage and adding value to antler growth. Roughly 50%+ of antlers are developed by mid-June! Think about that the next time you consider how valuable food plots are to growing antlers. So what then makes antlers grow? Forbs, native broadleaf annual and perennial plant species are the magic that fuels the mind-blowing growth every hunter is enthralled with each fall.

Please take time to share this podcast with each hunter, food plotter. land manager, and whitetail enthusiast that you know. Antlers help drive conservation, so understanding them is critical will help improve habitat across the country.

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Evaluating the Results of Prescribed Fire May 19, 2020

Show notes

If you haven't learned yet, we love prescribed fire for managing native plant communities. Fire has so many different elements that impact the result of applying fire to the landscape. It has its cautions, but so do running a chainsaw and applying an herbicide. Take the precautions and use this incredible tool!

After two different prescribed fires completed this year on the Prairie Hollow Property, there are several results to discuss. The later burn timing allowed us to specifically target and top kill multiflora rose and many other woodland shrubs such as spicebush. After opening up the canopy over the past few years through a timber harvest and TSI, the growth was impressive, so fire allowed us to reset this growth. It is critical as we discuss in the podcast to have sunlight reaching the ground if you want prescribed fire to produce quality results. If you want or need drastic results, you have to do drastic things!

We hope you enjoy learning about prescribed fire and how we use this natural and incredible tool to improve the landscape for wildife and plant communities.

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Using Cattle to Improve Wildlife Numbers May 12, 2020

Show notes

The ongoing statement is that cattle and wildlife can't co-exist and this podcast is devoted to debunking that statement. Adam and Kyle discuss the use of cattle in a grazing rotation that he calls "conservation grazing." This system uses cattle to replicate historical Bison herds on the diverse landscape to improve habitat for Bobwhite Quail and other grassland birds. This grazing has not only increased diversity on the landscape for grassland birds but also species like whitetail deer.

One of the biggest questions by landowners in our consulting business is the possibility of bringing in financial gains on their farm. Cattle grazing contracts could be a great way to increase income, improve habitat, and increase animal populations. Win! Win! Win!

We discuss the differences in grazing patterns you'll find commonly used on the landscape today and what a herd of cow/calf or stockers looks like and their individual grazing selection. We even take a look at the historical fires and grazing and what the historical landscape might have looked like and how we can replicate it! #ForLoveoftheLand

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The Lies Grandpa Told Us About Land Management May 12, 2020

Show notes

We all grew up listening to our Grandpa's, hanging on every word they had to share with us. Well, these days we find that not all of these phrases hold true. This podcast is devoted to searching for the truth in science and then how we can apply this to the property we manage.

Grandpa's always seemed to undervalue soil, as it was commonly referred to as dirt. This misunderstanding of such a valuable resource has led to decades of mistreatment of this resource. Now we know with the help of science and technology that there is more life under the soil than above it. These ideas and misconceptions have led to poor practices and management decisions when planting seeds whether working in food plots or agriculture fields. The search for fresh, new, peer-reviewed science gives us the best knowledge and decision making power. We have one life to improve the world we call home. It's time we make a devotion to decision making based on truth and science. Give the wildlife and natural resources your best!

Please share this podcast! Let's learn and share valuable information with one another. This will result in powerful changes and improvements all across the country. Enjoy.Learn.Share!

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How to Properly Manage Open Acres May 05, 2020

Show notes

On this podcast, we talk specifically on the best ways to manage open acres on recreational land. These open acres can be comprised of various forms of cover, foods, and security. After a recent consulting trip to Kansas, the topic of open management is on the brain. Most landowners have open acres to manage and improve for wildlife, so listen up!

On the podcast, we cover, native pasture management, cattle management, bottomland TSI, invasive species management, crop rotations, cover cropping, CRP, and non-resident food plot acres. All of these topics make for great conversations regarding midwest wildlife management. This multi-purpose property us going to be developed into a fantastic recreational property with income when he implements the recommendations on his property.

We hope you enjoy learning how to manage the open acres on your property during this podcast. Thanks for sharing and listening! ForLoveoftheLand

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Why Are You Buying That? May 05, 2020

Show notes

During this podcast, we examine the benefits of purchasing the latest and greatest gear versus simply habitat management tools. These tools we compare and contrast are priced in the same ballpark as a common new hunting product such as the newest bow, greatest trail camera, or even a shoulder mount.

As hunters, we need to do a better job at improving the habitat rather than taking from it consistently. What would happen if all the hunters decided to purchase a chainsaw rather than the newly released rangefinder. What would happen to the land, would we see healthier animals, or even more conservation efforts put into place? We think so, therefore use this podcast as a great reminder of how you spend your time and money can impact the land we hunt even more! Habitat improvements don't happen unless they are we start them, that falls on our shoulders.

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Turkey Management 301 Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

Here it is, all you need to know about turkey management. Do you have turkeys on your property now? Do you want turkeys? Download this podcast and apply these techniques to the property you hunt to create more habitat for the wild turkey. Turkeys are diverse so therefore they need lots of different plant communities on the landscape to persist.

The expansive diet of the wild turkey is a great reminder of just how diverse the habitat needs to be. Turkeys need to have grasses, forbs, insects, worms, hard mast, soft mast, gravel and all of these different elements in the right spatial arrangement. Without these arranged appropriately the rearing of turkeys will be limited. Similar to whitetail management, diversity reigns king! In addition, the height of the vegetation is also very important, too tall or too thick and the acre becomes unusable. In this podcast, we talk timber management, prescribed fire rotation for turkeys, bare soil, fallow fields, and roosting sites.

Please do your part in becoming a producer and share this podcast. The wild turkey will thank you! These critters are amazing, but we need to do our part in managing these birds for others to enjoy. EnjoyLearn.Share! #ForLoveoftheLand

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Spring Turkey Success Part 2 Apr 28, 2020

Show notes

What an unreal first week of the spring turkey season for the Land & Legacy team in southern Missouri. Opening day was a huge success for Matt and Seth Harker. Two birds were down just as we planned in Part 1 of this podcast series. On the other hand, Adam and Chad Keith struggled during the first day, but made a strong showing on the second day of the season when they tagged two mid-day gobblers.

Each turkey hunt was unique in its own way and we share the breakdown of those hunts on this episode. From strong gobbling turkeys, decoy shy birds, and bully jakes interfering with several hunts. To learn how we still remain successful under these conditions you will want to tune in! These hunts will be on the Youtube Channel and social media channels soon, so be sure to subscribe. You will hear our different techniques in hunting these early season scenarios.

We hope you have a great successful turkey season. Be sure to share your harvest photos with us online! #ForLoveoftheLand

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Are You a Producer or a Consumer? Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

Here we go! This podcast topic has been brewing for several weeks. In essence, the podcast is simply produced to get people thinking about pulling the trigger. We have spent several years discussing all the things it takes to fall into place for turkeys, quail, and deer to be produced. This is not just a simple phenomenon that we have huntable populations. When habitat in most of the country is rapidly declining, we have to recruit more producers than we currently have.

This podcast is heavy, but we need to consider the actions we take in the off-season seriously. With rising recreational land prices, cattle and crop prices dropping, it is more difficult more than ever to become a producer. Farmers are needing to squeeze more "juice from the lemon" off their land to simply make a living these days. This means all the potential ground that can make an income becomes a void of habitat. If you take this scenario and extrapolate it across the landscape, many farms are going in the opposite direction of being suitable for game populations. This is not a doom and gloom podcast, however one that will get people thinking that the goal doesn't need to be #limits or #taggedout to have a successful season.

If you have been pondering this or know a person who needs to hear this message, please share this podcast with them! Enjoy.Learn.Share! #ForLoveoftheLand

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Turkey Opener: Planning and Strategy Pt. 1 Apr 21, 2020

Show notes

Anticipation is at an all-time high this week. Here in Missouri, the spring turkey season has now opened. This week's podcast is special as you will hear from two different groups of Land & Legacy hunters hitting the turkey woods. This Part 1 podcast is focused around the scouting, land management, and hunting strategy leading into the opener of turkey season.

One team will consist of Seth Harker, Trace Harker and Matt Dye, while in an adjoining county, Adam Keith and Chad Keith will be joining forces. This is no competition, however, just two farms that require two different strategies to not only scout effectively, but to also hunt. First, you will hear from Seth and Matt and how they plan to capitalize on consistent images from the Cuddelink system. However, despite several years of success from this location, a massive habitat management project just went underway. So this will surely plan into the setup and hunt. In contrast, Chad and Adam are hunting a cattle farm with tillable acres and large pastures. The turkey numbers are high, but the consistent changes of cattle, farmers harvesting, spraying, etc, may play into the strategy of the hunt.

Be sure to follow along with the social pages to see how both crews of hunters do during the opening days of turkey season 2020 here in Missouri. Next week, you will catch part 2, which will be the hopeful successful hunts! Stay tuned as we bring you the turkey hunting action. Enjoy. Learn. Share #ForLoveoftheLand

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