Guest No More

It's been a minute, or a month, or 6. I've been busy, growing literal grass.

Zak & I bought a sod farm this spring. Between learning the science, agronomy, business, marketing, management, & figuring out which of the 100 daily problems needs to be addressed first, writing for myself fell pretty far down the list. But, tomorrow is October 1st & opening day of whitetail season has a way of making me reflect & prioritize myself, even if it's a bit selfish. I say selfish because as I write this, I'm sitting in my office on the farm, listening to Zak mow acres upon acres of grass outside.

But this October 1st is different. We will be hunting our land. & that feels so good.

The Guest Years

I don't mean it to be a negative observation, but everywhere I have ever hunted, I have been a guest. &, understandably, I have been subject to someone else's rules in one way or another. The land has belonged to someone else, with their own thoughts, opinions, & preferences on how hunting should happen. Even if rules or expectations weren't stated, there was a pressure in the decisions I made, whether or not I was conscious of them at the time.

I've often hunted dad's property in Michigan & Illinois, plus Grandpa's farm. Guides handled the snow goose spreads in Missouri, staff stocked the boats while fishing in Ontario, & scouting was handled by incredibly skilled locals in my hunting pursuits overseas. I showed up, I hunted, I fished, & I went home with stories based on how those adventures were shaped for me. Again, not complaining, just verbalizing a big realization right now.

Another honest reflection- I'm a girl (ha- what a novel realization!). Being a girl has meant that even though I've hunted from a young age, my dad, grandpa, cousins, & now husband are often quick to step in to help me. Stands were "magically" hung & ready for me each season. Fresh batteries in the trail camera that was placed by my bag, ready for me to take out to woods. Ratchet straps & bow ropes were replaced before I ever had to get a new one. I didn't know just how grateful to be for that work, mostly because I never saw it any differently.

I see it more clearly now.

Landowner Views

It turns out that being a steward of the land looks a lot less like a sunrise in a tree stand & a lot more like counting deer vs. coyotes, cutting down trees & branches, following tracks (from both people & wildlife), clearing out ditch lines to keep the water flowing, spraying invasive plants, & so on.

A few things I learned fast:

There are too many deer. I've known this, but I haven't specifically seen it quite so clearly. While this may sound like a hunter's dream, the habitat can only support so much wildlife, that darn carrying capacity. When a population outgrows its habitat, the deer themselves suffer (poorer health, smaller bodies, more disease), & so does everything else that depends on that same food & cover.

But they said... Visitors have been showing up, & the "but the last owner let us..." story has been on repeat. You need permission to hunt someone's land, & that permission comes from whoever owns it now. It's not a grandfathered right, & it doesn't transfer. Having that conversation politely (& more than once) is apparently part of the job.

Not everyone asks. Trespassing is one of the most common headaches landowners deal with, & it's frustrating in a way I didn't fully understand having always been a welcomed guest. Even harder has been finding deer on the property that someone else shot out of season & left behind once it crossed onto our land. Plus the ATV tracks, pets & strangers caught on trail camera, & everything in between.

Here's where the conservation educator in me has to come out for a second: in the United States, wildlife belongs to the people, held in trust by the state for all of us. So a poached deer isn't taken from a landowner or a hunter, it's taken from everyone- including every hunter who buys a license, follows the rules, & funds conservation practices through those dollars spent on tags, gear, & equipment.

Heavy Hunts

Not every story this year was a heavy lesson. Some of them were just... heavy.

In September, we hosted our first hunt as landowners. A handful of family members & friends came out for early goose season to hunt with us. For once, Zak & I weren't the guests. Our fields, our plan, our adventure.

& our blind of choice? The sod itself.

We laid down in the fields & covered ourselves with sod rolls. In theory, perfect camouflage. In reality, those rolls are so heavy that we could only cover our lower halves if we wanted to breathe, let alone sit up & shoot.

The birds came. Oh, they came. We watched flock after flock work the fields around us all morning & ultimately decide they had somewhere better to be. Three birds down & at least 30 shots.

The Plan

So, back to October 1st. What is my plan? What has changed? How do I need to change? How can I optimize my land, my habitat, & the wildlife that passes through, beds down, relies on my cover, eats from my food plots?

Shoot does. Lots of them.

Harvesting antlerless deer is an incredibly effective way to bring the population back in line with its habitat (if enough people do it, that is). It eases pressure on the land, helps our farming neighbors, supports a healthier population over the long term, & fills the freezer (venison meatballs, anyone?). It's not as glamorous as a big buck on the wall, but this year, it's the responsible decision.

Tomorrow morning, I'll climb into a stand on our own land for the first time.

Zak & I looked for signs of deer, hung the stands together, cut branches to make shooting lanes, & planted small food plots. If something goes right, it was because of us. If something goes wrong, that's also because of us.

While a bit intimidating, it's also something that I am proud of.

Someday, someone else will show up as a guest & they probably won't see or think about all the work that went into this land to make it ready for them to hunt it. That's okay, I didn't always think about it either. But in my new role as a landowner, I will know, I will be proud, & I will be so happy to host them.

Good luck tomorrow. Shoot straight, ask for permission, & consider shooting a doe!