Stillwater Hunt Club is a private hunting club in Halifax County, N.C., in the heart of one of the highest deer-production areas in the state. Over the past 37 years, Stillwater has grown from a small lease to over 2,300 contiguous acres. Unlike smaller management units, Stillwater is eligible to realize real results from strict habitat and management guidelines beneficial to sound wildlife management.
Over the past few years, the membership convened and committed to improving the quality of their hunting experiences. While the majority of the focus was on deer, other species such as turkey and waterfowl will be a part of their initiative.
The club recognized its buck-to-doe ratio was out of balance, along with their deer population. Additionally, members saw the need to improve the quality and quantity of foods on the property, so they developed a plan and a timetable.
In 2008, Stillwater began an aggressive harvesting plan to balance the buck-to-doe ratio on its properties, and the results have shown up in their harvests from the past several years, with more quality bucks on the books.
Recently, Stillwater has initiated their new phase of its initiative to improve its food-plot acreage as well as provide available nutritious forages throughout the year. Not only will 16 existing food-plot sites undergo a facelift, an additional 13 locations will be incorporated into the program, raising the total food-plot acreage to 20 acres. Finally, the club is working with landowners to secure an additional 10 locations for strategically-placed winter food strips along the northern field edges after fall harvest.
In February and March, soil samples were collected from all food plots, and eight plots were limed to bring the pH up to acceptable levels for the spring planting season. This month, pre-emergent herbicides will accompany spring plantings with nutrient-rich, warm-season seed mixtures. The remaining plots will be limed later in the spring to be planted in cool-season food plots early in the fall. They will begin supplying their mineral stations with a generous quantity of their home mixture of dicalcium phosphate and trace mineral salts. Mineral stations will be set up at all 16 of their existing food plots to provide necessary minerals and nutrients during this critical time of need. These will be maintained and will be beneficial in the trail camera survey during the summer.
Over the next few months, Stillwater will monitor its existing food plots for growth and deer usage. Additionally, the club will begin to look for places within their land holdings for new plots. Stillwater Hunt Club is off to a good start for improving the quality of their wildlife habitat and their deer herd itself.
*Beginning this month, Greener Pastures will follow a select group of hunting clubs in the Carolinas through the food-plot process to show examples of their continual improvement to wildlife habitat. Any clubs are interested in being spotlighted, please contact Jeff Burleson at burlesonoutdoors@yahoo.com.
