Food Plots and Habitat Management in Focus at the
QDMA National Convention
Bogart, Ga. – Food plots and habitat improvement are always a hot topic at the Quality Deer Management Association’s National Convention, and this year’s slate of seminars by top experts will offer new techniques and new research for QDMA members and the public attending the event, July 24-27 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The food plot and habitat seminars are only one part of the educational lineup at the QDMA National Convention, and they will take place on Friday afternoon. The afternoon’s expert speakers and topics include:
David Morris, Tecomate Wildlife Systems: Proving the Impact of Food Plots and Habitat Improvement on Deer Health
David Morris, former owner and publisher of Game and Fish publications and North American Whitetail magazine, and the president of Tecomate Wildlife Systems, will show how deer herd health on the Tecomate Ranch has increased as he has expanded food-plot acreage and quality. Through a comprehensive herd-monitoring effort, David has tracked herd data since before he began improving the land and will demonstrate the effects of increasing habitat diversity and increasing food plot quality over time. He will also present data from other properties he has worked with throughout North America, as well as go into detail on his techniques for top-quality food plots.
Dr. Craig Harper, Univerity of Tennessee: Managing "Old Fields" for Cover and Nutrition
With research showing that quality fawning cover can reduce the impact of fawn predators, deer managers are asking how to create fawning cover. Dr. Craig Harper, an associate professor and Extension Wildlife Specialist at the University of Tennessee, has conducted extensive research into the value of weedy, fallow fields as deer escape cover, fawning cover, and preferred deer forages. But not just any weedy field will do. Craig will cover the best techniques for creating “old fields” that produce optimum cover and nutrition, from getting rid of invasive grasses that suppress the seed bank to maintaining plant species in the most productive stages of succession.
Bryan Kinkel, BSK Consulting: Creating Custom-Designed Buck Travel Corridors
Wildlife management consultant Bryan Kinkel has been collecting data on white-tailed deer rubs for more than 11 years. His research has revealed patterns of buck movements along habitat edges and transitional zones, and it has revealed how bucks use slope and elevation in their travels. Based on this knowledge, Brian will teach Convention goers how to create more buck travel corridors through habitat manipulation and diversity, including how to arrange patterns of habitat transitions with topography to create more successful stand sites.
These are only a few of nearly 20 detailed seminars and presentations throughout the weekend, and all of the experts will be available throughout the Convention for one-on-one discussion and questions. Open to both QDMA members and non-members, the Convention also includes banquets, auctions, and the Whitetail Expo, the only deer hunting show in the nation that is focused on Quality Deer Management.
The QDMA National Convention will take place at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Thursday, July 24 through Sunday, July 27. For more information about the many other events and educational opportunities at the Convention, visit www.QDMA.com.
Founded in 1988, QDMA is a national nonprofit wildlife conservation organization with 48,000 members in all 50 states and several foreign countries. Membership in QDMA is open to anyone interested in better deer and better deer hunting, and committed to ethical hunting, sound deer management and the preservation of the deer-hunting heritage. To learn more about QDMA and why it is the future of deer hunting, call (800) 209-DEER [(800) 209-3337].
–QDMA … better deer, better deer hunting– |
