TAKE INVENTORY

Over the years, I’ve been unbelievably lucky to be paid to manage about four properties a year on average. Though they vary in duration, the most common scenario has been for me to manage the property for around five years and get it to the point where the ground is producing like an assembly line running at peak efficiency, then turn the responsibilities over to the owners and move on to the next property. I cannot possibly stress enough what an incredible learning experience this has been and how thankful I am to be in this position. Frankly, I get paid to do work I’d willingly pay others to allow me to do, and that’s never lost on me. To say it’s humbling just doesn’t do it justice.

One of the ways this has helped me the most is by increasing my understanding of mature bucks and their movements. Managing a bunch of small 40 to 120-acre properties, along with a respectable number of 800 to 4,000-acre chunks of land has been an amazing learning experience.

Specifically, when Mr. Big either suddenly shows up or seemingly vanishes from the face of the earth on those 40-acre pieces, it’s often virtually impossible to determine where he came from, where he went and why. To me, understanding the “why” in all aspects of whitetail behavior is mission critical. If we can understand why, then we can predict when things will happen before they do, apply those lessons to other deer or properties, and consistently make the best