Turning Marginal Land Into Quality Wildlife Habitat

One of the things I really enjoy as an outdoors writer is interviewing Louisiana deer hunters who have been successful in downing a trophy buck. I get to vicariously sit in the stand with them as if I’m looking over their shoulders as they describe just what they see, including when the buck steps out.

Afterward, I transcribe what they tell me and convert their description of the hunt into a magazine article.

The majority of my articles have to do with bucks taken on land that is known for having the quality to produce good deer. However, I sometimes run into situations where a real trophy was taken on land that, on the surface, is anything but quality habitat.

Such has been the case for the past several seasons of bucks that are growing to outsized proportions on lands where you normally wouldn’t expect heavy-bodied, heavy antlered bucks to show up with regularity.

Sabine Parish is an area of red clay and pine trees, and unless something is drastically done to improve the habitat, fork-horned and scraggly six or eight-point bucks are about all you come to expect coming off the land.

Ryan Masters hunts on lands in Sabine Parish, and over the past several years, his club has regularly produced some outstanding bucks. How does he do it?

“In 1992, we started out with 200 acres, and over the years we have added more acreage we either own or lease, to where today we control some 3,000 acres. Early on, we had the philosophy of ‘if it’s brown, it’s down’.

“We have a son, Joel, who was born with spina bifida and has been wheelchair bound all is life, and I wanted him to have the chance to take a really nice buck. I knew we had to do something different,” said Masters.

Initially, the club where Masters manages started with limiting any buck taken to six points or better, and later went to eight points with antlers outside the ears. Results, however, were marginal.

“In 2012, I had the opportunity to hunt outside Louisiana in the Midwest in states like Illinois, Kansas, and Missouri, and saw that they had better deer there. What was special was that those states only provide one buck tag per hunter per season, so the key to bucks being larger is that they had time to grow. In 2015, we settled on one buck per year here, but also it had to be 4 ½ years old, and later we moved that to 5 ½ years.

“In 2016, we realized that nutrition was also part of the equation, so we started a nutrition program and began feeding deer good nutritional foo,d beginning during the off-season. We figured out everything a deer needs to grow big bodies and big antlers,” Masters continued.

The result? Three years into the program, Masters killed his first 170-inch buck, and members of his club now consistently get bucks every season in the 150s and 160s. Earlier this season, Joel, sitting in his wheelchair in a blind with his dad, set a new record with a 15-point buck that measured 183 3/8 inches and weighed 220 pounds.

If you want to raise big deer but the only land you hunt is of marginal habitat, do like Ryan Masters did. Offer nutritional food for deer throughout the year and limit each hunter to only one quality buck per season. What he has done is to turn the red clay, pine hills of Sabine Parish into one of the best deer hunting areas in Louisiana.

FISHING REPORT

CANEY LAKE – Bass fishing has been best fishing jigs and soft plastics around the boat docks with some caught early morning around the grass on topwater lures. Square billed crank baits are picking up some as well. Crappie are best around submerged tops in deeper water with shiners and jigs taking some nice fish. Bream are fair. For information contact Caney Lake Landing at 259-6649, Hooks Marina at 249-2347, Terzia Tackle at 278-4498 or the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
BUSSEY BRAKE – Crappie fishing has been good fishing jigs or shiners around the deep tops. Bass fishing has been best fishing topwater lures early and pitching jigs around brush later. For best.information, contact the Honey Hole at 323-8707.
OUACHITA RIVER – The water is still quite low because of lock and dam problems down stream. Bass are best fishing shad imitation lures in the cuts and run-outs with current. Crappie are around the tops in the river and fair to good on shiners and jigs. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE D’ARBONNE – Bass are best early mornings on topwater lures. Later in the day, look for them over deeper water in the channels. Jigs and crank baits are picking up some. Crappie have moved to the channels and are best on jigs and shiners as they are suspended over deeper water. Bream are fair. Catfish are good fishing off the banks. For latest information, call Anderson Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE CLAIBORNE – Crappie fishing has been best on jigs and shiners suspended over deeper water. Bass are around the banks and hitting topwaters early while later hitting crank baits and soft plastics in deeper water. Bream are scattered. For latest information, call Kel’s Cove at 927-2264 or Terzia Tackle at 278-4498.
LAKE POVERTY POINT – Catfish are good while crappie have improved fishing around the boat slips. Some are also hitting jigs and shiners on the south end. Bass are slow. For information, contact the marina at 318/878-0101.
LAKE YUCATAN – The lake level is low. Catfishing is good while bass and crappie have not turned on just yet. For info call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.