"A Letter To The Deer Hunters in Georgia."

Guys and Gals, I want to talk with y'all straight up about some issues. I was checking traps on the Cattle Farm in Walton County yesterday evening and there was a guy in a large fertilizer truck treating the pastures. I pulled up on the Honda and told him who I was and gave him one of my business cards. He asked what I was trapping and I said coyotes. He said he was from a county east of here and was in a deer club. He said the coyotes were decimating his herd, but he couldn't afford for me to trap coyotes and other predators off of it for him. He had not even asked what my fees were, he just automatically assumed he couldn't afford them. I said, Well since I can't help you will you please give that card to someone that I might be able to? If I had thought about it, I would have asked him, "Are you charging the landowner to spread fertilizer on 550 acres of pasture or are you just doing it for nothing?" So, if you are a president or member of a deer club that has already made up their mind that you would not consider incorporating a Predator Control Program for you club and have a State Certified Professional Trapper provide consulting and work for you, you can stop reading now. I do not want to waste my time since you do not sincerely want to protect your newborn fawns and dramatically increase the population of your deer, turkey, quail and rabbits on your personal property or lease. Perhaps you are of the mindset that "we shoot every one we see". That's good. You are taking out only about 3-5% of the total population of coyotes on your property. You are also educating the remainder to go nocturnal. I want this letter to land in front of someone who understands the benefit of managing the predator population. I want it to land in front of someone who is willing to do "whatever it takes" to incorporate a Management program into your club. You manage for the deer. Why do you not deem it important to manage the Predators that are killing 65-75% of your new fawns every year. Coyotes eat deer, turkey, quail and rabbits on you property 365 days per year.....THINK ABOUT THAT! I wrote an article recently for the Patch on how I could show clubs how to manage their money so they could afford to hire a Trapper. I described changes that would make an IMMEDIATE difference in how many fawns and other prey species survives to Maturity. I just wonder if anyone out there is "listening" to what I have to say. I'm gonna be Honest with you......."What you are doing now ain't workin'" What do you think will happen if you make the decision to do nothing. You will sit in your stand day after day and wonder where all the deer have gone. You will have spent BIG money on your lease year after year, but you are seeing fewer and fewer deer. I assure you, it will not get any better. It appears that I cannot get people to understand that for whatever reason. What are you afraid of? I'm sure you are all aware that the fawns will be dropping soon. Do you think it is any coincidence that the coyote pups have already been born? The greater majority of the thousands of dollars you spend every year on food plots and supplemental feeding is winding up as coyote scat on your logging roads. The MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do as a club to increase the quantity and quality of deer on you property is Predator Control. Not food plots, not supplemental feeding, not culling. Is that so difficult to understand?? If you are sincere about growing quality bucks you've got to have those buck fawns grow to maturity. If they are not around to do so, you are throwing your money away. Are you willing to make some changes to increase your fawn population by 200% the first year? That is what the result was when 20 coyotes and 10 bobcats were taken off of a 2000 acre. tract in Alabama in a research study. The fawn population went up by 256% the first year!" If you have a Wildlife Biologist that you are consulting with and he doesn't recommend a Coyote Control Program for you club, you need to kick him out the door because he is clueless as to the real reason the deer, turkey, quail and rabbits are not prospering! Before I became a Professional State Certified Trapper, I was a deer hunter for over 40 years. NOT ONCE in those 40 years did I ever hear a club president or wildlife biologist recommend Predator Control as part of your QDM program!" I can help you make pro active changes and show you how to budget your money so you can afford this vitally important part of a truly successful QDM program. The Georgia DNR is making changes in the law this year that will allow us Trappers to use all of the tools available to us to help manage the Coyote population. We will be able to harvest many more coyotes than ever before because of this one change. Won't you allow us to help you and your deer herds be the best they can be? Don't you want your children and grandchildren to enjoy the same hunting experiences that you have? " By collaborating together, Hunters and Trappers, we can dramatically improve your hunting experience, if you are willing to give us a chance." www.easternwolferscoyotetrappers.com/