Michigan Man Earns National Recognition

[Bob S]

LINK to Article. (http://www.qdma.com/press/20040728.sturgrec.asp)

Watkinsville, Ga. – The Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA) has named Michigan QDMA member Jeff Sturgis as winner of its 2004 “Al Brothers Deer Manager of the Year Award.” Sturgis accepted the honor recently during the QDMA's 4 th annual Convention in Grand Rapids, Mich.

The award is named in honor of Texas Wildlife Biologist Al Brothers, considered the father of Quality Deer Management. Brothers co-authored the book “Producing Quality Whitetails” in 1975, and his efforts to encourage landowners and hunters to practice QDM led to the founding of the QDMA in 1988.

“This award recognizes the individual who, through their dedication and commitment to the principles of Quality Deer Management, has made significant on-the-ground achievements in whitetail management,” said QDMA Executive Director Brian Murphy. “Jeff's efforts are testaments to what can be accomplished on small properties with hard work, patience and the application of sound QDM principles.”

Sturgis bought a relatively small piece of land in Michigan's Upper Peninsula – 130 acres – in July 1999. When he took possession, the acreage was covered with spruce, cedar, pine, soft maple and fir – none of which are considered quality deer foods. And the soils were highly acidic, ranging from a pH of 4.1 to 5.2. There essentially were no hard or soft mast producing species and no agriculture within 20 miles.

During his first year of ownership, Sturgis believed fewer than five deer even used the property. He didn't see a scrape, and only located five small rubs – all likely made by the same yearling buck.

Between 2000 and 2003, Sturgis initiated a comprehensive habitat-improvement and food-plot program centered around a large, non-hunted food plot and sanctuary area. Many hours of bulldozer work, almost 40 tons of lime and the advice of a professional wildlife consultant have paid off big for him.

“During the 2003 hunting season, Jeff passed eight different bucks up to three years of age and harvested a yearling doe,” Murphy said. “The occurrence of rubs and scrapes on his land has increased to a point where he can't keep count.

“More importantly, one of Jeff's hunting companions saw more deer last season than the previous four years combined – and he got to hear a buck fight and see bucks chasing does for the first time. Jeff has created a diverse and productive property that any QDM Advocate would be proud of.”

[Ferg]

:woohoo1: :woohoo1: Great Stuff and well deserved - congrats NJ.


ferg....

:)

[Neal]

Way to go Jeff!!! Thanks for your dedication.

Neal

[turtleboy66]

Is Jeff a MS member? Way to go....

[Neal]

Is Jeff a MS member? Way to go....

Yes...he goes by NorthJeff

[Ferg]

Is Jeff a MS member? Way to go....

A great 'self eductation' do a search for threads by Njeff in the QDM and Habitat forums - everything you wanted to know about both subjects - and not just rederic but the how toos and the wherefors :-)

ferg....

[Adam Waszak]

Congrats Jeff! A hard earned honor for sure to be noticed way up here in yankee country :lol:

AW

[NATTY BUMPO]

North Jeff,

Congrats again- a notable honor and well deserved!

NJ is a most valuable contributor to the QDM and Wildlife Habitat forums. He's helped many, many guys with their habitat and hunting questions.

Good luck to all this coming hunting season. :lol:

Natty B.

[Herb@BBT]

I wish to offer my congratulations to Jeff, also. I enjoy everyones posts here, and have learned a lot from all of you.....

[Letmgro]

Congrats NJ!

I hope this is just the beginning for you!

When will we see you on the seminar venues? :yikes:

[ESOX]

Very cool. Congrats!

[boehr]

Congrats.

[farmlegend]

A great honor. Congratulations Jeff.

Fellow deer managers and habitaters - let's see if we can keep the award in Michigan next year!

[drwink]

Atta boy !
It does pay off, Jeff I bet you never thought you would be rewarded 2 ways.
I thought I saw a thread where you said you didn't hunt your land ?

[Luv2hunteup]

Congratulations NorthJeff on your award. You've lead by example. I hope you are rewarded with quality deer hunting for many years to come.

Many naw sayers think it can't be done in the UP but all it takes is hard work and dedication. I hope you can make it by camp this year for a tour.

[trout]

Congrats on the Award.
There essentially were no hard or soft mast producing species and no agriculture within 20 miles.

I have a question however.
I thought the cedar were crucial to winter survival in that they prevent deer from extreme temperatures in the winter.
Was a survey done prior to the changes made to the land to assess the value of the old habitat to other species.

Jeff has created a diverse and productive property that any QDM Advocate would be proud of.”
I don't doubt that at all and I realize it is with great effort that this was done.
I just wonder what impact it has on the biology of the areas wildlife other than deer.
Digging a 130 pond would have made many DU members happy, but would that be in the best interests of the overall area?

I made a tough choice by raising these questions in light of your
2004 “Al Brothers Deer Manager of the Year Award.”

I am not in favor of single species management.

[Leon2]

Congratulations Jeff on your award and this fine honor. Thank you for all you do to promote good habitat and deer management throughout the country, in Michigan and especially in the UP. Yes, QDM does work, even in the UP. May the UP gods of the 150 Class Bucks and the mean old matriarch does smile upon you this fall. :) ;)

[Whit1]

NJ,
Congrats on the honor bestowed by QDMA.

[Benelli]

N. Jeff,

The award was certainly well deserved, you have certainly accomplished a lot, and great to see a MI guy receive such national recognition. Congrats.

Trout, I do not wan’t to answer for NJ specifically to your Q’s, but from previous NJ posts seems as if the deer do not winter on his property, just summer hang outs and migration through to the yards. It also seems as if the grouse and rabbits are fat and happy too, at least he keeps his beagles busy in the winter!

Good luck this fall to all!

[wildcoy73]

good job jeff and keep up the hard work as you see it is paying off. and lets stress the point qdm is not about antlers but about the deer. hunt the wood as if it is ur house and leave it in better shape than ya found it :grouphug:

[NorthJeff]

Thanks so much everyone for the warm responses!

This was surely an awesome honor that has been one of the most memorable events of my life. To have my wife and kids come down to the convention and surprise me just an hour before the presentation dinner, and hear my 2 and 3.5 year old kids yell "daddy" and "my daddy" while I was walking up to and recieving the award was priceless and frankly a bit emotional. Also, to have folks that have been such a big part of the success of the property in the crowd, including Ed Spinnazola, Mark Thomas, Neil Dougherty, and other friends such as Perry Rousso and Tim Glover, my hunting partner in WI, was just a great experience, not to mention all the great folks from this site I was able to meet.

The honor was magnificant and extremely special considering the level surprise, the man the award was named after, and the fact to be honored for basically a glorified hobby! Certainly a shared accomplishment for all of us "armchair" biologists and habitors out there who do it for the passion and love for both animal and habitat.

I won't list everyone because I'll forget, but thanks to the many on this site in particular for all the tips and tactics shared throughout the last couple of years to aid myself and others in the understanding of both wildlife and habitat.

Thanks Everyone! There are quite a few on this site that are probably deserving of the honor and I truly hope you one day get to share in the experience.

[NorthJeff]

Trout,

"I am not in favor of single species management."

Just wanted to respond to this seperately as most often this is a gross mis-understaing when it comes to managing for whitetails. It can be a pretty accurate statement when managing for certain small game or bird species though, but not deer. You have to remember too, that even on my property, that has been INTENSELY managed, only approximately 10% of the total habitat has been altered, while preserving a substantial representation of the existing available habitat and protection any toad, snail, frog, rodent, or insect that I couldn't even pretend to identify that may reside somewhere within the property bounderies. At the same time, if I was just managing for that particular rare toad, other wildlife would most likely suffer.

What you'll find is that managing habitat for deer will benifit and provide food and cover for many, many, other species as well.

What ends up happening in habitat managment is that if you manage for a specific small game species or bird, you get just that...habitat for JUST that small game species. But, on the other hand, if you manage your property for deer, you will benifit most ALL your small game species, and you can then do a few minor things to meet the needs of targeted small game species. Basically, managing habitat for deer may actually give you more of a "Big Picture", than some may think.

For example, the openings I make in my tag alders provide awesome nesting habitat for woodcock and I have an abundant supply. The hinge-cutting and clearcutting practices I carry out provide great cover for my local snowshoe population as well as grouse. The food plots I create and maintaine provide very high nutrition for my snowshoe population, and the brush from the food plot creations is piled and provides nesting and security cover for the snowshoes as well. The wildlife openings create natural dusting areas for the local grouse. Also, with the abundant small game on the property, I have a good bobcat population, as well as coyote, and the beauty is there is so much small game I don't experience very high predation rates on the fawn crop. Not to mention the verious birds that I couldn't even pretend to identify that benifit from the verious aged stand of timber and edge habitat on the property that is a result of sound deer habitat management practices.
Unfortunately many think that managing for whitetails ONLY means whitetails will benifit. They are dead wrong and many of the ways to manage your native vegitation wil greatly benifit small game, especially grouse and rabbits. Again, if you manage for the big picture you will benifit MANY game species, cetainly not just whitetails. You will find it extremely hard to complete cutting activities, enhance native vegitation, and manage for varied age stands of timber and not benifit whitetail, whether you think you are doing it for deer or not.



One thing for rabbit is to pile 5-6 pallets, and then place your brush over the pallets. This allows for multiple levels of escape for young and old. Grouse need varying age of staggered aspen growth as well as dusting areas. But again, you will have brush to pile if you have created openings for whitetail, or made cuttings for whitetail, not to mention the young thick and tangled growth of hinge-cutting or clear cutting activities that will really help your bunnies. If you are managing your entire property for whitetail, you will only have to do some minor things to target specific small game species.

For woodcock you can cut/clear perpendicular strips alternated every 5 years adjacent to a creek or river(especially through tag-alder). But be cautious! Those new opening may actually benifit doe/fawn family groups and provide additional herbacious plant growth that whitetails really love! Also, you can cut aspen stands on a rotational basis and provide young woody browse for bunnies, as well as cover for bunnies and grouse but again beware....your whitetails will love it too.

A local forester for our "conservation" district picked out an area on the property for a pond. As it turned out, it would have been the worst area on the property for a pond as it was by far the best area for quality and variety of native vegitation. It took a whitetail habitat consultant to point that out to me and save me from a major mistake. His advice? Fertalize, lime, and enhance, don't destroy.

Also, on one of my best food plots I was told by my local forester to plant a red-pine plantation on and that a food plot would never grow...she was grossly mistaken! Esecially considering my property is already filled with various aged conifer, including red pine...so much for "conservation" from the local conservation forester.

It was found in MN grouse studies that staggered and uneven plantings of pines, mixed with other species raised grouse levels by 10X over even spaced rows of 7x7, 8x8 plantings of straight lined pines due to increased predation, disease, and warfare, but again, beware, that's the way you need to plant for deer too! Often, these "funded" plantings by the local conservation district really have much more to do with optimum future "boards per foot", than future wildlife restoration and preservation. Sometimes there isn't much conservation in "conservation".

Sound habitat management activities can be your base, and you can make some very minor alterations to target specific small game species or birds, but an extremely large number of game animals and birds will benifit in the end.

I run snowshoes on the property for the better part of 4 months, usually 60-80 outings, so although I complete many projects for deer, every project is completed with snowshoes in mind and I most likely have the best snowshoe, as well as grouse populations, around. Another little tip is to establish a canopy over your access trails to decrease predation from above for your rabbits and grouse. A summer planting on your trails of buckwheat provides additional cover as well as a summer food source for both rabbits and deer.

Also, unless you are in a deer yard, or have several acres of snow-hindering and thermal cover provided by cedars, cedars are not necessarily a very good species for your property…..Actually probably one of the worst to plant if they are not already there. Most of the areas I’ve turned into food plots were mostly spruce stands, mixed with varying types and ages of conifer. Basically, they were some of my worst rabbit areas due to the age of timber, and openness. There is certainly something for everything on the property and you’d be hard pressed to find better populations of grouse, snowshoes, bobcats, sandhill cranes, and yes, DEER, anywhere within 10-20 miles of the property. There are many other bird species as well, including the paleated(sp?) wood pecker, yellow and rose-breasted grosbecks, and many others I won’t even pretend to identify.

Bottom line, managing for whitetails is probably about as close to the big picture of land management as you can get….whether you admit it, know it, or want it…..just the way it is and you’ll find it very enjoyable for both you and your local wildlife-I know I have!

[jk hillsdale]

Congratulations NorthJeff. That's an outstanding accomplishment!

[Ed Spin04]

Jeff; When I grow up I want to be just like you.

[Ansel]

Hey there Buddy...Not to shabby - Pretty good for a flat lander turn Yooper! ;)

[deepwoods]

Congrat's NJ. I have very much enjoyed reading your post in the past. I hope to have my own land very soon and with the knowledge I have gained from you and others on these forums I will be able to put it to use to create my own "wildlife sanctuary". Thanks.

[Swamp Ghost]

Nice job, well deserved