I’m gonna make one more brief comment and then put in behind me and let fate and God handle sorting the good fruits from the rotten.

I’ve had to spend the last 10 years with a knife drawn at all times ready to fend off any and every kind of attack and insult possible trying to tear me down internally and discredit anything I say or do. I don’t even think most people really know me because I’ve been so on guard and ready to cut and slash at people just to be able to speak….I hate that it went that way because I’ve rarely ever been able to just be me. Just the version that was ready to cut a mf if I have to!I Endulge me her for a moment. Let me say a little more about the past because it will lead into what I hope we see in the future.

I joined QDMA years ago and got involved in going to some of their fields days and events….I supported them and always looked at them as the one organization or entity amongst the bigger hunting community that was dedicated to bringing the science of deer and deer management to the public. I rolled my eyes a little at all the BS gimmicky products and shows everyone was doing but I was ok with that stuff because I thought there was still someone providing us with the raw truth….the scientific truth without the sales pitches and products.

Then suddenly I started seeing QDMA on Big and J commercials promoting of all things…..OF ALL THINGS!!....the magic bag of powder you dump on the ground that big bucks suddenly start sprouting from. But the worst part was that they attached a biologist to it using the word “science” to subtly manipulate the consumers. I made a pretty good stink on the old forum letting them know how wrong it was because science is supposed to pursue truth and avoid having money manipulate the direction it takes…..…...

It wasn’t too long after that when the no-till methods started really snowballing and more folks were talking about holistic approaches like using cattle to mob graze, etc….when suddenly QDMA just pulled the plug on the whole forum nearly overnight…..and not just any forum either. The old QDMA forum was full of all kind of great people from professional deer managers…biologists….consultants……arborists… you name it…..They were giving honest, real world advice to hunters all over the country on a daily basis. It was the best resource out there on any media platform to actually help educate and teach the science of “deer” to the public…..and they yanked it out from under them in the middle of the night …. It was obvious what was going on and it stung me pretty hard when I realized that they were $elling out science and the truth.

A little later when the T&M technique started getting picked up, modified, and rebranded I’ll admit I was hoping one of them would at least give me a subtle tip of the hat and wink for me as well as the others who spent years helping to get the torch lit…..But they didn’t….and it felt like slap in the face. I guess I was just being naïve as to how the world works. Still I was happy and took pride to see deer managers like Grant Woods pick it up and run with it …. ….But the more I watched the more I realized that yes, it was the truth…..but kinda sorta still selling stuff. At that point I lost all faith in anyone actually being a source to educate the public with the science and it soured my attitude. My problem though has never been with any individual…..but rather with the process….…I never did any of it because I wanted to be “the inventor of T&M or to be the man. I kept on coming back because when I tried to show the results of some of my first experiments with sincere happiness that it had worked…… I was met by harsh a-holes telling me that what I had done was stupid, wrong, and I was a fool . I’m still here 10 years later because of my stubbornness and persistence and because the harsh comments only made it get worse....….until it finally just became about principle with a little F-you to go with it.

So why does all of the stuff about science and truth bother me ?? Because how do we expect the hunting public to be able to properly manage the deer herds if there isn’t anyone educating them with facts and truth. We bitch and bitch about the state managing for us and making this choice or that choice as our hunting resource continues to dwindle……. But what else are we to expect if the hunters have very little clue about all of the different management tools and options being practiced today and the true impacts of each. How can we expect them to manage the natural resource…..aka nature……if they’re nearly as disconnected from her as the rest of society…..most just dont realize it.

What could Alabama look like if it had a resource like what the QDMA once was but have it on a state level that moved them forward into a new era of land management and hunting…..A forum that educated the hunters, landowners, outfitters, etc on how to manage early successional plant communities for maximum wildlife production……or how to raise cattle and deer together……the social dynamics of a deer herd……Assessing understory vegetation and carrying capacity…..and so on…..and so on

Now you wanna talk about something that would benefit EVERYONE…… then take a look at your state map for a moment and check out the area to the south of Montgomery. See the light colored area from about Union Springs nearly to Selma where there’s no dark green?? That whole area is some of the best soil in the state capable of producing some of the most productive high, quality deer populations….It already producers some of our best bucks but the vast majority of the acreage as you can see is in huge open cattle pastures that robs the area of what it could be.

Just hypothetically think about this for moment…..what if we could wave a magic wand across that area and change it to what that area would look like if the cattle were being mob grazed instead of raised the traditional way? If all of that area void of dark green suddenly became highly productive deer habitat while still keeping the cattle production….Imagine how much that one area alone would improve the resource and increase the potential $$$ of hunting revenue for the state and the associated “industry” chain?

Now keep scrolling around and look on a broader scale at how much of our state is in fragmented pastures and such…..Its everywhere…..Marshall co where I’m from is nothing but fragmented pasture land…..Don’t get me wrong….I don’t think the whole state or blackbelt is gonna suddenly start managing holistically with their cattle next year or that all of it ever will be…..but what if mob grazing and other holistic management practices started taking root on this property and on that one…..and another….and another…..All the while the ideas and the results being shared and spread and more folks became educated on how to manage land for multiple uses that benefited cattle and wildlife and hunters …Maybe we dont change the whole state but maybe instead of continuing to fragment the landscape and lose wildlife habitat….we start reconnecting some of the dots and trend the other way. Maybe there’s new ideas and methods that spring up using these same concepts as more folks begin using them.

What might our landscape look like 10 years from now…..50 years from now? When one of those big cattle farmers below Montgomery looks over and sees his neighbor using some new management practice and he likes what he sees……Where is he gonna go to learn about it?? When the deer manager or forester hears about it and wants to try running a few cattle through a couple stands to test it out….where will he go to get advice? When folks see the improvements and increased productivity to the soil that results from these practices and want to improve theirs....….who will teach them about it? After all the soil is probably our most underappreciated resource. Soil is the foundation of life and where the true wealth of our land is held Who will inspire and help that first wave to take the plunge? Hmmm……..

I know I would like nothing better than to spend the next ten years helping to transition us in that direction and be able to lay down my prison shank for a while….. I’m just scarred up and tired boss. ….Some will read this and think it’s a good idea but will never happen……some will read it and laugh thinking that I’m nuts and its absurd………but I think its very real……I know the power of one straw and I believe it can start a revolution.