Tag: Wildlife management

Book Excerpt: When to Buy Your Ranch

Section III.  Timing Your Purchase and Improvements Does it make any difference when you buy your ranch, when you high fence a ranch, when you dig a new stocktank?  In this section, I provide some suggestions as to when to implement your plans, either for buying or developing your new ranch. Ch. 3-1:  When to […]

Still Too Early to Shred

Saw this guy dart across the road on the Rockpile and drop into the first cover he hit.  Still very young and, as you can see, still in the “freezing” mode.  I drove up at took this pic leaning out the window and he never budged.  So I ask my readers to hold off another […]

Spot Check of Habitat Conditions

In my travels this week, I have been from Castroville to Encino, down to Pearsall, back to Falfurrias, then out to D’hanis and of course to my small place south of Castroville.  Key indicators I look for are native sunflower and croton. Overall conditions are very good and remain green although there are some dry […]

Chapter 2-4. Managing Whitetail Deer

 Over the course of 35 years in the wildlife consulting business, I have seen management emphasis change from cow-calf operations with deer leasing as an adjunct to pure deer programs with no cows and the agricultural exemption from ad valorem taxes granted for wildlife management alone.  Whitetail deer are big business in Texas, all over […]

Supplemental Feeding of Deer in Texas

Supplemental feeding of deer has come a long way. Use some simple steps to save money and increase effectiveness of your feed dollar.

Early Return of Cows to the Rockpile

Last summer I had the ‘guest cows’ removed early due to a lack of rain. Of course, it started raining soon thereafter and it was a wet winter. Ponds are still going around and there is a surplus of cured forage going to waste. What I hope to achieve is a reduction of surplus that […]

Living With the Sleeping Giant

As a ranch broker with 30+ years’ experience in South Texas, and a Certified Wildlife Biologist specializing in the red sandy country, my business has been directly impacted by developments over the Eagle Ford Shale.  I remember the last oil boom, the Austin Chalk. Although on a smaller scale, that boom occurred over much of […]