Want to keep those big bucks you’ve been watching grow all summer on your hunting land? An upcoming seminar may tell you how to do it.
It’s probably every sportsman’s dream, to own a big chunk of property where game is always plentiful, the big-racked bucks you watch all year are there and waiting when hunting season arrives, and there’s no pressure from other hunters.
It would be sweet, right?
Many of us – maybe most – won’t ever find ourselves that fortunate. We own or lease a little piece of land, maybe hunt a friend’s property or even hunt public ground.
But there’s still hope on the deer front.
The National Pike Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association is going to explain how that’s true next weekend. It’s hosting a free seminar, open to the public, titled “hunting and holding mature deer on small properties.” It will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Aug. 13 at 5535 Longview Ave. in Monongahela.
According to organizer Jason Beck, the plan is to cover some of the property’s 80 acres with award-winning wildlife management consultant Erich Long of Drumming Log Wildlife Management.
Long’s presentation will be in two parts. He’ll cover how to hold deer on small parcels with timber and field management and other techniques. Second, he’ll give a short course on how to best use trail cameras to identify the deer in an area.
“We’re holding this class because I feel, like me, most guys don’t have 300 acres to hunt. Larger tracts of land in this area are becoming more checker-boarded and broken down,” Beck said.
“I feel most guys have a spot where they can hunt a friend’s or family’s parcel that while not huge in size does hold deer. This is a way to help those guys see things from a different light so to speak. Great things and great deer can come from small properties with work.”
Even those who hunt public land exclusively can benefit from the course, though, he added.
Some of the same management techniques that will be discussed are used on state game lands, he said. The course will teach hunters how to recognize and take advantage of them.
“Deer are deer, no matter public or private. They all need the same things to live,” Beck said.
Pre-registration is not required to attend the event, but is appreciated, as lunch and drinks will be provided. Attendees will have a chance t o win a trail camera, too.
Those wishing to join the Deer Management Association can do so on that day for $25. Tickets to the chapter’s annual fundraising banquet, set for Sept. 10 at the Willow Room in Belle Vernon, will be available as well.
“We hope this event can really show the public some of the ways quality deer management can relate to their own place,” Beck said.
For information or to register, contact Beck at 724-331-4802. Additional details are also available on the flyer below.
QDMA Flyer (1)
