Predator Management, is it part of your land management plan?

Many hunters and land managers don't fully understand the true impact that predators have on the other wildlife that lives on their properties, specifically the deer and turkeys. They also don't understand the negative impact that incorrectly managing predators may have. Lets discuss some of the causes of fawn and turkey mortality, and what we can do as land managers to reduce it.

There is no doubt that every year, some fawns and turkey poults fall victim to predators such as coyotes, bobcats and various other predators. Both fawns and turkey poults suffer from many causes of mortality, not just from predators. Causes such as exposure, illness, abandonment all account for a large portion of fawn and turkey poult mortality every year. Unfortunately, turkey poults are even more susceptible than fawns to some of these causes. Fawns are able to stand, walk and even run within a matter of hours after birth, although far from being sure footed, they are quit mobile. Even as early as a week or two old, fawns can run fast enough to keep up with their mothers and escape most predators. Turkey poults on the other hand have a much more difficult start in life. Once a hen is bred, she will start to lay eggs, usually one a day for 8-10 days. Once all the eggs are laid, she will begin constant incubation for approximately 28 days, until the eggs hatch. Once hatched, the poults are grounded for approximately 1-2 weeks before they are able to fly very short distances. At this time their flight capability is limited to only being able to fly just far enough to roost in trees. Imagine spending nearly 45 days on the ground in the spring time during a time when predators are trying to not only provide for themselves, but their young as well. During this time, its not uncommon to have substantial amounts of rain and potentially cold weather. With being immobile, the nest location alone could be cause for a hen to lose her entire brood due to weather conditions.

So what can we do to reduce fawn and turkey mortality?

First and most importantly, provide as much high quality habitat as possible. Quality habitat is by far the most effective way to start reducing fawn and turkey mortality, but it doesn't just help those species, all the animals on your property benefit from quality habitat. When I say habitat, I'm not talking about just food plots, or just cover, I am talking about the property as a whole. As land managers we want to provide everything that deer and turkeys need and want, not to just survive, but to thrive. High quality habitat does more than just help newly born fawns and newly hatched poults survive, it starts long before that. Take for example a doe. I doe living in very high quality habitat is going to be healthy, and a healthy doe is going to be able to carry and grow a healthy fetus, once born, that doe will be able to provide high quality milk for that fawn. This results in that fawn being setup for success, versus having to scratch and claw just to survive.

Within this high quality habitat, we have to have adequate security cover for fawns and poults. This could be early successional growth, native grasses, high stem count wooded areas, etc. Regardless of what type of cover it is, there needs to be large areas of it, not just small patches or strips. Those small patches or strips are perfect hunting grounds for predators and those fawns and turkey nests/poults become easy to find. The larger the area the better, so if you can, try to plan on acres, not square feet. It doesn't all have to be the same type of cover, if you only have say an acre or two of CRP, compliment that with some TSI work around and adjacent to it. This can double the acreage and add great diversity! High quality habitat and cover do more than make it harder for predators to find fawns and poults, it can also help protect them from exposure. Having cover that provides shelter from the elements such as wind and rain can help tremendously. Unfortunately, there is one negative side effect of improving your habitat. High quality habitat benefits all animals, including predators! Think of it this way, by improving the habitat for deer, turkeys, rabbits, etc. we have increased the available resources for predator numbers to increase. Predators will be healthier, have larger litters and high survival rates. This is where a solid predator management program needs to be implemented.

So how do we effectively control predator populations, and are there certain predators we need to target?

Depending on your area, but here in Illinois, the main predators of deer are coyotes and bobcats. Like mentioned before, turkeys have it worse, coyotes and bobcats will target turkeys also, but nest predators such as raccoons, opossums, skunks, etc. are what causes the most damage. A coyote or a bobcat may kill an occasional turkey, but nest predators will essentially kill 8-10 at a time when they go in and wipe out a nest.

All of these predators have hunting and/or trapping seasons. Here in Illinois, bobcat season is only open in a portion of the state, and you have to draw a tag in order to hunt or trap them, making it very difficult for land managers to control their population. Hunting is fun and it can be effective, but trapping is by far the most effective means in controlling predators. Regardless of the method you choose, you have to be dedicated to it, because its not a one and done project. Nest predators such as raccoons will disperse and re-populate an area fairly quickly after having reduced the local population. Take my 55 acre property for example. I trapped 30 raccoons off of it last year. This year even though I haven't trapped as extensively, I will still end up with about half that number. Definitely an improvement, but you can see how quickly the numbers can be right back where you started if you don't continue your efforts. Coyotes are a special type of predator, they actually have the ability to control their population, and when I say that, I don't mean that when Mr. and Mrs. coyote do the deed, they can decide how many pups that they will have! Their population does have the ability to self regulate, meaning if numbers are down, they do naturally have larger litters and better survival rates. This can make controlling the populate quit challenging, and then you take into consideratio the fact that they are a pack animal, things get really tricky.

Why does being a pack animal matter? Well, the alpha male and female, or (breeding pair) of the pack control the rest of the pack. Normally those two are the only ones allowed to breed, and they also will defend their territory from other packs. Your probably thinking, "why does any of that matter?" Well, if we remove one or both of the alphas, it could potentially cause chaos within the pack. With no leaders, the subordinates may start breeding, and they may not defend their territory as aggressively. So with uncontrolled breeding and new coyotes moving into the area, essentially, we very well might have caused an increase in the coyote population by killing just a couple! Talk about backfiring, right!

This is exactly the reason that when you decide to start a predator management plan on your property, you need to stick with it. So you guys that consider shooting the occasional coyote that you see while deer hunting as your attempt at predator management, might be doing you more harm than good. As with anything when it comes to land management, we are never truly done, and when it comes to predator management, it is truly is a labor of love. Fur prices are as low as ever, inflation has caused hunting and trapping supplies to cost more than ever which means from a monetary standpoint, your not likely to get much of a return on your investment. The positive thing about it is, seeing higher deer and turkey numbers and being out there enjoying the outdoors makes it all worth it!