Stephen Schwartz

It doesn't get much better than winding through a mature stand of timber with a healthy understory and a slight char on the bottom of the trees.  These are all signs of a properly managed timberland reaping the benefits of prescribed fire.  If unfamiliar with the term, by definition, prescribed fire is a planned fire; it is also sometimes called a "controlled burn" or "prescribed burn," and is used to meet specific land management objectives. It is the most common technique used by the National Parks Service to create diverse habitats for plants and animals, help endangered species recover, prevent destructive fires, and more.  Private landowners, too, use prescribed fire in many ways to manage the landscape across their ranch.  Fire can reduce unwanted tree and shrub cover, allowing desirable successional vegetation to grow.  This new growth provides nesting cover for turkeys and fawning cover for deer while benefiting birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and dozens of other species.  Furthermore, prescribed fire promotes grassland and timberland health and is cost-effective.  While its benefits are far-reaching, this article focuses on using fire to help manage timber stands. Benefits of Prescribed Fire on Timberland When burning a mature timber stand, you are accomplishing several things.  First, fire helps mature pine and hardwood timber grow more effectively by getting rid of undesirable competition such as cedar, sweetgum, yaupon holly, and many invasive species often found within a timber stand. Removing the competition allows more nutrients for your target.  Secondly, fire removes the thatch of pine straw or leaf litter accumulated over the years.  Understories like the one below are desert-like. A burn in this stand will reveal a dormant seed bank of desirable vegetation that is just waiting to sprout and provide nutrients for timber with forage and cover for wildlife.  According to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), cool-season prescribed burn locations documented 22% higher protein levels in beautyberry plants in the spring and 37% higher in the fall. Value of Prescribed Fire Over the years we have seen many landowners that are intimidated by fire, but knowing the proper way to execute a prescribed burn can make your property come alive in ways that only fire can achieve. Countless articles and resources have been published on this topic, but as ranch real estate professionals we bring you a unique perspective on VALUE.  Controlled burns not only can increase the prosperity of the native plant community and timberland on your property, but they can also increase the value of your property.  When evaluating the price of a timbered property, in most cases, more value is given to properly managed timberland.  If stands go unmanaged for too long, they will end up becoming a cost that a new buyer has to deal with, which in the end, can affect the sales price of your property.  It is much more cost-effective for a landowner to keep up their management practices with an established burn regiment rather than re-establishing them every 5-7 years.  Remember, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Pre-Burn Keynotes Before implementing a prescribed fire, it is worth mentioning that setting goals for your property is a crucial first step.  Goals will guide you on how, when, and at what frequency to burn over time.  For example, wildlife managers who prioritize wildlife often leave designated areas unburned.  These strategic pockets of thick underbrush assure good cover for wildlife and keep them on-site year-round. Also, before executing a fire, it is equally important to emphasize that even though it is an effective land management technique, it is not a one-stop-shop.  However, when used on a rotational basis with other management practices, it can become one of the most potent tools in your management plan.  An example of this would be using fire in conjunction with proper thinning techniques.  Proper thinning prior to the burn ensures adequate sunlight can make its way to the forest floor and maximize new successional growth after the burn.  This is when your timber stands and wildlife will truly benefit from your burning efforts. Preparing the Burn Site To conduct a prescribed burn on your property, you must keep safety as your number 1 priority. Having a professional forester and burn team in place is a must.  At HRC, we rely on these professionals and connect them with our clients to ensure they not only get their money's worth but that their land and their neighbor's land remain protected during the process.  Once your team is in place, the forester can coordinate with the state forestry department and local officials to notify them of the burn. Conditions are what drive the day and time of the burn.  The humidity, wind, and temperature all play a role in when your team conducts the burn.   If conditions are unsuitable, postponing the burn is necessary until they are all in place. Once the conditions are right, the preparation of the site is the next step.  Fire breaks must be in place to stop the fire strategically.  Fire breaks are achievable with a small tractor and a disc or a dozer.  Creeks, roads, and open fields are also usable as fire breaks, but establishing a line of plowed soil to meet the fire is usually the best insurance.  Setting up these breaks before the burn team arrives maximizes your time with the team, increasing efficiency and effectiveness. Clearing these fire breaks of debris and providing a smooth lane can also aid in the team's ability to quickly access different portions of the property with ease during the burn.  A vital step of effectively burning property is to have breaks in place around the boundary lines to prevent the fire from jumping across property lines.  Also, depending on the scenario, it's usually good to rake around desired trees, structures, or features on the property to keep them from being charred. Communicating the Burn Plan Once the site preparation is complete, having a plan and communicating that plan amongst the team is imperative.   Several property maps should be ready to hand to each team member so that everyone is on the same page.  The map should orient direction and show where the burn will travel and the emergency exits as well.  Make sure that everyone knows their role.  To ensure things go as planned, each team member has a job and communicates before setting the first burn line. This is where hiring a professional burn team is one of the most critical aspects of success. These professionals know the routine and know each other.  They've done this many times before and likely already have a plan and the manpower in place.  They achieve the best results and even after the fire is complete, the return to execute a postburn survey.  This survey reports the effectiveness of the burn, which determines charges for their service.  Most professionals charge for burned acreage only. When asked about prescribed fire, forester Chris Adams with Vision Forestry knows timber and fire, but he also knows his limitations. Implementing fire on a large tract of land is not a one-man show. Chris depends on the help of professional burn teams to conduct these fires and bring a higher value to his clientele. “Prescribed fire, when utilized under the right conditions, is a very effective tool in the forest management toolbox.  Not only can prescribed fire aid in reducing wildfire risk, but it also provides value through improving forest health, wildlife habitat conditions, and overall aesthetics of the forest.  It is important to know that prescribed fire is much more than just lighting a match.  It requires experience, knowledge of fire ecology, and an understanding of the safety requirements for the forest and yourself and your neighbors.  Using a professional/certified burner who has the necessary skills and insurance is key to not only a successful and safe burn but also utilizing this management tool effectively.” Chris states. Methods of Burning Now that the stage is set and a team is in place, it's time to burn.  There are several ways to burn a timber tract properly.  One way is to light a backfire.  This method is relatively slow-moving and usually consumes fuel more thoroughly than the other methods.  Other methods include lighting separate burn lines simultaneously to burn into the backfire, and lastly, a flanking fire. Again, your forester will be able to recommend which method is best for your property with the right conditions.  It is never recommended for a landowner to take on a controlled burn solo. Having the right professionals in place and adequate help is always important.  Team members should wear proper protective equipment, be armed with water, tools, and have an emergency plan if things do not go as planned.  You never know when conditions will change, and if they do during a burn, it is best to change your approach or postpone the burn. Common Concerns of a Prescribed Burn At Hortenstine Ranch Company, we have implemented burns on properties that we've consulted for and sold, and we often come across landowners with similar concerns.  Will the fire drive my wildlife away?  Will the smoke be dangerous for neighbors or nearby residents?  Will the fire kill desired species such as dogwoods, maple, and other aesthetically pleasing trees enjoyed during different times of the year?  There are answers and precautions for each of those.  These concerns are where having a professional forester will help. Wildlife will flee in the presence of fires, but as experience has shown, they are the first ones back after a fire.  See the photos below where deer and turkey returned to this feeder within 24 hours of our burn last spring. As for the smoke, this goes back to having the right conditions.  Burning produces smoke, but burning with the correct method and under the right conditions will ensure that the smoke is tolerable and not long-lasting. As for killing preferred plant species such as dogwood and maples, raking and spot fire ignition can help maintain these smaller desirable species.  Depending on your goals, if you want to keep these trees free from scorching, it's best to rake around individual plants to keep the fire away and keep it from burning the cambium of that tree.  These species, if mature enough, are usually plenty hardy to withstand a proper burn.  Again, consult with your forester, and they'll match up the proper method for your property. Post Burn Results Once the smoke has cleared and the forest resumes day-to-day activity, it's best to survey the results.  Did your trees experience any scorch?  Did the undesirable species burn to the level desired?  Are there any hotspots remaining?  How many acres actually burned?  Walking the property with your forester and using a drone to get a bird's eye view is best to observe the results.  Make notes of these results and use these to help you plan your next burn.  If you desire to transform your timber stand into a lasting legacy for your family and wildlife alike, consider consulting with a forester about how prescribed fire can work for you.   Author: Stephen Schwartz

In our four-part series we’ve discussed habitat management, herd management and now we find ourselves diving into one of the most challenging aspects of wildlife management, HUNTER MANAGEMENT, managing the people in and around your ranch.  The human component is one of the key ingredients to achieving the goals you’ve set for your property, but it’s one that few have mastered. As we all know too well, people are hard to control, especially when it comes to land and big bucks.  The selfish nature of humans is one of the tallest hurdles to get over when it comes to deer management.  We all want those bucks to stay on our side of the fence, we want those fawns to be born on our property and stay there, we want, we want, we want…  But what if we took a step back and looked at managing deer from a regional standpoint and not just within our property lines?  Whether we want to admit it or not, most of us are managing our neighbor’s deer throughout the year.  On the flip side, they are managing ours too!  So, it just makes sense to make that phone call or knock on the neighbor’s door, share a cup of coffee with him and join forces in deer management.  Right? That’s obviously much easier said than done.  I even find myself having a hard time with it due to the trust factor.  In 2016 I took my largest buck to date on the land we lease in East Texas.  I finally had physical proof that I could share with my neighbors that allowing a buck to grow to 5 ½ years old was worth the wait.  That extra year did wonders!  But my excitement was also met with hesitation.  I began to wonder if my transparency would bring cooperation or issues with poaching.  See, I grew up in a hunting culture of “if you don’t shoot that buck, your neighbor will” mentality.  Even I have been guilty of allowing that to influence my decision on taking certain bucks over the years.  I hate to admit that, but it was the world we grew up in.  As antler restrictions changed and education became more accessible, the hunting public began to transition their mentality into more of a “let them go so they can grow” frame of mind.  It has taken some years, but we are much farther along than we were 10-15 years ago.  Most of the larger land owners and deer managers have been there for decades, but the general public and smaller land owners are dragging behind. So, what’s the answer?  I believe it purely comes down to trust.  If you don’t trust your neighbor and trust the system of sound deer management, you’ll always have that hole in your plan.  The Quality Deer Management Association has what they call QDMA Cooperatives that are formed by landowners coming together and collectively adopting a general management plan for their properties. Once we have that mutual understanding, your neighbors (typically) feel more comfortable about letting that 3 ½ year old buck walk next season, because they know that you are going to do the same thing.  It just takes a leap of faith to initiate that conversation.  In many cases several adjoining landowners can group up, establish a game plan and essentially manage their collective properties together and have much more control of their herd dynamics.  You don’t have to manage the exact same way, but the take away is that everyone is on the same page with their end goals. Another aspect of hunter management is managing the hunters on our own property.  Many of us share a property with other tenants, hunting club members, or the actual land owner and his family.  Either way, we still have to maintain a collective effort each season to achieve above average goals.  Communication is the key.  In most situations someone has to step up and take the lead, otherwise, you’re all doing different things throughout the year that could very well be working against each other.  Food plots, supplemental feeding programs, stand placement, and most importantly harvest goals all need to be planned amongst the crowd.  Getting everyone on the same page can literally make or break your long-term management goals.  This is where education is important.  You likely have some younger or less experienced hunters sharing your property, which is great, we need to embrace these individuals and teach them.  There’s a lot of information at our fingertips these days but being focused in your approach to education can bring them in much quicker.  Don’t overwhelm new hunters with the details of managing deer.  Bring them in slowly and show them by example what being a deer manager means.  Take them with you when you’re assessing habitat quality in late spring and physically show them native plants preferred by deer.  Invite them out when you coordinate a controlled burn, put them in a position to learn and be successful.  We all have responsibilities to share information and pass the torch.  Being open-minded and willing to learn ourselves is equally important.  There’s always something new to learn. So, take a chance, spend some quality time with your kids, neighbors, and friends and expand your deer hunting community.  Be patient and remember to take it one step at a time.  We all had to start somewhere.   To learn more, be sure to read Stephen’s first two articles of the series: Intensive Deer Management on Your Ranch and Managing the Deer Herd on Your Ranch. Download Printable eBook for this Article About the Author: Stephen Schwartz is a Texas licensed farm and ranch real estate agent with Hortenstine Ranch Company and a graduate of Texas A&M with a BS in Agricultural Engineering. Mr. Schwartz has now earned his Level 2 Deer Steward, QDMA . Stephen is also a gifted photographer and captured the beautiful images in this article. Learn more about Stephen Schwartz at https://hrcranch.com/stephen-schwartz/

Managing the deer herd on your ranch can be a daunting task if not approached in the correct manner.  It is certainly one of those topics, like habitat management, that can come with a lot of opinions, bad habits, and practices.  Many land owners solely rely on techniques that have been passed down throughout each generation based on past successes or failures, and have been tweaked along the way.  There is nothing wrong with that, and in some cases, it’s very effective, but along with those are a few bad habits that are often hard to break.  That’s where the Quality Deer Management (QDM) approach comes in.  Their framework is structured more toward developing and maintaining a healthy herd rather than trophy management, but certainly not exclusive to a particular style of management.  QDM is science based, research driven, and will work in both low and high fence environments. Herd management can be a double-edged sword, and I personally, have been guilty of using some of these inherited bad habits.  There’s nothing wrong with knowledge that’s been passed down from real life lessons, but if not applied correctly, they can create a lot of headache with today’s changing conditions.  We’ll highlight several of the key components of herd management and look at practical ways to implement them on your property. First, we’ll discuss predator management and fawn recruitment.  Simply put, if fawn recruitment is low, the natural reaction is to back off of your doe harvest.  That’s the quick fix, but don’t stop there.  The source of your fawns is certainly a key resource, but once they hit the ground the story isn’t over.  There’s no question that in any region in the country, particularly the south/southeast coyotes and bobcats take a large toll on our fawn population.  With this, comes balance, it certainly isn’t necessary to totally eradicate all predators, but you cannot manage your deer herd, without managing your predators.  Many land owners often minimize the effects that bobcats can have, but they are just as fierce and in some cases more challenging to manage due to their nature. In this case trapping is certainly the way to go, especially in late winter and early spring just before the fawns drop.  However, becoming an effective trapper in one season is very difficult.  It takes a lot of time and effort to become successful at trapping these wily animals.  Hiring a professional may be the way to go for most land owners unless you have the time and resources, then learning the craft will benefit you for years to come. https://deerassociation.com/coyote-control-right-option/ Second, managing your herd is also managing their habitat like we mentioned in the previous article, and remember, it’s not just about the growing season.  This is a year-round chore. It also means getting out and monitoring the availability of food in late winter and early spring.  That is the most critical time for deer as they are approaching spring and fawning season and food sources are low.  There are several practical ways to go out and assist them during this stressful time.  The first way is to manage your native vegetation.  Here in the south there actually is some food available, but it’s sparse.   Green briar and honeysuckle for instance will be green during this time of the year and pulling it down into a deer’s reach can help them.  On the property we lease we have areas where either an old brush pile has been over taken with honeysuckle or something similar along a tree line; we will hinge cut small saplings where these vines cling to and actually bring down the vegetation lower to the ground where the deer will be able to reach it.  This seems trivial, but a few hours’ worth of work could help tremendously. https://deerassociation.com/provide-emergency-winter-deer-food/ Also, the food plots we planted in September and October will be key right now as well.  Acorns have just about vanished, and the turnips, radishes, and winter grass have all fully developed.  Deer will key in on these food sources and depending on the volumes your land is able to produce, could be the only quality source of food they have.  This could make a huge impact on building your deer herd.  If they know they can find food all year, especially during early spring, they will more than likely use your property the rest of the year.  Another option is placing mineral throughout the property in the form of a salt lick or block.  This is also an excellent way to monitor your deer herd, which is key to managing them.  In the south, it’s rare to find a property unaffected by wild hogs, so we’ve adopted this method from the QDMA for securing our mineral blocks where the hogs can’t hijack them.  See this video for further explanation. We personally use the hard-rock mineral blocks from Trophy Rock. They last around 4 months, depending on the rainfall, and deer will literally use them year-round.  They have turned into an incredible source of supplemental feed that is very cost effective and helps us keep tabs on our deer herd. Ok, back to deer management. Doe management is vitally important to developing a healthy deer herd.  Before you start shooting does, and recording data, take a step back and develop an overall plan.  Maybe even have a biologist come in and conduct a deer survey on the property to assess what you already have. https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_rp_w7000_1126.pdf Once you have a good handle on your current herd dynamics, it’s also good to go ahead and supplement this with a thorough camera survey.  This will be beneficial as the seasons and conditions change, and also serve as a way to keep an eye on inventory throughout the year.  More on that in the next article. Now that you have an idea on how many does you’d like to take this coming fall, develop a plan on how and where you want to take them.  I, personally, try and take my does early in the season before the rut, but this is due to our antlerless season, and leaving time to focus on my buck harvest during mid and late November.  Most people focus on achieving a certain sex ratio when doe harvest is brought up, but this is only a piece of it.  Taking does each fall can actually increase fawn production. https://deerassociation.com/taking-can-actually-increase-fawn-production/ This is one of those traps I fell into.  I grew up with the notion that if your property wasn’t just ‘over-run’ with deer, then shooting several does each season was hurting fawn production.  I just couldn’t wrap my head around shooting multiple does in a season, knowing they were potentially carrying next year’s fawn(s).  There was no scientific data to back up my assumptions, just too many years of being uninformed led me to be hesitant to shooting does.  Then once I was aware that does needed to be taken each year, I only wanted to take the ‘old dry doe’ and preserve a potential producing doe for next year.  The main problem with this is neither I, or the other hunters on our lease could single handedly alter the population that drastically.  Second, I was forgetting about the carrying capacity of the property.  Too many does equals an unhealthy deer herd, thus taking does out each season will immediately equate to more food available for the remaining deer. It really is that easy.  It just took time, and me getting out of my uninformed comfort zone to actually learn this.  Also, shooting the right doe was also revealed to me. In years past of waiting around for that old, usually very wise doe to show up, I was passing a lot of younger and truthfully, higher maintenance does.  Those younger does, even yearlings are the highest maintenance deer on the property.  They require more forage for the first year’s survival than an old dry doe.  Long story short, the correct doe to take, is the one that presents the best opportunity for a clean shot.  So consequently, in some cases punching a few tags could mean a much healthier deer herd. https://deerassociation.com/shoot-doe-fawns/ Another result of managing your herd is achieving a desirable sex ratio.  This is accomplished with shooting both bucks and does.  Generally speaking, nature provides bucks and does each year in proportion, so we should harvest them the same way.  This will be limited in some areas due to restricted harvest bag limits set by the state game department.  Either way, don’t get caught up in trying to whittle your herd down to a perfect 1:1 ratio.  This isn’t realistic to achieve and maintain in most cases, but a 2:1 (2 does to 1 buck) is certainly more realistic and much easier to maintain once everyone is on board.  For a more detailed look at this check out the following. https://deerassociation.com/reality-doebuck-ratios/ Other consequences of managing your herd is possibly intensifying the rut.  Achieving a tighter sex ratio, will usually yield to a more predictable and intense rut period. Now that we are talking about shooting bucks - which one is the correct buck to take?  This is where the debates really heat up.  In many areas of Texas hunters only have one “trophy” buck tag, and usually another one for a “cull” buck.  So, what is a trophy and what exactly is a cull?  This is a whole other article in itself, but essentially it all comes down to you and your goals for your property.  We won’t even get into the spike debate, there is plenty of research showing where some young spikes grew into a nice, branch antlered buck later in life.  There are too many variables to make a general statement there, but in the end a trophy is in the eyes of the beholder. For several seasons, I was thrilled with a 3 ½ year old buck, but over time that motivated me to try and target a 4 ½ year old or better.  The next two seasons I was yet again rewarded with a buck from this age class.  However, during those years, we only managed to take few bucks off the entire ranch, allowing our age structure to climb.  See, when we began leasing this particular ranch, we didn’t punch a buck tag for 4 years due to over hunting by the previous tenants.  So, we invested those first few years and went into full rehab mode.  As the seasons passed, and we learned the property and herd dynamics, our age structure climbed.  Last year I was finally able to take a buck that was 5 ½ years old.  We’d never seen him on camera in daylight, but had an idea of where he lived.  This was purely one of those moments where opportunity meets patience and hard work.  I happened to hit the rut perfectly and my setup was just the ticket for that moment in time.  Those days don’t happen very often, and I understand that.  Will I ever go back and shoot a 4 ½ year old buck again?  Probably. Hunting the area in East Texas where we are, it’s not common for a 5 ½ year old to slip up, so again, I have to be realistic with my approach. Here are a few facts to help you make your decision this fall.  A buck is at 60% growth maturity at 2 ½ years old and at 80% at 3 ½ years old. Bucks make the biggest leap in antler and body growth in those first 3 years, then their bodies start leveling off and filling out.  Their antlers will typically do the same thing.  They’ll usually put on more mass, and possibly more points and length, but their frame is mostly established in the first 3 years. Now this isn’t the case everywhere, just generally speaking.  The wild card here is the hunter’s ability to judge a deer’s age on the hoof.  This is where conducting trail camera surveys are vitally important to monitoring your buck inventory.   Educating people on QDM and encouraging them to wait to take a 5 ½ year old buck is very difficult to do, but not impossible. However, there is nothing wrong with hunters taking a 3 ½ year old buck.  If they can wait and pass on those yearlings and 2 ½ year old’s, then a 3 ½ year old buck will be a substantially larger buck than they would’ve possibly taken without understanding QDM.  On the other hand, like other aspects of management, allowing these bucks to mature another year or two can certainly yield to taking a larger, more mature buck. https://deerassociation.com/kill-right-bucks/ A young East Texas buck tending a doe. Taking the right buck will also help with the age structure of the herd.  Again, it’s tough to manage an aspect like this with just a few hunters, but you SHOULD take that 4 ½ to 5 ½ year old buck, even if he’s not a high scoring buck.  These are the bucks that dominate a given area, and if he’s running off your 2-3 ½ year old bucks, then you’re not recruiting anything for next season. So, try to focus on age rather than antler score when managing your herd.  This will vary, especially on ranches that are more intensely managed. However, in most hunters’ eyes, taking a 4 ½ year old buck is rarely a mistake.  This is where trophy management takes a turn off from quality deer management.  There is nothing in the world wrong with managing your property for trophy deer if you have the resources in place to do so.  However, for the majority of land owners in Texas and Oklahoma, QDM is what we all would love to achieve.  For a hunter to go out and hunt a wild, acorn-fed buck on his terms and successfully take him with a quick, clean shot is an achievement many long to have.  It’s not about lowering standards to be able to take a buck each fall, it’s about keeping it real.  That brings us to the last factor we cannot forget as land/wildlife managers… have fun! We have to remember to have fun and in doing that we recruit new hunters and the next generation of land managers.  It’s incredibly important to teach them the correct way from the beginning so we can minimize that learning curve we’ve all had to overcome.  With that being said, we also have to be willing to relax the grip on our management techniques at times to allow these young hunters to participate.  It won’t kill our management plan to allow your child/grandchild to take a young doe or buck.  It gets them involved at an early age and provides an incredible teaching tool to understanding and respecting this magnificent animal we have the opportunity to enjoy. To learn more, be sure to read Stephen's first article of the series: Intensive Deer Management on Your Ranch Download Printable eBook for this Article About the Author: Stephen Schwartz is a Texas licensed farm and ranch real estate agent with Hortenstine Ranch Company and a graduate of Texas A&M with a BS in Agricultural Engineering. Mr. Schwartz has also earned a Level 1 Deer Steward QDMA from Clemson University. Stephen is also a gifted photographer and captured the beautiful images in this article. Learn more about Stephen Schwartz at https://hrcranch.com/stephen-schwartz/