Posted: Thursday, June 20, 2024
Author: Scott Coe, Broker | Licensed in OR
I have been a student of animal health my whole life. Growing up in Eastern Oregon on a 22,000 acre ranch ignited an interest in the wildlife our land hosted from a young age. This land was not only a source of sustenance and livelihood for my family but also ignited an enduring passion for wildlife. Whether cattle, deer, or elk, these animals have been my lifeblood. My expertise has grown and developed through the years, from being raised on a ranch to managing a hunting ranch to now being a land broker. Still, if there's one thing I've become adept at, it's the careful management of wildlife, aimed explicitly toward nurturing trophy-quality deer or elk. With the systematic stewardship of private land, you can elevate the age class of animals, thereby optimizing the potential for deer or elk to attain trophy-worthy stature.
The genesis of my journey in wildlife management can be traced all the way back to my early years when I'd daydream of a buck crossing my path on the opening day of deer season. I had a playground of rolling hills and alfalfa fields right out my back door. At nine years old, I enrolled in the Oregon Hunters Safety program, obtained my hunter's safety card, and, remarkably, secured my first deer tag. Fast forward to my 10th birthday, which coincided with the opening day of deer season. I had spent the whole summer watching a big buck that would hang out on the hills near our house. We had friends and family over for the opening day, as is a tradition in many ranching communities. The next day, others prepared to head home after successful hunts. My dad helped everyone prep each harvested deer for transport, but I couldn't get that buck off my mind. So, I embarked on my own personal quest to find the buck I'd spent the summer observing. I ascended into the canyons and hills, methodically checking all the places where I had seen the elusive buck before. Without warning, I spotted him bedded at the bottom of the canyon, shockingly close to me. As I steadied to take the shot, a surge of emotion coursed through me, causing me to tremble with anticipation. As the deer rose to its feet, I managed to fire off a few cautionary shots in its direction, and ultimately, a handful of those rounds found their mark with remarkable precision. This marked the inception of a lifelong passion for big game animals.
I spent high school and college hunting deer and elk as often as I could, and following graduation, I took a job managing a hunting ranch in Eastern Oregon. When I took over management of the ranch, I noticed that the age class of the deer and elk was very young. Most of the buck deer and bull elk were two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years old. This was a significant challenge that I was tasked with. From a business standpoint of creating revenue, we wanted to create an extraordinary hunting experience where clients could harvest trophy animals. If you can increase the average age class of the bucks and bulls, you can increase the likelihood of trophy-quality animals on the land. I reverted to my upbringing on the family ranch, where we raised cattle to maximize profitability. I already understood that not all aspects of raising animals could be controlled, especially when managing wild animals such as deer and elk. I knew I had to control the things I could control and not stress about the rest. Things within my influence were managing age class through limiting harvest, predation on the ranch property, and available feed for the elk and deer on the property.
Limiting Harvest
To identify a trophy buck, you must first learn how to age a deer while it's alive. Key factors to learn to identify are body composition, such as how big the body is and how older deer look on the hoof. In my experience, trophy deer do not reach their genetic potential until they reach seven years of age. Learning how to get an accurate age on the animal while alive is necessary to understand if they must live a couple more years to reach their full genetic potential. To manage age class by limiting harvest, we only harvested animals that were six-and-a-half years or older. To do that, we needed to become masters at identifying age class. Identifying the age class of an elk or deer can be tricky to the untrained eye, but with a bit of research and lots of time spent observing the animals, you can develop the expertise to classify elk or deer based on their physical traits. Studying and observing the animals prior to harvest is one of the best ways to become a master at identifying age, which was the key to our success. After harvesting the animals, we would send the lower jaw off to get scientifically aged to confirm if the aging class we had identified was accurate. With every confirmation of accurate aging, we improved our ability to identify age class reliably. By prioritizing when we allow elk or deer to be harvested, we provide an environment where they can grow to reach trophy quality.
Predation Control
Managing predation on the ranch was another critical element in our mission to increase the age class of the elk and deer. With predators present, you could watch a deer you've managed for over five years fall to an attack. It's hard to see the fruits of your effort, and years of meticulous management fall short due to predators. Our predator control program's primary concern was mountain lions, coyotes, and bears. We would seasonally focus on different predators based on which time of year they were most active. I hired a professional trapper to help us control these predators on the ranch. Hiring an experienced predator trapper is crucial unless you possess expertise in the field. Our decision to hire a professional trapper turned out to be highly cost-effective as we used the proceeds from selling the pelts as compensation. Coyotes are very hard on fawn deer populations. I have seen packs of coyotes take down healthy, full-grown deer. You can significantly increase the quantity of trophy-quality animals on your land through careful predation control.
Available Feed
Available feed on the property is another factor of influence that can impact the wildlife on your ranch. Pasture management and monitoring the vegetation for each pasture is paramount. Deer and elk need their basic needs met to want to inhabit an area. If your property can provide food, cover, and shelter, they will likely stay around it. You can provide desirable habitat for wildlife by moving the cattle after the pasture has been grazed to adequate levels to allow remaining feed for the deer and elk. If you want to amp up the desirability of your property for wildlife, you can implement food plots, which create even more locations on the ranch for the animals to feed. We applied this technique explicitly targeting areas where animals didn't typically inhabit very often. My goal was to create as many areas as possible on the ranch where wildlife would spend time. The more places available for animals to hang out and feed, the more likely we would increase the carrying capacity of deer and elk throughout the ranch.
Increasing Property Value
After studying wildlife in the field for some time, I learned how to age animals appropriately, and the reward came for me when I purchased a ranch property of 3,700 acres. It was a property that had a lot of wildlife. I only owned it for a short period of time, strategically as short as possible. It was my ownership goal to create more value in the property by managing the animals to the trophy class and then selling it. I achieved that goal through my previous experience and learning how to understand wildlife enough to let them grow to be trophy-class animals. From when I purchased to when I sold, I was able to double the value of the property by simply learning how to manage the wildlife. As the years progressed, it became apparent that this knowledge and information can not only enhance the enjoyment of a hunting property but also add value to your land. Trophy-class hunting properties are becoming more scarce, and being able to manage your property for trophy-class quality is becoming a more valuable selling point than ever. In today's competitive real estate ranch market, having trophy-class animals can be a huge selling point for buyers.
