eckermanmichigan.com Blog

   The Executive staff met with the field observers over Christmas to see the unveiling of the teams’ new piece of data gathering equipment, and discuss it’s uses. It was decided yesterday after some field testing, that Doug’s trail camera is about the best thing that’s happened to us since the invention of trip wires. When we got up to the bai…er, test plot, there were 51 images awaiting our view and every one of them had venison tenderloins involved. 

   First off, they were all taken at night, and the last series was taken just at daybreak from the looks of it. Doug is going to install a battery operated clock that’ll record the exact time with each exposure. For an extra fifty bucks you can get one on the camera, but I think Doug’s way will work just fine. The device was set to tirgger at 30′ and every two minutes if there was movement continueing, and Doug’s going to change that setting. He figured they wouldn’t last longer than 2 minutes, but some groups stayed for 8. There were four different groups of deer, all of them having at least one mature doe involved and all of the groups had fawns. All tallied there were 15 and they all looked pretty healthy. Each group entered the area from the left, indicating they came up from the swamp, that runs adjacent to the Jordan River. That part didn’t suprise me at all, as I was seeing those deer when I was driving home almost every night during the season.

   This is the portion of the study that I’m going to enjoy; I’ll be able to see them all without having to freeze my butt off and we’ll be able to do a deeper study. Once we’ve gathered enough data we’ll be able to individualize each and do generational studies, and do it right at our computers. We’ll watch how they fare the winter and grow muscle over the summer. The nubs will grow into forests of velvet spires, then bone white spears. We’ll also do this unfortunatly, during the dark of night. The bastards.

   Jarrett’s the one who’s going to benifit from all this; he can start doing scientific studies, using the scientific method, that may earn him some scholarships for college. If nothing else, he’ll know who he’s eating for dinner.

   As time progress, more cameras and clocks will be added to the inventory, and we’ll get a better idea of who’s coming from where.

   Something else that was discussed was the production of Maple Syrup. If I’m able to muster enough together to get an arch, we’ll be making pure, genuine, nobullshit joe Maple Syrup. I’ve got enough equipment to handle a hundred taps and I don’t remember how much that’ll produce, but we’ll find out. We’ll use the sales of the maple syrup to finance the studies done on the deer, once again leading us back to the venison tenderloins. “The neverending circle” as Don Zipp would say.

   Mark and I went out to Dougs today for a cup of coffee and some conversation about our project. Even though it wasn’t as successfull as hoped during the first observation period, we will carry on operations throughout the next.

   Due to the snow conditions and other factors, we have put all of our studies originating from the lower observation post, and we will double up on the manpower at that location. Over a second cup of coffee, we decided to expand our studies to include; “Pb and it’s observed effects upon impact with Odocoileus virginianus, as applied using muzzloading applicators”. Observed meaning all applications will be video taped by alternating observers during said operation.

   I videotaped my first application and it turned out to be both instructive and entertaining. Right after I’d applied a subject using 150gr of Pb, I checked to see which way the subject moved after said application. Turned out the said subject dropped like a rock. The entertaining part came several months later as I was showing my kids the videotape, and a daughter-in-law came into the viewing room. She is an avid lover of Odocoileus virginianus bambii and her reaction was explosive, to say the least.

   The Chickory plot is showing a lot of usage and we may be using more of that during next springs seeding. The upper area should have a carpet of poplar by mid-summer and there are plans in the works to construct an elivated platform. The platform will be located at a spot where Doug can observe 80% of his property and serve a number of activities.

   On the 18th of May we started this Habitat Observation program to see if we could draw in the local population of deer, and keep them there. Doug and I had been talking about the yearly decline in the deer population where he lives, and methods to get them back. It didn’t take long to come up with the food plot idea, the problem was getting the equipment needed to do it. Once that came about the rest was a snap. We are both professional turf managers and we know how to grow things and we used the same methods used in a lawn. The soil was broke up well, roto-tilled, and then dragged smooth. We put on twice as much seed as the label recommends and then rolled it all firmly into the soil. An application of starter fertilizer was applied at the label’s rates and after three days in the sun, we began watering it. We kept it moist until it was well rooted and then cut back on the water. We had to cease the irrigation because of costs but I don’t think it mattered, once the roots were down, it was good to go. The Rape didn’t do well at all with the drought, and the Chickory was eventually effected too. I kept wondering about the Chickory because it hadn’t been touched, but once the Rape was gone, that changed. I’ve also learned that chickory continues to grow under the snow and that during the spring when everything else is gone, it’ll prove it’s worth. We had one extended drought where the plants looked as though they were toast, but after the first rain, it was back as thick as ever.

   It wasn’t long before Doug started seeing a lot more deer and even more when he had the poplar logged off. After everything was finished and cleaned up, we seeded the trail he had built and any open spots on the forest floor. All was moving along well when we talked about some of the different attractants for sale now and decided to do that too. We bought some Ca’mere Deer! and began using that along with a small amount of fruits and vegitables to see those effects. One of the test plots is in view of Mark and the other is between Doug and I. We are both on the trail that leads to and from both the crops and the Ca’mere Deer!,

   So, I think we’ve done everything we can do, now it’s just up to luck. I hope everyone has some of the good tomorrow, and with some, I’ll be posting the pictures.