Ames Plantation Hunting Club
Newsletter
October 26, 2007
Up-to-Date Hunting Success
Hot . . . dry . . . bugs and dust. Sounds like the beginning of
a real bad country song, but like some movies, it would be based
on a true story. Its been a miserable jump off into the deer
season with the weather hanging onto summer like a snapping
turtle on a towel. But as I write this, rain is dripping from
the eaves with each drop taking a bit of the summer’s heat to
the ground. And, maybe this will break the back of a hard, hard
summer.
It looks like a good week-end for the youngster’s hunt. For the
first time in years the Boys on Target will not happen. There
were not enough kids who made it up to the standards set for
them at the Boy’s Ranch and some were simply too immature.
Thanks to those of you who help with support. Any given this
year will be stored back for next year.
Here is a summary of the Membership’s hunting experience so
far this year:
Two scoring bucks have been brought in, one that was 2 ½
-years-old which is unusual for so large a buck. A couple more,
and at least one of these exceptional, have been hit but got
away (if you hunt long enough, or any at all, and being careful
as can be, this can happen). Does are on the board. Only a few
EHD symptoms have been recorded.
Hours afield
totaled 2,613 33
shooters seen
363 other bucks
899 does
342 fawns
239 unkown
Total deer seen: 1876
.72 deer per hour 1
buck:2.27 does
Deer sightings at .72 deer per hour is consistent with previous
years and is a little surprising to be so high given the hot
conditions. The buck to doe ratio is about on target for this
time of year and the goal will be to get it down to about 1:1.75
by year’s end. Only 4 shooters have ever been brought in during
archery - and 2 of those are this year.
No Guest Dates - pay attention to this:
To protect our Membership’s time afield the following dates are
closed to guests. Members may not bring a guest on the following
days and periods (dates are inclusive):
November 3 & 4
November 17 through the 24th
December 8 & 9
December 15 through the 22nd
The restriction does not apply to youth as defined in the
contract.
Parting Shot
I was in Fort Myers, Florida attending a professional meeting
last week and had a chance to get away long enough to travel in
the Everglades. Not having much time I found some back roads and
followed my nose on a windshield tour. I knew this was going to
be a special place when I saw a sign that said “Panther Crossing
next 5 Miles.”
I came to a slough that paralleled the road and there were 4
gators with one having his chin nearly in the road. They were
all about the same size, each about 6-8 feet long. They lay
there silent and unblinking, each dripping a lack of mercy into
the water like a stain, the black water blacker. One slid
through the water like a log floating along on no current and
came to the bank, a move that I took to be as an expectation of
food. I had no inclination to feed him, having just myself as
the only edible thing in the car.
As we looked at each other across the black water, it occurred
to me that the beach may bring us, at least men, as close to
running solely on our reptilian brain as anything else we do.
Lay around, soak up sun and ogle.
The deer hunters were out in force. Their swamp buggies are
truly big-time redneck, although they looked store-bought. I
want one. One crew was getting their's ready to go off into the
swamp and I almost stopped to ask them to tell me what was what,
but didn't. These guys looked meaner than the gators. But, too,
it was about to come down a storming rain and they were in a
hurry. Truth be told, they looked about like most of us:
camouflaged and just flat tickled to be “out there.”
At that particular jumping off place, there were about 15 trucks
all with big two-axle trailers, each equipped to carry a swamp
buggy. And, I'm not kidding: these rigs are big and the driver
sits about 8 feet off the ground, maybe farther . . . probably
that high to stay dry and un-gator-bit. And as hot as it’s been
this late in the season, the diamondbacks were probably grumpy.
The Everglades are among the most mysterious places I have ever
seen. I’ve always thought that you could drop me off at any
reasonably wild place (arctic stuff excluded) and I’d have some
notion of what to do. The Everglades dampen that kind of
confidence. I’ve studied a bit about swamp ecology and
geomorphology but this place puzzled me. It was wet everywhere I
went, and wet from everywhere I could see. I wondered just how
to get around on foot without getting bit, eaten, drowned, or
bugged to death. I could see high hummocks and pine islands, but
figgered I’d need to learn how to drive a buggy and have a
well-marked road to get there . . . and back.
With a little knowledge and experience, I'm sure it would be
like any other place, a lifetime of beauty and revelation, but
big enough to make getting into trouble a hard trouble to get
out of. The deer hunters knew what they were doing and were
uniquely equipped to get where they needed to be. I really
wished I could have gone . . . even for just awhile . . . but
they might have made me walk out with a flashlight.
And, that, guys, was not about to happen. But the big swamp has
a siren call that’ll be hard to resist. I will go back.
Ames Plantation
Hunting Club Newsletter
August 2007
The Deer Season is not too far
away, although the hot dry summer makes fall seem like a dream.
It is as if it cannot ever again be cool or wet. But, before we
know it, fall will be here and the deer season with it.
The Annual Supper
The annual supper will be on September 15th. This will again be
held at Bryan Hall at 6:00 p.m. with Bow Target Practice at 4:00
pm. Please let us know by September 7th if you will attend so we
can plan accordingly. It is Members-only and all Members are
welcome. The meal is free and the speaker this year will be Dr.
Bronson Strickland from Mississippi State University. He will be
talking about deer genetics. Dr. Harper and Chris Shaw will
update us on the research. Last winter’s spotlight census
revealed an Ames population that was larger than expected. We’ll
set the doe harvest goal by the time of the supper, probably
about the same as last year.
Membership
The Membership will be full at 125 and there are several new
Members coming onboard this year. About 27 people will not be
back from last year. Some moved away, some have other financial
obligations, some are facing family issues, some left but put
themselves on the waiting list, some wore out their welcome . .
. there are 83 people on the waiting list and we are working our
way through it.
Welcome to the new Members! You have joined a unique program,
one that expects superb and distinguished sportsmanship and
provides the opportunity to hunt where the pristine elements
that are often missing in the east are protected and cherished.
It gives you access to a place where mature bucks roam and a
well-balanced herd is a yearly goal. You have joined a core
group of hunters who have embraced QDM philosophies . . . have
learned to judge a shooter buck with B&C and know why we need to
kill does. You have come to a place that is becoming not just a
place to hunt . . . but is becoming known as the place to hunt.
There are three things that will perhaps seem a little
intimidating. First, judging bucks based on the B&C system may
seem tough. It does take some getting used to, but the guys who
have been doing it for several years are very adept and you will
be also with a little practice. Also, I’ve come to understand
that it is the best system for our objectives because it
dependably splits the mature bucks from the younger bucks.
Second is the uncomfortable feeling of being able to find a
place to hunt where you will fit in. Ames is a big place;
there’s plenty of room. Scout a bit and get to know the Members
who are afield near you and you’ll do fine. There are a lot of
new Members and you’ll be coming on with new folks. The third
tough thing will be to bring a truly new recipe to the check-in
station. The Members often get together at the check-in station
to eat potluck. Come on and see what it’s all about. You’ll be
welcome. It’s good eats, a good time, and has all the makings of
an excellent antacid commercial.
Bicycles
Electric bicycles will be allowed this year - against my better
judgement, actually. I believe that they may become a problem
with members who use them more to scout and hunt off of as
opposed to the original intent of going to and from a stand. We
will see how it shakes out, but this is a trial year.
Stand Placement
Stands can go out September 1st.
Parking
If using the designated off-road parking areas - use them only-
and not locations in-between.
Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease - EHD
EHD is reported to be widespread across the southern U.S. this
year. EHD is always present in the deer population and genuine
outbreaks occur every few years. Outbreaks can be localized,
that is found in one county but maybe not the next. Or they can
be regional. What we're seeing this year is an apparent
south-wide outbreak and it appears to be relatively severe; but
that does not mean that a huge die-off is about to happen all
across the South. It means that for whatever reason, EHD is
simultaneously prevalent across a wide geographic area and in
some spots the die-off will be significant.
Ames Plantation is known for Quality Deer Management and there
is intense interest in what is happening here. I do not believe
Ames will be have large numbers of deer die, but evidence of EHD
is higher than it has been for a time. However, other parts of
the state will be hit hard enough that hunters entering the
woods to squirrel hunt or to look for EHD - will find it. In
some areas the hunt might be affected. About 25 counties are
reporting severe die-offs and another 20 counties are reporting
the presence of the disease.
My belief is that EHD is often tied to prolonged hot dry summer
weather. The south is experiencing a significant summer drought
and this is the third summer drought in a row, each one
progressively worse. I expect that the deer have browsed on the
browse that they've already browsed and it's got to be about
like having a mouth full of crackers. Dry stuff. The deer get a
lot of their water requirements from browse. Browse that has
hardened off early due to drought and that has not had enough
ground moisture to put back on succulent growth after being
browsed may force the deer more toward water holes --and there
the EHD-carrying midge a'waits. Also, upland water sources dry
up and deer congregate around what is left. This is conjecture
on my part, but for whatever reason deer are becoming infected
with a water-loving insect.
For about 20 years Ames Plantation collected blood samples from
deer every hunting season, about 2,000 animals all told. As with
any wildlife population, we know that deer have all kinds of
diseases, in most years some EHD was noted and in rare years
quite a lot was found, and yet the population still flourished.
While no single animal should have to die with something as
harsh as EHD, the population as a whole will be fine. The
disease sounds so awful because most folks have never heard of
it even though they've probably killed (and eaten) several deer
that had it the previous summer.
The symptoms for EHD include an accumulation of fluids in the
head, neck, tongue, and the mucous membrane that lines the inner
surface of the eyelid, and lungs. Animals may also experience
hemorrhages or congestion in the heart, rumen, and intestines;
necrosis or ulcerations on the dental pad, tongue, palate,
rumen, and omasum. Hooves may grow elongated and flake or split.
Blood might be noted coming from the nose and in progressed
stages the deer may fail to exhibit fear of man simply because
they are so ill as to lose interest in their surroundings. Sick
and dead animals are often found around water where they go to
find relief from the high fever associated with the disease.
Deer that have survived the disease will often have hooves that
look layered or split. The question will arise as to whether the
animals are safe to eat. There is no known link between deer
with EHD and humans or livestock. Many hunters, including
myself, have munched on deer steaks that came from a deer that
had sorta funny feet and they never thought a thing about it
because they'd never heard much about EHD. The thing to watch
for is an apparently sick animal or one suffering from an
infection that might naturally follow having been awfully sick.
Don't eat an obviously sick deer or one that has noticeable
infections.
For all the hunters reading this, don't panic and conjure up an
infarction - and don't assume that every dead deer in a roadside
ditch has EHD. Most of the deer in ditches have something far,
far worse: 18-wheeler-itis --or-- perhaps SUV-fever. From the
deer's point of view, having the woods infested with hunters is
much more alarming. Once upon a long prehistoric time ago, when
ballistic coefficients of spears were argued long into the night
a consensus among deer would likely have been that the beetle
browed hominds were a nuisance species. But time waddles on and
now, even as then, we are actually mutualists. We use better
spears now'a'days but they get to eat soybeans.
Few non-hunters realize that without sport hunting the EHD
outbreak we see now would pale beside the spectra of disease and
damage that would come. This is not overstated. Without the
long-tested kind of game management that TWRA biologists impose,
both we and the deer herd would suffer, both of us from the
magnificent overpopulation of animals in a eco-system unable to
sustain them and a human system unlikely to tolerate them due
problems ranging from nibbled geraniums to fatal car wrecks.
There is not a single thing that can be done except to manage a
herd to be a healthy herd. This way individual animals have a
better chance to ward off the disease in the first place. That
is part of the reason for large doe-kill goals in places where
the deer herd needs a little sitting on. It is possible to love
them to death.
Even at its worst EHD does not kill all of the deer. At its
worst it should kill no more that 1/3. One third sounds like a
lot - and it is - but it does not destroy a population that is
in some areas over abundant and a species that has the ability
to bounce back. It is not catastrophic and might be thought of
as a stock market "self correction," i.e., a fallback to more
sustainable numbers. A huge kill is very unlikely across the
southern region this year. But, some spots will get hit fairly
hard, others not at all or very lightly, Tennessee included.
There may little rhyme and scarcely any reason why.
If rising heat and prevalent droughts become as fashionable as
greenhouse scientists predict, it will have implications for the
entire eco-system, ranging across water regimes, plant
communities and farming practices. Deer will be caught up in
these things and the full implications cannot be entirely known.
I would leave it simply as this being a miserably hot and dry
summer; and we've had those before. However, good old-fashioned
calmness might also be tempered with a dose of common sense that
suggests we should begin to ponder the long-term implications of
what such a trend might demand from us in the way of wildlife
management.
We’ve had some cameras up and all of the deer we’ve seen here
have looked fine so far - some mighty big ‘uns too - one a
10-point shooter (a-shooter-and-a-half). We’ll monitor the
conditions and report at the annual supper. Squirrel hunters can
report dead deer, but only if they find the following
conditions: dead deer next to water, anal and/or mouth bleeding,
swelling in neck, head or eye lids.
Given what I feel to be true now, the doe harvest goals will be
about the same as last year. We’ll see.
Parting Shot
Many people are wondering about how the spring freeze will
impact this season’s deer hunt. The answer is anybody’s guess.
But here are some things that are reasonable to expect.
White oaks put their acorns on in a single season and the
flowers froze this spring, but there was also an early leaf-out.
A developed canopy may have protected the lower flowers on some
isolated trees, but it is unlikely that the whites will produce
much overall . . . or maybe even at all.
Red oaks take two years to produce an acorn, so this year's nuts
were established a year before the freeze. It follows that the
red oaks would be OK . . . but . . . even though the flowers are
pollinated in that first year, fertilization and ripening occur
in the second year. It takes about a year for the pollen tube
containing the pollen to connect with the ovary for
fertilization. That may not have happened before the freeze hit.
We do not yet know what the cold weather did to the
fertilization process and the overall red oak acorn production
in 2007; but certainly the freeze heavily damaged the red oak
crop for 2008.
On either species, acorns that appear to be developing normally
may be successful this fall. However, heat and drought also play
a role. Like any crop, under prolonged hot, dry conditions
acorns often do not fully develop and end up in poor condition.
Hunters can check mature acorns (those that have fallen) by
"floating" them. Throw a few handfuls into a pool of water.
Sinkers are usually good, floaters less so because they contain
wormholes, rot, or other nasty voids.
We've collected literally tens of thousands of acorns from
multiple oak species over the past several years in our hardwood
orchards or from wild trees across west Tennessee. We've come to
understand that predicting acorn production is not a hard and
fast science, but the reds ightly (especially the small seeded
oaks) seem to be more consistent. Overall, I expect a poor Ames
acorn crop this year.
More bad news for deer is that a hard summer caused browse to
harden off early. Nutrition, palatability and moisture content
plummet - and late summer already is a hard time for deer. Also,
some soft mast species, like persimmons, have been damaged by
both the freeze and heat. This is an early-fall disaster.
My best guess is a hungry time for wildlife, a poor acorn crop,
very hot action around any white oak than happens to hit, and
considerable use of agricultural residuals. Deer probably will
move more than normally expected, and even with the possibility
of EHD, more deer sightings will be the result, the rut may be
odd and hunters may notice fewer fawn twins this and, more
likely, next year. Deer probably will come to water more
predictably in the early parts of the bow season. The state kill
might be up and big bucks killed that might not be otherwise.
What also could be expected is that road collisions will be up
due to deer moving around more . . . especially at night.