Management ideas with charity basis..

[Phade]

This is definitly the right area to discuss this with the likes of those who participate in this form.

Although still fairly young and in the process of establishing a prof. career this idea or goal has been fostering and finding harbor in my mind for some time now. Realisitically this idea will take years to establish and become successful...

What I would like to do is establish a Ranch/Plantation with a basis around a not for profit organization. The purpose of this would be hunting of several species of game found in upstate NY, with inclusion of a farm/ranch or plantation type atmosphere (horses, farming operation). In NY it is rare to see the acreage people down south see, so I would venture 500 acres to be considered a large tract of land here.

BUT****
The key to this is charity based. I mean specifically a program based around children both challenged (physically and mentally, and monetarily) and normal kids. I want to have the property set up for hunts that accomodate challenged kids who otherwise might not have the chance to do so, and have weekend hunts for "regular" kids paired with their parents, uncles, etc. to foster the whole aspect of hunting and the outdoors. The land would be managed to the "T" for game and nature in general, but also used by those who participate in the program (ie those involved could hunt/use the property as well). All done at little or preferably no cost to the participants basing instead off of donations, grants etc.

I have seen this done in areas of the south, but know of no such programs in the north, and want some ideas and input into what might make a good program and aspects of management on limited acreage compared to similar ones in the south.
Some direct questions I have:

Would you choose to particpate in any form as a fellow hunter (donations, time, labor, guiding kids on hunts)?

Would you like to have a special weekend with your son or daughter at a fun location to learn the skills of the outdoors (Like a father-son weekend bowhunt)?

Deer are obviously the big draw, but what other game might be interesting to learn about and possibly hunt (pheasant, squirrel, turkey...)?

Where would you think funding of something like this could be generated? I understand complete funding to be very unlikely, but finding people or companies interested can help to relieve the burden of the costs.

How to manage deer numbers on small acreage ( IE creating no enter zones and what not....pretty much would need a complete game plan).

I do understand alot of QDM and have had some experience in management at a large hunt club in VA, but just want to hear other ideas and opinions on this......

Sorry for it being so long.

[farm hunter]

Phade -

It sounds really nice and possibly ambitious - I wish you luck - I'm sure you know it will take the right landowner/company etc - to get something like this off the ground - especially if its a hope to make a living at it.

I've seen a similar program - I beleive its handled by the NY Bowhunters Association - on land owned by Robert Congel. His land is managed for whitetails - and handicap hunters. I'm sorry but I do not remember the name of the program - but its like "make a wish foundation" for handicapped hunters/children.

You might want to ask around about how its handled in NY.

Also - While I'm sure many of us would be very happy to lend time, and expertise - maybe even money - Its the land that might be difficult to secrure.

Let us know if things start to move on it for you -

FH

[BrutalAttack]

you should decide early on whether you want to manage for deer or for a complete outdoor experience. Some people will not agree with me but singel species management is always going to detract from other species...both game and non game. My advice would be to come up with an ecosystem mangement plan not a deer management plan or even a game management plan. Abundant game will be a byproduct of a good ecosystem managment plan. The challenge lies in the small amount of acreage.

[Phade]

Land is ultimately the challenge.

My family has 76 acres of which 45 or so are in tillable fields. The property is leased out to a local farm, which has a large tract of land to work with that they own. It will be possible to lease their land exclusively, but I have reservations about the terrain type.

It is strictly broken woodlots and farm fields. No turkey population, although literally the property on the other side of the road does house turkey's. That property is privately owned, and dips into a small series of hills with a small valley, which is why I am sure the turkey population stays there. The deer hunting is good, but another large issue is dealing with history of the land, as it has been hunted for years by numbers of people, so stopping them might be an issue. One of them is a known thief and trespassing hunter...taking a stand and two game cams from the family property, so I know the people would be the biggest challenge.

So yes land will be the hard part[:@]

[BrutalAttack]

well with that small amount of huntable acreage I'm afraid you will largely be at the mercy your neighbors management practices in terms of what the hunting will be like on your property. You can certainly go forward with your goal and see how it goes.

[Phade]

The deer in the area are quite large, even with the hunting pressure. Our property has seen the 6th largest non-typical taken in the state in 1996, and has produced several large deer 8-16 pts (2.5-4.5 yr old deer) and 200 plus pounds since then with regularity. I regularly spend 24 exposure film in 4 days on my game cams at a woodlot entrance, and have over 9 different bucks entering and leaving (keep in mind this lot is only 11 acres). However, it just does not seem to fit right as a plantation type atmosphere when you ake into consideration the problems I will most likely encounter with others who try to hunt the land now.

The farms total acreage in the 300-400 range. However that is still small by standards of controling the local deer herd.